The ‘Red One’ Cast Reveals Who Made Santa’s Naughty List and Their Favorite Christmas Memories

The Big Picture

• Red One
  is an action-packed holiday film about a mission to rescue Santa with a unique duo and festive intrigue.
• In this interview with Collider’s Mike Thomas, the cast shares their favorite holiday memories and Christmas movie traditions.
• The film offers a fresh take on Christmas mythologies and a thrilling, heartwarming ride for all ages.

Red One is here to kick off the Holiday Season. It delivers tons of laughs as E.L.F. Commander Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) and perpetual Naughty Lister Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) team up to save Saint Nick (J.K. Simmons) after he was kidnapped right before Christmas. The unconventional duo travels the globe as they battle evil snowmen and the powerful forces of Krampus (Kristofer Hivju) and Grýla (Kiernan Shipka).

I got the chance to chat with J.K. Simmons (Santa “Nick” Claus), Lucy Liu (Zoe Harlow), and Kiernan Shipka (Grýla) about their favorite Christmas memories, Red One‘s approach to the Christmas mythos, and who among them made the naughty list.

You’re Biggest Christmas Wish

MIKE THOMAS: I have a question for you all. Obviously, this is a Christmas movie, and we know it’s about the holidays and everything, but I wanted to know, and this is coming from deep inside my heart, was there ever a toy or a gift as a child that you just desperately wanted for Christmas?

KIERNAN SHIPKA: Ohh.

LUCY LIU: Oh, yeah. Pretty much everything. [Laughs]

J.K. SIMMONS: My big one was an electric guitar when I was, like, 12 or 13. I mean, my parents couldn’t really afford it, but, you know, they found one they could afford, and it actually showed up under the tree with the big red bow on it, and that was an awesome one.

SHIPKA: And you kind of know, right?

SIMMONS: Yeah, yeah! It’s hard to hide. Like, usually, it’s an album. It’s a wrapped album that my sister and I started getting each other, and it was like, oh, I wonder what it is.

LIU: I really wanted a bicycle. Didn’t get one , but later on in life, I bought a bike for myself. Yeah, a ten-speed.

SHIPKA: I love it. Yeah, I was kind of a little weird. I always wanted kitchen appliances. I liked cooking and food, and I still do to this day. Someone asked me the other day what I want for Christmas, and I was like, “I do need new pans.” I do need a Le Creuset! That would be lovely. [Laughs]

LIU: Pans are expensive, actually!

SHIPKA: Are they really?

SIMMONS: She’s totally dropping hints right now. She’s like, I mean, if you guys are thinking..

I mean, I need a Dutch Oven since we’re putting it out there.

SKIPKA: Let’s manifest it. Yeah, I mean, I would love it.

The Magic of Christmas Movies

So, in the spirit of that, though, going back, thinking about the holidays and how you celebrated them. Do you have a favorite Christmas movie that you can’t go a year without watching?

SIMMONS: Well, Red One.

Good answer!

SHIPKA: My cousins are really stoked to watch it. I do think that’s something exciting about the Christmas movie is that there’s that evergreen sort of nature to it that we were talking about. You hope that anything you make people watch again and again, but there’s a particular sort of quality to making a Christmas movie where that feels like that’s the ultimate goal is that it makes its way into family traditions. I watch A Christmas Story every year. That’s always been my go-to Christmas movie.

LIU: I love Elf. Elf is really fun. It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s so wonderful.

SIMMONS: Thank you, every year, gotta do that.

LIU: Truly wonderful. And Home Alone.

SIMMONS: I haven’t seen that in years.

LIU: Oh, my son loves it. He watches it over and over again and enjoys it.

How ‘Red One’ Changes the Christmas Movie Formula

I mean, all good answers. Those are all classic movies. I do have a question for you, J.K. Santa Claus. This is a very unique take on the character, and it’s also a role that you have played before with Klaus. So, what was it like, bringing a different energy to Nick in Red One?

SIMMONS: Well, first of all, for Klaus, I didn’t have to grow the beard [Laughs]. I mean, it was a fantastic opportunity, and, you know, the story that Hiram [Garcia] came up with and that Chris [Morgan] built the screenplay around. It’s just fantastic. That’s why we’re all here, you know. I mean, it’s Dwayne [Johnson], it’s Chris Evans, it’s Jake Kasdan. And it’s just a fantastic take on Christmas and different Christmas mythologies that they put on the page, and we got to be the lucky ones to lift it off the page.

