The mission to save Christmas is on.
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Red One is a must-see action-comedy event that delivers a fresh twist on Christmas for the holiday season. Directed by Jake Kasdan, who has previously teamed with Johnson on the blockbuster Jumanji movies, this multigenerational global spectacle features such megawatt stars as Chris Evans teaming up in a high stakes adventure packed with adrenaline and attitude. After Santa Claus – Code Name: RED ONE – is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security (Johnson) must team up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter (Evans) in a globe-trotting, action-packed mission to save Christmas.
As the film prepares to spread Christmas cheer to Australian audiences, ahead of its release Peter Gray was invited to the global press conference to hear the cast and creatives, which also includes Lucy Liu, J.K. Simmons, Bonnie Hunt, Kiernan Shipka and Kristofer Hivju, and producer Hiram Garcia talk about creating a Santa Claus for the next generation, how they each prepared for their roles, and their own personal holiday traditions.
Red One has potentially made a new Santa Claus for the next generation. What was it like to dive into this version of the North Pole with these new characters?
Jake Kasdan: One of the most exciting aspects of this movie was looking at a way that we could tell Santa’s story that we’ve never quite seen before, right? You’ve seen him a certain way your whole life, and we always thought that the great, exciting idea for this was “What if you could sort of pull back the curtain and see what he’s really like?” And so all of those aspects of (Red One) came to form from that seed of an idea. Hiram Garcia came up with this. This is his brain child, and he brought Chris (Morgan, producer) and I on early with DJ (Dwayne Johnson). This was the idea that got us all going in the very beginning.
Hiram Garcia: Yeah, I think when we did start working on this, one of the goals was our hope to tell a story that really inspired people. We wanted to turn Christmas on its head in the mythology (space), but also create the definitive Santa Claus. There’s been so many good Santa Clauses, but to find one that really made a connection with the audience and brought a coolness that I always felt Santa had, J.K.’s (Simmons) performance is everything we dreamed and more.
Dwayne and Chris, when bringing this to life, how did you find that balance between delivering an action movie and a holiday movie?
Chris Evans: Luckily, it’s not only me that has to figure that out. We have a whole team of people who are trying to crack that code. There’s such great Christmas lore, folklore, not just the stories we all grew up with, but internationally. When you hear (about) some of these creatures and stories and mythology, it almost begs for some sort of action adventure movie. It’s not quite as hard as you think.
Dwayne Johnson: I agree. I also feel that it all really starts with the material. Of course, coming out of Hiram’s brain, and then Chris Morgan cracking it, and Jake coming in and putting it together on the page. The material itself lent itself to a big action scale, which you typically don’t see in a Christmas movie. All of these actors are all incredibly talented, and they all came in loving Christmas and perfect for their particular role. On top of that, I think you sprinkle in that something that Jake inherently does in his films. I’ve had the privilege of working with him three times now. The two Jumanji movies and now Red One. It’s heart. There’s so much heart in this movie. And that can so often be an overstatement in storytelling in Hollywood, but it’s true. One of my favourite parts of the movie is where Santa Clause reminds my character that it’s our job to see the best in people. Look beyond if they’re on the naughty list. Look beyond that and see the kid in everybody. As Chris was saying, it really wasn’t that hard.
Santa and Mrs. Claus are different here to most pop culture depictions, but both bring such warmth and charm, further contributing to the film’s heart. J.K. and Bonnie, what do you love most about your characters in this festive tale?
Bonnie Hunt: I think that they’re a team. Teamwork. It’s a story that has action, humour, pathos, and there’s an underlying theme that goodness can prevail and lead to better things. It was a no-brainer to say that I wanted to be involved.
J.K. Simmons: Yeah. Yes, yes, yes (laughs).
Lucy, it was so fun seeing your character get in on the action. How was it to prepare for the role?
Lucy Liu: Well, it was impromptu. I had spoke to Jake and I asked if there was any training or if he needed me to prep anything, and he just thought (my character) would maybe throw a punch or kick, and that would be it. I was just the boss lady. Great. No problem. I show up on set, we’re doing costume fittings and everything, and then the stunt coordinator comes in and says, “I just want to give you a little bit of pre-vis of what we’re going to do.” He shows me this action scene, and my face just turned white. But I thought, “Okay, let’s do this.” As soon I had the sticks in my hand, it was like muscle memory kicked in. It felt like I was alive again. So, actually thank you (Jake) for that. I hadn’t done it in a long time, but it just came back to me. I love watching action movies. I grew up watching them, and doing them on screen is so exciting. It gets kids excited. It gets girls excited. It gets women excited. So, it’s nice that I still got it.
Kiernan and Kristofer, you both play the villains. How was it to prepare for those roles?
