In the exclusive interview for the latest issue of Parade, the stars of new original Christmas movies reveal some of their fondest holiday memories and take us behind the scenes of their projects.
Here’s some:
She’s Santa’s Daughter! In the comedy Noelle (Nov. 12 on the new Disney+ streaming service), Anna Kendrick plays the daughter of the newly retired St. Nick and has to save the (holi)day when her older brother (Bill Hader) goes missing instead of stepping into the ho-ho-ho role. “It’s all so darling, I could just scream,” says the Pitch Perfect star.
Real-Life Santa. Growing up in Portland, Maine, Kendrick remembers her childhood Christmases felt like living “in a Thomas Kinkade painting.” And her father, a history teacher, moonlighted as a Santa at the local Christmas fair every year (and yes, his beard was real).
A Really ‘Wild’ Christmas. In Holiday in the Wild (streaming now on Netflix), a lovelorn New Yorker (Kristin Davis) goes to Africa for a safari and falls for her hunky small-plane pilot (Rob Lowe). It’s “family-friendly, romantic and you’ll learn something,” says Davis, an animal-rights activist who worked with untrained elephants in the movie and addresses the continent’s widespread poaching problem in the film.
Why Christmas Flicks Rule. “I have a great love for Christmas movies,” says Rob Lowe. “Because when you and your family are arguing about what to watch, it’s something everyone can agree on!” Oh, except for Die Hard. “Well, of course there’s the universal debate on whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie. If I want to watch Die Hard, I’m watching Die Hard.”
For more about Anna Kendrick, Rob Lowe & Kristin Davis, see this weekend’s Parade or read the full story here