Why Kurt Russell loves playing Santa in The Christmas Chronicles
Hollywood icon Kurt Russell says his most important role is playing the lead to his ever-growing family. But the self-described “working actor” got some extra joy from his new role as Santa in the Netflix movie The Christmas Chronicles.
Kurt Russell is a patriarch of a family business … a movie-making business. He’s one of the film industry’s most recognisable faces and one half of one of Hollywood’s most enduring couples, yet Russell describes himself as simply a “working actor”.
“I have my life and I have my work, my job that provides for our life,” he tells BW Magazine.
“I love the job, I love the work and I love the opportunity. The people in it are fun. I just have a great time and I let the work speak for itself. I am a working actor.”
The 67-year-old is the long-time partner of fellow Hollywood star Goldie Hawn — they’ve been together for 35 years and have a son together, Wyatt, who is also an actor.
Russell is stepdad to actors Oliver and Kate Hudson, from Goldie’s relationship with Bill Hudson.
It was a family affair when Russell stepped out for the premiere of his new flick, The Christmas Chronicles. Goldie was by his side, as were sons Wyatt and Oliver and their partners and kids.
“As far as I am concerned, I am playing this person who is real,” Russell said of playing Santa Claus in the big budget Christmas flick for Netflix.
“I am not Santa Claus, I am playing him. It is the first movie I’ve done in a long time, and I’ve only done a few, where literally my mother who is 90, she is going to go and so will my six grandkids who are anywhere from a month and a half old to 15.
“I am excited about that. I haven’t really found myself in those movies very often but there is something for everyone in this one.”
The Christmas Chronicles is a family film for sure, filled with laughs. Nostalgia and the desire to show Santa Claus as a real guy inspired Russell to take up a role as one of our most beloved fictional characters.
“It was just a fun opportunity for me as an actor to play an iconic role like that,” he said.
“I was fascinated by the fact he was born in 283AD, he became a bishop and started giving gifts away and that legend grew and turned into lore.
“Let’s face it, how often are you going to get to play someone who has been around for 1700 years that is not a religious figure? There are only a few people in our history like that.”
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Authenticity was key for Russell in telling the story — so much that most of his long hair and beard is natural.
“Santa is someone who has got a history. The main part of looking authentic is hair, make-up and wardrobe,” he says.
“They coloured my hair to match my beard and then they enhanced my beard.
“A fake beard was not what I wanted to do. I drew from a lot of pictures I had seen of Father Christmas and paintings.”
Family again was also front of mind for the actor in telling the story.
“Santa Claus in our family, for my sisters and I, was a huge thing every year,” Russell reminisces.
“We were always living in this mystery of whether our dad was Santa Claus or was he a helper, was he helping Santa Claus in that way, but the whole idea was presented to us in such a thrilling fashion so this to me was a bit of a dedication to my dad.”
Russell’s son, Oliver, is also in the film.
“The fact Oliver got to do it and I got to watch him work, it meant a lot to me in how Christmas and Santa Claus had been passed down from my grandfather to my dad and into our family with my sisters and my mum and I then took that into our existing family.”
He adds: “Christmas at our place in Colorado every year is the biggest time of the year. The whole family is together and Santa is the centrepiece.”
Russell has aged well. This scribe tells him that, a compliment he takes gratefully.
“That is always nice to hear,” he said.
“I never really think about it, that is for sure. Who doesn’t like a compliment though?”
For men though, ageing in Hollywood doesn’t come with as much pressure as it does for women.
“I think Hollywood has presented itself in a way throughout its history of beautiful women, of exciting sexy women and of adventurous men or of wise men or of men who are challenged in various ways and then there are bad men,” he explains.
“Women throughout history up until recently have been for the most part treated as, in their world, it is connected very strongly with their looks, their appeal, their sexuality and, as you age, there is more difficulty with that than there is with, for instance, wisdom.
“As guys get older, theoretically we are supposed to get smarter and I think that is kind of a cool thing from being a wild child to perhaps someone with more wisdom.
“Women and men, let’s face it Hollywood has presented them in all forms and fashions but when you ask the question ‘Is there more pressure on women in terms of that?’, historically we can look at the product that comes out of Hollywood and for the most part it is more difficult playing in that world as an actress than it is an actor but that is probably changing too.
“In all cases I think it is about the individual, how you handle it as an individual, the way you look at life and what you care about.”
Of long-term partner Hawn, he continues: “Then there are those who defy it and for instance I think Goldie is one who has amazingly defied it.
“Her energy is incredible, she still looks great, she is in great shape and she is interested in things other than primarily what is going on in this town but every once in a while she ducks her head in and has some fun.
“I love watching Kate come along and have the career she’s had and I am excited for Oliver and Wyatt also, who are doing fantastic. We also have one son who is getting his therapy licence. We have three actors and a therapist — I think that is pretty great.”
While other people in their late 60s might be thinking about retirement, Russell is still a very busy actor.
He’s just wrapped shooting his part in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which also stars Australians Damon Herriman as Charles Manson and Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate.
Russell did most of his scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
“I had my days with Leo and Brad, we had a great time and for me working with Quentin (Tarantino) and his crew is always just a blast,” Russell says.
He last visited Australia to promote Tarantino’s 2015 flick The Hateful Eight.
“I think it will be a wonderful love letter to Hollywood in a way but I must say I enjoyed reading the screenplay because it is so entrenched with some of the things I lived with and through in my life and I just love working with Quentin.
“I did my part and loved it.”
He’s also got crime drama feature Crypto coming up, starring alongside another Australian, Luke Hemsworth.
Whatever comes after that for Russell, expect the magic of Hollywood movie making to be front and centre.
“It is our job to create,” he says.
“What is fun about it is generally thinking about creation there should be no boundaries.
“In creating that, you shouldn’t limit your thoughts and that is where magic is allowed and should be taken advantage off.”
* The Christmas Chronicles is out now on Netflix
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