Kiernan Shipka: It was really fun. I loved it. I’ve never played a proper villain before. I’ve definitely played people who are dark and twisted, but this film kind of hinges on (Santa’s) kidnapping, so it was really cool to feel like I had a part in this movie that was moving it in a direction. I liked those stakes. I love that this movie is so fun. There’s a lot of heart. There’s a lot of action, but at the end of the day I think you just sit down and it’s a really lovely watch. So playing someone who was a villain, but also maintaining a sense of levity with the whole thing was great. I’ll play a villain anytime.
Kristofer Hivju: For me, this character is more or less the suit, right? I tried to play against the suit to make him actually more feminine, narcissistic and as self-indulging as possible. Suddenly the mixture becomes a bit disturbing. The funny thing about Krampus is that he has the same objective as (Santa Claus). They want the same thing. He just has a method that’s more punishing.
Dwayne Johnson: I also want to say, for Chris and I, when we were on set and we had the privilege of spending many, many days with Kristofer as Krampus, it is one of the most impressive things we’ve ever seen. He’s just massive, and it goes back to the spectacular job of the mythology of our story, but also the prosthetics he was wearing. Joel Harlow, this Academy Award winning make-up artist, you can see his work, but there’s also so much life going on in (Kristofer’s) eyes. There’s incredible prosthetics, but he’s a superior actor, and you feel that in the movie. Hats off to you, man. You really did a great job.
Jake Kasdan: We never even considered doing (Krampus) CG. We always wanted to do it that way. I’ve never had anything in a movie with this level of complex make-up. As DJ says, we found of the world’s truly great artists to design it with us, and it was so gratifying that everybody in that sequence, and it’s a big sequence in the movie at Krampus’ lair, and there’s all these characters and a lot of sophisticated make-up. A lot of these movies there’s a lot of CG, and there’s a lot of CG in this movie, but in that scene.
Chris Evans: You know, I grew up on movies like Labyrinth and The Never Ending Story, and it was all practical and those things stick with you as a kid. It was never stuff you saw in normal life. I know now every other movie is loaded with CG, and so often when there’s so much it’s the practical stuff that sticks with you, because it still feels so rare.
And watching Red One could become a future Christmas tradition for families, but is there a tradition that each of you follow?
Dwayne Johnson: Just getting family together would be the number one greatest tradition. I know it’s simplistic, but a lot of times when I was growing up, my dad was always on the road, and he wasn’t always home for Christmas. In the business that we’re in, sometimes it requires us to work over the holidays, so, for me, just to have the entire family together is the most important thing. And give me good shit under the tree (laughs).
Chris Evans: We would write letters to Santa on Christmas Eve. I was saying earlier that I’m one of four, and my siblings and I we’re all very close in age, close as people, and on Christmas Eve we would all decide whose room we were going to sleep in. We would have a little sleepover in somebody’s room. We would watch the old TV that had the VCR, and the fun thing was picking what Christmas movie we were going to watch. Then it was about desperately trying to fall asleep and waking up together at the same time.
Lucy Liu: For us, we didn’t grow up with any traditions. It was sort of a free-for-all. But I have a child now, and I realise that you can start your own traditions. You can create them. He gets gifts, of course, but the most important thing now is I always take him on an experience as a gift. Even if it’s as simple as going to the Empire State Building or going to see The Rockettes. Kids always want things, and I didn’t think he’d remember going, but when he tells me that he remembers, it’s like, “Oh, this really works.” Christmas, to me, is all about togetherness. Not unlike what these guys said. But even if you don’t grow up with a tradition or faith, you can create where you are and for any moment in your life.
Bonnie Hunt: Yeah, echoing everybody here. I mean, it’s togetherness and being with family. I have three brothers and three sisters, and it was always a busy day in the Hunt household. Well, any day was, but Christmas was always a really special day. It was the one day that my dad actually was home from work, for maybe a few hours. Somebody would call him because something broke in their house, and he’d be there to fix it. He was an incredibly talented craftsman, handyman, electrician, and now when we’re all together, I say it’s always fun, until you hear the phrase, “What’s that supposed to mean?” (laughs). Then there’s the other family tradition of walking on eggshells (laughs).
Kiernan Shipka: Yeah, it’s all about family and being together, but I also have a very fun holiday party every year. It’s not this year though, it’s not that no one’s been invited, my kitchen is being renovated (laughs). Don’t worry. 2025 will be very fun. But that’s what I do.
Kristofer Hivju: I’m going to stop the echo party (laughs). What I need? A big Santa chocolate and a Christmas movie. That’s Christmas for me.
Red One is screening in Australian theatres from November 7th, 2024.
