How Trevor Donovan’s Embarrassing Ski Team Moment Taught Him Empathy

Trevor Donovan isn’t just playing the role of a ski racer on Two for the Win, Hallmark’s latest new movie. He actually grew up skiing and snowboarding and was a member of the U.S. teen ski team. Despite all his success, he once said that it was an embarrassing moment while skiing as a child that helped teach him how to put himself in other people’s shoes.

He Competed on the United States’ Teen Ski Team

In an interview with TV Insider, he shared more about his skiing history and how he once was on the U.S. teen ski team.

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“I was competing for the far west team, which is a regional team in the western half of the United States, and on my way to the development team of the United States ski team,” he shared. “And then I quit that and joined the snowboard team, which my ski coach was not happy about.”

Here’s a clip that Donovan shared showing a very close race for him in a ski competition.

This was a very close race. ⛷️🏂
When was the last time you went skiing or snowboarding? #TwoForTheWin airs January 16th. pic.twitter.com/pNpzdae6xk

— Trevor Donovan (@TrevDon) January 2, 2021

He Had an Embarrassing Moment on a Ski Team That Taught Him Empathy for Others

Donovan told Trib Live that at one point in his childhood, he was on a ski race team and felt like he wasn’t very good. He said that he always thought he was holding up the other people on the team. He shared these experiences during an anti-bullying assembly at Deer Lakes Middle School in 2019. During his talk, he opened up and revealed that once when he was on that ski team, he ended up peeing in his own pants because he needed to use the restroom when the group was skiing but was afraid to tell the others.

“It’s funny now, but at the time it was horrible,” he said. “The rest of the season was awful. I was teased every single day and called all sorts of names.”

He said that season was really tough for him, but he started winning races by his next season after his dad encouraged him not to give up.

He told the group: “While that year was horrible, I learned … to put myself in other people’s shoes when thinking about saying something to tease them because I’ve been on the other end of that.”

He Did Many of His Own Stunts for ‘Two for the Win’

Good Saturday from Mount Pakenham in the south-west of Ottawa, Ontario. ⛷️ #SkiMovie is airing I think in January. Keep ya posted. pic.twitter.com/8JlnIzbgod

— Trevor Donovan (@TrevDon) November 29, 2020

Donovan got to do a lot of his own stunts for Two for the Win. 

“I do,” he told TV Insider. “I get to do a lot of my own skiing. Not quite as much as I would have liked. I did most of it, but we had time restrictions and weather restrictions. We had to be shooting two units at once… But I did do a lot of my skiing and I got to include some physical comedy aspects to it.”

He shared more with WECT. “I did get to do a lot of it and we got a lot of cool shots where I’m buzzing by the camera and you’ll be able to see it’s my face,” he said. “It’s going to feel a little different, a little faster-paced from most Hallmark movies and there’s a lot of physical comedy and stuff. I’m excited for people to see it.”

Donovan’s talking about doing more Hallmark projects, but there’s nothing set in stone quite yet. He said it’s unclear what regulations will be in place in the future.

“Just like everything else, it’s sort of up in the air,” he told WECT. “I’ve had quite a few auditions going out. As far as shooting in Wilmington, I’d love to come back there.”

Hallmark’s Schedule of New Movies for January 2021