I had the opportunity to attend the US Premiere of Red One at Alice Tully Hall in NY and speak with producer Chris Morgan, who wrote the screenplay, and stars Kiernan Shipka, Chris Evans, Wesley Kimmel, Reinaldo Faberlle, Kristofer Hivju, and Mary Elizabeth Ellis on the red carpet.

One of my favorite quotes from the movie is, “Inside every lost grown-up is the kid that they once were.” When you read that quote, what were your thoughts and what do you hope it leaves audiences with?
Kiernan Shipka: I mean, beautiful. I hope that people really take away that there’s an inner child that we must all nurture within ourselves and I love that theme of the movie. It’s so far away from who we are, and as kids, if you have any photos of you when you’re like four or five, it’s the purest, that’s the purest version of yourself. That’s your essence in a way and I think this movie touches on that, and I hope it reminds people to foster the real pure soul within because it exists.

I feel like family and holiday movies are severely underrated. When you sign on to do a project like this, does it make you think of your inner child and the memories you have tied to holidays?
Shipka: Absolutely. I mean, this made me want to just be nicer to myself too. It starts there. Then, you can be nice to other people and it’s great but if you can really ground yourself in kindness toward yourself, I think you’re golden. Everything else flows out then.

I want you to reflect with me for a minute and think back to your childhood Christmas lists, opening presents, and all those fun gifts you got. If you could adjust the reality of any one of those toys, which would you pick?
Shipka: You know, it wouldn’t be a toy, but it would be my Sims characters. It would be like the Goth family or the Lancasters, whoever that family was in The Sims, that’s what I would do. I would bring them out of the screen.
Kristofer Hivju: It must be one of the things I made with Legos, so one of my own toys. I know which one.
Reinaldo Faberlle: Thunderhawk, Matt Trakker, M.A.S.K.

Mary Elizabeth Ellis: Okay, She-Ra had a flying pegasus with translucent wings made of some sort of a toxic plastic that only the ‘80s could provide and that is what I would like to have. 
Chris Morgan: Wow, that’s a really good question. Well listen, do you go Star Wars? You might, you might. A lightsaber? It’s a lightsaber, for sure, 100%. I was thinking like Jaws, I had a Jaws game and a big giant Jaws shark, but there’s no way if you have a lightsaber, come on. Good question.

Regarding your role, is there something that surprised you in terms of how Krampus was written or how you chose to portray him? Maybe a small detail that informed the way you played him that you weren’t expecting? 
Hivju: I didn’t expect Krampus to be that festive. Like, he’s a party lover, right? He’s been in that dungeon for so many years and every day it’s just party, party, party. So, he knows how to celebrate. Surrounded by just gorgeous creatures.

I want to ask you about the voice of Agent Garcia. What was it like to see the character brought to life after your work?
Faberlle: It was interesting. At first, I thought, does this work for a huge bear? And then, you realize, yeah, it does. It’s the voice of somebody who’s been through a bunch and this bear’s been through, you know, this bear’s hundreds of years old. His voice is going to crackle and have some gravelly aspects to it. So it’s good, you know?

There are so many beautiful themes in the film. Did you have a favorite or one that resonated with you in an unexpected way?
Faberlle: Chris’ scenes with his son, without a shadow of a doubt. As a father, I was in the theater [getting choked up], I had my little girl with me and I just squeezed her hand. That, for me, was the heart of it all.
Ellis: Yeah, I really, really love the idea of like, we’re all kids and things happen to us in our lives that maybe take the magic away and that we can always give ourselves a second chance to find that magic again. It’s always accessible. 
Hivju: I think the message is that to be nice is a choice and even though you may make some bad choices, you can make them good today. You have a second chance, you can always make a good choice.

Wesley Kimmel: Well, of course, I love the father-son relationship because I feel like with my dad, that’s something that we have, we really have a great relationship, which is very important. So that was probably my favorite theme. I love the theme of seeing the good in people as well because I feel like that’s what I try to do, my main motto is just to be a good person all the time.
Morgan: Listen, we live in a time where there’s a lot of darkness and there’s a lot of anger, by the way, it’s human history, there’s always a lot of darkness and anger, but this is an opportunity to kind of tell a story with a message at the end of it that was, despite how dark it is, there’s always a little bit of light in the people around you or within yourself, you just have to remember to look for it. So I love that, I love the end of this movie, and every single time I watch it, I’m not a person who cries in the movies or anything like that, but I do, like it makes me feel a little something. I mean, Dwayne, Chris, and everyone did such a great job. Jake killed it, directing it and that moment just gets me every single time. 

This film is such an amazing blend of comedy, action, and holidays. What stuck out to you about the way the genres were all blended together?
Faberlle: Well, first of all, it feels like building the perfect house, right? Like, the structure of it was the heart. The heart of the story was so quintessential to everything else and then, the comedy, the banter, the action. I mean, Gryla’s kind of scary at the end, you know? So, it had so many beautiful things woven together so perfectly. Jake did a phenomenal job in putting it together and it was a wonderful script by Hiram Garcia. It was a blast to be a part of. I’m just very, very glad, very happy and fortunate that I was able to be here.

Ellis: Yeah, I mean, thank you very much for saying that and I agree with you. I think Jake did an incredible job, I think the script was great, and then in shooting it, they just really kept that heart as the North Star. And then, fun. It’s just fun and sometimes it’s nice to just go to something that’s fun. 
Kimmel: Well, I feel like a big part of that was our director Jake Kasdan, who directed Jumanji, which is another movie like this, just not with Christmas. But I feel like even he combined Christmas so well into it.

You and Chris did an amazing job bringing the father-son relationship to life. It was such a highlight of the film. Can you talk to me about working on that dynamic and what you hope those who go to see the movie with their own family take away from it? 
Kimmel: Well, first of all, I just want people, when they go to the theater, to have a good time. It’s a movie meant to make people smile and I feel like fathers will understand what’s going on. I mean, Chris, in the movie, did really get a lot better.

I have to ask you about Kiernan. I’ve been a long-time fan of hers, and seeing her in this role, I mean, I was just living my best life. Can you talk about working with her? 
Morgan: She is the greatest. Not only is she super talented and down to just really dig into the role and have fun with it, but on top of it, I think she is the nicest human being on the planet. As cool as you think she is, she will out-cool it by 300%. She’s amazing, we feel really lucky.

I was able to catch Evans right before he went into the theater and as I was asking him a question, he jokingly “cut me off” to tell me: “You gave a really good question earlier, and halfway through, I was like, ‘Holy shit, she’s — these are really tough… I’m not ready for these questions right now, I can’t handle this!’ How about just what was your best Christmas present? Game Boy.”

After Santa Claus – Code Name: RED ONE – is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter (Chris Evans) in a globe-trotting, action-packed mission to save Christmas.

Red One is now playing only in theaters!