LIU: I think what’s wonderful about the story is that it’s so simple. I mean, sort of the idea that Santa gets kidnapped. Okay, we’ve got a ticking clock. So what happens next? It’s very simple in the way, and the thought of it, but the execution of it I think it’s so much more marvelous than I thought it would be. And I love the idea that the lore, like you said [J.K.], the mythology is in there, and it’s really real for them, and it’s, I don’t know, seeing the child and everybody, and I didn’t expect the ending. I mean, I read it, but when I saw it, it was so much more impactful.

So I kind of wanted to build off of that. I know you’ve mentioned the ending. Is there anything in particular that you can’t wait for audiences to experience for the first time when they watch this movie?

SHIPKA: It’s so much…

SIMMONS: Well, all of it, I mean. I’m always the anti-spoiler police. But it’s a thrill ride. It’s hilarious at times and it really gets you right here [in the heart] at times. To me it’s everything you would want to see in a Christmas movie. And I think for a wide age range of audiences, you know, parents, kids, maybe not tiny kids but parents, kids and, grandparents and great-grandparents.

Yeah. It’s definitely a ride I think everybody can enjoy. I did have a question for you, Kiernan. What did it feel like being an antagonist in this story? Embracing your inner Grinch and attempting to steal Christmas.

SHIPKA: It was really fun. I never really thought that I would get the opportunity to steal Christmas. So, this was a dream come true. Not really in my nature, but it was super cool. I mean, the lore of Grýla is quite vast. So I felt like I could really find my way into her brain and kind of figure out why she was doing what she was doing, and then the stuff on the page was so fun. I love a character who’s dark and twisted and has demons, but I’ve never really played a proper villain like the person who’s messing everything up in the movie. And that was really high stakes, but it was really fun and I grew to love her even in all of her flawed behaviors. So it was a good time.

The Daily Challenges of Making Movies

Were there any major challenges filming this one action scene or whatever that you guys kind of struggled with behind the scenes?

SHIPKA: Oh man, I mean, for me, it wasn’t a bad challenge, but my outfit took maybe like 45 minutes to strap into every single day.

LIU: Oh my gosh. [Rolls Eyes]

SHIPKA: I’m sure you [Simmons] kind of had an elaborate morning.

SIMMONS: Yeah, it was kinda a thing.

SHIPKA: There were people coming into my trailer to tie things and hoist things.

SIMMONS: It could have been worse. We could have been Kristofer Hivju [Krampus], y’know?

LIU: Well, yeah. No one can complain.

SHIPKA: No one can complain because none of us played Krampus. [Laughs]

LIU: Yeah, for me, I think it was just about the fact that there wasn’t a fight scene, and then suddenly there was a fight scene. So they were like, “OK, here you go.” And that was challenging, but it was fun because I hadn’t done that in such a long time.

Who Made The Naughty List?

Another question I guess J.K. you can answer. This is kind of in your field, right? As Nick, who among the cast do you think would make the naughty list?

SIMMONS: Well, Chris [Evans], for sure. This one over here [pointing at Shipka].

SHIPKA: Heh, I’ve been causing trouble the past few days.

SIMMONS: About as naughty list as it gets. Even though she’s the one who wants to punish the naughty list. Yeah, definitely those two. And then Kristofer Hivju, no spoilers, but I don’t know which way he is gonna end up going.

Definitely not Dwayne [Johnson], though? [Laughs]

SIMMONS: No, no, no, man. Dwayne’s just looking to try to find that spark again, and that’s his journey. God, he takes us on such a beautiful journey. The whole movie does, but obviously, Dwayne is the central figure in the film and for audiences, I think following Cal Dwayne’s character on his journey is really the beauty of the film.

Is there anything you’d like to explore in a potential sequel? Like a Red One 2: Lost in New York type of way?

SHIPKA: Oh, love!

LIU: You’ve gotta call Chris Morgan about that. Hire him!

SIMMONS: No, I mean, I think we’d all love it for sure, but we don’t, at least I don’t do story ideas. I leave that to the creative minds and, if you want me to grow the beard back and be the guy again, I would dive right in immediately with these people, and I’d love to do it.

SHIPKA: Maybe I’ll join your guys’ team this time!

SIMMONS: Good Grýla?

SHIPKA: Maybe I can be good Grýla!

Going off of the Grinch analogy, heart grows two times bigger, right?

SHIPKA: Yeah! That’s my pitch.

Red One is now playing in theaters everywhere.

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