“Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year,” says Rob Riggle. “It’s a joyful time when I feel very warm inside, and I have a lot of good thoughts and good feelings and goodwill toward my fellow man. This movie has nothing to do with that [laughs].”
Indeed, CHRISTMAS AT THE KRINGLES, in which Riggle co-stars and which opens exclusively in theaters tomorrow from Briarcliff Entertainment, is all about the dark side of the holiday spirit. When Mark and Julie Severson (Ron Livingston and Rachel Bilson) move into a new suburban home with their son Bobby (Jack Jewkes), they make the acquaintance of their new neighbors, the Kringles. Nick (Thomas Lennon) and Carol (Arden Myrin) are obsessed with Christmas and have turned their home into a year-round Yuletide wonderland, and are determined to draw the Seversons into their obsessive world. Fortunately, Riggle’s character, billed as “Drunk Santa” but proving to be very handy in a fight, is on hand to help Mark rescue his family.
“It’s a holiday movie, it’s a horror movie and it’s a comedy. Put it all together and you get CHRISTMAS AT THE KRINGLES,” Riggle says.
“It feels a little bit like a fun ’80s movie,” adds Myrin. “It’s almost like a John Hughes movie gone awry.” The actress, who’s also a fan of the holiday (“I’m a New England gal, so I’ve always loved snow, going sledding and skiing, all the lights”), enjoyed being immersed in Carol’s obsessive environment. “I was thrilled to go live in a Christmas wonderland house for a month filming this. It was not on a soundstage or anything; it was all in a real house in West Adams in LA, and they did a great job. They blacked out the windows and just went to town decorating it. It was beautiful.”
What goes on in that house is less attractive, as the Kringles want the Seversons to become part of their world—or else. “I tried to show how Carol is well-meaning but blind to her part and her problems,” Myrin recalls. “It was really fun, and Kevin [Lewis, the director] let me help develop the character and improvise, and get the outfits and have a hand in the look. He let Tom [Lennon] and I sort of build our world together.”
In fact, Myrin (pictured below with Bilson and Lennon) estimates that “about 80 percent of what’s in the movie between me and Tom is improvised. There were so many things that made it into the movie: All the stuff about us being from Tampa, all the stuff about wanting to braid Rachel’s hair. Then we begged Kevin to let us actually braid her hair and put bows all over her head, and that was added in. The stuff about Beverly [D’Angelo as Mama K. Kringle] thinking she’s from Europe, but she’s from Panama City, Florida was improvised too.”
Riggle also appreciated the opportunities Lewis allowed him to add lines and input regarding his role, and the fact that on the page, in Zack Imbrogno’s script, Drunk Santa was open to some interpretation. “I liked the character because it’s hard to get a fix on him. He’s got a bad attitude, but he’s got a good heart. He’s potentially supernatural, and at the same time very mortal. In a weird way, that makes you limitless in your choices. It’s more of an open palette than you normally get.
“Anytime you get dressed up like Santa, it’s going to be a fun day,” he continues, citing Billy Bob Thornton in BAD SANTA as one of his past favorites. “I grew my beard for a long time; it might not be full Santa, but it’s Santa-worthy, I think. I love that part of it. And being covered in blood and glitter—that was a great way to spend the day.”
The blood comes into play as Drunk Santa also becomes heavily involved in the action in CHRISTMAS AT THE KRINGLES’ second half, another facet of the gig that Riggle enjoyed. “It’s rare that I get to bang around, as they might say. It was fun putting on the pads and getting to be a lot more active and aggressive, not just in words but in deeds. You don’t get those opportunities all that often, and when you do, they’re super-fun to do.”
Similarly, Myrin says, “I was excited because I love action movies. I love MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, all the FAST AND FURIOUS movies, Jackie Chan movies. So when I heard ‘fights and action,’ I wanted to do as much as I could. And I did.” The only snafu in that department: “I got punched in the nose by Rachel’s stunt double. It was not intentional, though.”
For both Riggle and Myrin, CHRISTMAS AT THE KRINGLES represents a departure from their usual comedic work. Riggle is a familiar face from both funny TV, including MODERN FAMILY, THE DAILY SHOW and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and movies such as STEP BROTHERS, THE HANGOVER and MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2. Myrin’s career spans dozens of small-screen appearances (including a recurring role on INSATIABLE) and big-screen parts—including, coincidentally, 2004’s CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS. This is not either one’s first dabble in scary stuff, though; Riggle can also be seen in this year’s giant-spider flick DON’T MOVE, while Myrin’s genre credits include ONYX THE FORTUITOUS AND THE TALISMAN OF SOULS and SATANIC PANIC (“I was a bad guy in that one too!” she laughs).
“I feel like comedy and horror go well together,” says Myrin—who worked with another comedic talent who went scary, Jordan Peele, back on MAD TV. “I feel like they’re on parallel lanes of the highway, and you have to be very committed to both. Everything’s a little bit heightened, but you can’t wink to the camera and be a good comedian. You have to play it straight, and I feel the same way about horror.”
“I know what I’m capable of, and I know what I get hired for,” Riggle states. “I love being a comedic actor, don’t get me wrong, and I’ll do that all day, every day if I can. But I do have other colors I can paint with if given the opportunity. So I’ve been able to do some dramas and some horror films, and I absolutely love it. I hope I get more opportunities.”
Although neither actor has another fright project on their horizon right now, Myrin has an idea of which holiday she’d like to see turned bloodily on its head next. “Easter would be really fun. We’ve never seen that, right? Like, an Easter egg hunt gone awry. That would be great!”
