What Actors Said About Working On Christmas Movies

There is a tightrope that filmmakers have to walk when working with kids on Christmas movies. You want to keep the magic of Santa Claus alive, while still creating the movie you've envisioned.

Luckily, the crew had it a little easier with Mara Wilson.  

Wilson may only have been 7 years old when the remake of Miracle on 34th Street was released in 1994, but she was already a budding star. The year before, she had starred in the hugely popular film Mrs. Doubtfire. 

So Wilson was already more professional than some of her peers. And, it turned out that she was quite a thoughtful child to her costars. She recalls,

There were so many other kids around, too. I didn’t actually believe in Santa, because I was raised Jewish. But if [the other kids] asked me about it, I would be polite and just say, “Yes, sure, that’s Santa Claus.”

Most people are familiar with the equally heartbreaking and heartwarming story of George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life. Starring the legendary Jimmy Stewart, the film flopped hard after it was released in 1946, and only became a classic after the studio failed to renew their copyright. 

This meant that, in 1974, TV networks started airing the film on repeat, because they didn't have to pay anyone royalties for showing it. 

However, even before it was filmed, Stewart knew this script was something special. When they were filming the scene on the bridge, when George is at his lowest, Stewart truly connected with the emotion. 

In agony I raise my eyes and, following the script, plead, “God… God…dear Father in heaven, I’m not a praying man, but if you’re up there and you can hear me, show me the way. I’m at the end of my rope. Show me the way, God…”

As I said those words, I felt the loneliness, the hopelessness of people who had nowhere to turn, and my eyes filled with tears. I broke down sobbing. This was not planned at all, but the power of that prayer, the realization that our Father in heaven is there to help the hopeless, had reduced me to tears.

When Kurt Russell was approached to play Santa Claus in the 2018 family-friendly flick The Christmas Chronicles, he took the role very seriously. Russell explained, 

It’s an iconic character. It’s like playing Elvis [Presley] or in the hockey world it’s like playing Herb Brooks.

Producer Chris Columbus even revealed that Russell wrote upwards of 200 pages of backstory about their version of Kris Kringle. 

This iteration of the gift-delivering man was more grounded, and your “everyday” kind of guy. As Russell described:

I was very concerned what I wanted — the hair, the wardrobe, the makeup, the beard. I wanted all of that to be authentic. And when you see him, you feel like, “That looks like the real guy, not what we’ve seen pictures of in Coca-Cola ads.”

My Santa looks kind of lumberjack-like or has a Captain Morgan aspect to him. He’s a little intimidating and he’s not afraid to sling coal.

When Elf was being filmed in late 2002, Will Ferrell wasn't the big name he is today. He was known for his work on Saturday Night Live and a few other films, but he wasn't quite a star. 

So when the first two weeks of filming Elf involved him running around New York City in yellow tights, he was worried he may have made a career-ruining choice:

People [on the street] recognizing me from Saturday Night Live going, “You OK? What's going on?”

Ferrell remembers thinking to himself,

This is either going to be a home run or people are going to go, “Whatever happened to you? Why did you do that one about the elf?”

At the film's premiere, James Caan, who played Buddy's dad, even revealed he was skeptical of Ferrell's acting. Ferrell recalled Caan telling him:

He's like, "Hey, I gotta tell you something. Every day on set I thought you were way too over the top, but now I see what you were doing. Great job."

It turned out that making the film was an excellent choice for Ferrell, as it has become a staple in the Christmas movie collection.

Some of the best moments in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation are the physical bits, like when Clark is hanging from the roof or Todd falls down the stairs from the glaringly bright Christmas lights of his neighbor. 

These were some of Chevy Chase's favorite parts of filming as well. As he recalls,

I loved all of the physical stuff in the movie… I loved the stuff on the roof, which was typical of Clark Griswold. I loved sliding down the roof and hanging on. It was all very funny and I love Ellen [Beverly D’Angelo] coming out and going “Um…Clark?” Nothing seems to bother her. It’s time for dinner and Clark is outside in a bush somewhere. Anything with Randy [Quaid] … that was funny. He’s just the troublemaker and that’s the thing, when you see Cousin Eddie show up, you know the movie is gonna blow up, ya know?

Few sequels claim a spot on must-watch holiday movie lists. But Home Alone 2: Lost in New York often finds itself near the top.

Some fans even argue that the sequel, which finds young Kevin McCallister alone in New York City, is better than the first. 

Part of the appeal comes from the original cast all coming back for the sequel, something Joe Pesci (who played the criminally-inclined Harry) said allowed for “the same, if not more, energy and enthusiasm as the original.”

But it wasn't all fun and games for Pesci. While stuntmen did most of the stunts, there was one memorable scene that required Pesci himself to have the top of his head torched. And the filming didn't go according to plan: 

In addition to the expected bumps, bruises, and general pains that you would associate with that particular type of physical humor, I did sustain serious burns to the top of my head during the scene where Harry's hat is set on fire.