With the release of new Lifetime holiday romcom A Country Christmas Harmony, actor Danny Pintauro is celebrating the movie's message of found family.

A Country Christmas Harmony follows Chrissy and Luke, estranged country music duo and former sweethearts, who run into each other years later in their hometown. Forced to take shelter together during a storm, they "soon realize they can only survive the holidays with each other's help."

The movie was filmed in Idlewild, California, where Pintauro says even the locals lent a hand in production.

"The genius part about it was the producers were able to convince the town to leave their Christmas decorations up. We didn't start filming until early February. So, I don't know how they did it, but they did," he tells Tracy E. Gilchrist of Advocate Today.

Pintauro plays Eugene, a friend of Chrissy who is openly gay, and has a husband. As Pintauro came out in 1997, he feels happy to be breaking stereotypes on a large scale.

"It just starts getting [people] thinking about the people around them, and we become normalized," he says. "Which equals more freedom for us because people start to see us as just their neighbor. And that's where we need to keep going."

It is not often LGBTQ+ characters are shown in Christmas romantic comedies, let alone normalized, Pintauro says. He believes that Lifetime is the perfect platform to reach audiences who may not have exposure to diversity.

"Not a lot of people are paying attention to politics. ... But they're watching Christmas movies," he explains. "So, providing them the opportunity to have not a political moment, but a sort of open-minded moment, is super important."

Pintauro also strongly believes in the movie's message of found family, a topic that often speaks to queer people who many not feel accepted by their biological families.

"I always say that chosen family are the people we can turn to at any given moment," Pintauro continues. "Go to the people who you know will believe you, trust you, understand you, and relate to you. Whoever that may be."

Many people struggle to return home for the holidays, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community, which Pintauro says A Country Christmas Harmony doesn't shy away from.

"Going home is always such a tricky process, right? So many of us have family that just don't understand the lives that we lead and live, so going home becomes about navigating the waters," he says. "A lot of traumas that we created as kids or issues that we have suddenly just rear their head again the moment you step inside that environment."

Pintauro feels proud of the movie's ending, which doesn't wrap up the way many Christmas romcoms might. Instead, it prioritizes the growth of its characters, and what is best for them.

He explains: "The number of stories we've all heard about people just realizing that staying where they were at home and in the town that they are isn't going to be conducive to them developing who they are, becoming who they want to be, and figuring out what that means. And so, I'm so proud of people when they say they took that chance. That's so important in life, and I think more people need to do it."

Pintauro encourages everyone to take that risk, saying: "Make some change. See what that feels like. Maybe something will pop, and your life will progress in some way."

A Country Christmas Harmony is available to watch on Lifetime. Watch Pintauro's full interview with The Advocate Channel below.