My Secret Santa’s Alexandra Breckenridge & Ryan Eggold Talk Netflix Christmas Movie
ComingSoon spoke with My Secret Santa stars Alexandra Breckenridge and Ryan Eggold about their new Christmas movie. The duo discussed Breckinridge disguising herself as Santa in the film, Eggold having to find chemistry with a seemingly male Santa, and more. It is now streaming on Netflix.
“A vivacious single mom in need of a job decides to disguise herself as a man in order to get hired as the seasonal Santa at a luxury ski resort. But when she starts to fall in love with the hotel manager, complications develop that could ruin everything,” says the official synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Alexandra, how was it wearing the full body suit and all that makeup as Santa? I can see that helping you get into character, but I can also see it being a tremendous pain. So, did it even out, or how was that impact?
Alexandra Breckenridge: I miss it so much. I really wanted to take it home because it was so comfortable and not heavy at all. Not gluey or sticky or any of that. No, no, no. It was, yes, the whole rigamarole was a lot, but it was really fun to be able to play such a beloved Christmas character.
Ryan Eggold: The most beloved.
Breckenridge: I mean, the most beloved. Yeah. I was having so much fun playing the part that it really helped me get through those times where I just wanted to rip it all off.
Eggold: The glue, the hair, it’s tricky.
That’s probably not a look you knew you could pull off, but you can now add that to your résumé. A very charming Santa Claus.
Eggold: One of us knew all along.
Breckenridge: He did since day one.
Eggold: I’ve known this woman so long, and I said one day she’s gonna put on that beard and that big old belly. She’s gonna be Santa Claus. Here we are.
Ryan, there’s actual bonding moments with you and Alexandra when she’s dressed up as a male Santa Claus. There’s a legit connection and a certain chemistry there. How is it finding the right balance for those scenes? It’s very funny.
Eggold: It was confusing. Brought up a lot of my own feelings about Santa Claus, some of them slightly erotic [laughs]. It was a hard time, but I got through it.
Breckenridge: We sort of went really far for that and then pulled it back, and I think we found a good balance in the end.
Eggold: Well, it’s so funny because the movie has, you know, more than one tone. It has the kind of zany, over-the-top silly, Mrs. Doubtfire element, and then it has this more grounded, single mom doing anything she can for her daughter element and family. So, it was about, as you say, finding that line between the two. But those scenes where Matthew’s sort of confused and looking at Santa’s face, but feeling something for Taylor and not quite understanding what’s going on, were just some of the most fun scenes to play because it’s such a funny situation. That setup is just great.
Breckenridge: Yeah. It was really fun.
Alexandra, I watched so much Sister, Sister growing up, so I was so excited to see Tia Mowry in this. She’s just a little thorn in your side this entire movie. What stood out about working with her? She gets some nasty little quips in occasionally; it’s very fun.
Alexandra Breckenridge: She’s such a joy to work with. I wish I actually had more scenes with her. I didn’t have as many scenes with her as you did.
Ryan Eggold: A bunch. Yeah.
Breckenridge: I saw her, we hung out in the green room quite a bit when I was tearing off my Santa suit, and I was on the floor. She would laugh at me [laughs].
Eggold: She’s the best. It’s also funny to watch Tia play like the antagonist because she’s so sweet, so nice and bubbly and funny and kind and genuine and great. So to see her play like the “b-” I’m not sure what word I can use appropriately. She was great at it, and she nailed it, but then it’d be cut, and you’d be joking, and she’s the best.
Ryan, the director of My Secret Santa, Michael Rohl, did The Princess Switch. He just gets Christmas movies. What really stood out about working with Mike, and especially for a holiday movie?
Eggold: Mike just had a, a great air of like, let’s have fun and let’s find something and like we can play around a little bit. Let’s improvise a little bit, and there’s a great line between not being so strict to the script, but not being without a plan, and improvising and just being nowhere. It was just that great fun, comedic, creative environment.
Breckenridge: He was a good time. He comes from improv comedy, so I would watch him sort of mulling things over to try to find the energy in the moment. He’s really fun.
Thanks to Alexandra Breckenridge and Ryan Eggold for taking the time to talk about My Secret Santa.
Source: Comingsoon.net