This week, legendary actor Kurt Russell will be returning to the North Pole for his second stint as Santa Claus, starring in the highly-anticipated holiday sequel The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two. There are plenty of great takes on Saint Nick out there in movies and TV, but none are quite as fun as Russell’s iteration. This Santa made instant fans out of Netflix users when The Christmas Chronicles came out in 2018, partly because he is so deeply devoted to the character, it’s hard not to love him. Well that dedication goes far beyond Russell’s time on set.
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Ahead of the debut of The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two, director and co-writer Chris Columbus sat down with us at ComicBook.com to talk about the new film, and Russell’s electrifying portrayal of Santa. According to Columbus, Russell actually took a deep dive into the backstory of his Santa, writing about 200 pages of history for the character.
“What’s incredible about it is he truly treats it like method acting,” Columbus told us. “I don’t know if I told you, but he wrote 200 pages of the backstory of Santa Claus.”
“About the mythology, about how he met Mrs. Claus. We couldn’t use [all of it],” Columbus continued. “And that is his level of commitment. If you talk with him, he’s very serious about this. He approaches it as if he were a method actor playing Santa Claus. And that’s what got me so excited about the first movie, is that you’re given that as a director and you’ve got to run with it. You’ve got to be like, ‘This is a gift to be able to work with a guy who is so committed to his role.’”
Russell has always been known for throwing everything he has into his roles, and that same passion extends to his turn as the jolly Christmas icon. In the second film of the franchise, Russell was able to work alongside his wife, Goldie Hawn, who stars in Part Two as Mrs. Claus. Hawn appeared briefly as the character at the very end of the first Christmas Chronicles, setting up a bigger role in the sequel.
Are you looking forward to checking out The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two on Netflix? Let us know in the comments!
The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two is set to debut on November 25th.
