It’s about that time! As I draft this up on Thanksgiving, the Christmas and holiday fever has already started with decorations going up and Christmas movies on deck. Netflix gets into the holiday spirit a bit early with the release of A Boy Called Christmas, a reimagining of the story of “Father Christmas” and based on the 2015 book of the same name. I was lucky enough to chat with some of the cast and director of the film and they all seem ready to spread holiday cheer with everyone ready to cozy up on the couch for some fun Christmas movies this holiday season.
First up is Stephen Merchant who, alongside Ricky Gervais, was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series The Office (2001–2003), and co-writer, co-director, and co-star of both Extras (2005–2007) and Life’s Too Short (2011–2013). Merchant voices Miika the Mouse in A Boy Called Christmas and he steals the show without even being seen. His vocal work is top-notch here and he provides the film with its comedic relief, much like he did in our interview. Merchant went into the process of voicing Miika, who was his inspiration for the character, whether or not he would love a Miika spin-off and we even touch on his desire to be a stunt double for Tom Cruise (someone call this guy, he’s very eager and up for the job).
Grouped together for the next round of videos were director Gil Kenan and actors Michiel Huisman and newcomer Henry Lawfull. Kenan is probably best known for directing the Robert Zemeckis produced, and criminally underrated computer-animated comedy film, Monster House. Once you see A Boy Called Christmas, you realize how perfect Genan is to take on this project because he’s a director that looks deep into the storytelling and provides an immersive visual and narrative experience that completely takes hold of you. Kenan spoke me about what drew him to the story, what it was like directing the young Henry Lawfull and he’s completely up for Stephen Merchant’s Miika spin-off idea. Lastly, he has some kind words for JoBlo.com and says we’re one of his go-to destinations for movie news. Much appreciated Mr. Kenan.
Michiel Huisman is one of those actors you have seen pop up in just about everything. Huisman played Ellis Jones in The Age of Adaline with Blake Lively, Daario Naharis on Game of Thrones (2014-16), Sonny on the television series Treme (2010-2013), and Steven Crain on The Haunting of Hill House. Huisman has also had recurring roles of Nashville, Orphan Black, and HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant. In A Boy Called Christmas, he plays Joel, the father of young Nikolas that inspires his search for hope. At the heart of the story is this poignant father and son relationship and that’s something we touched on in our interview as he praised his young co-star’s talent while also admitting how much he had to juggle outside of filming, like maintaining his schooling while on set. He admitted that Lawfull is a mighty good ping pong player and jokingly admits that he has already dropped out of school and is living on the streets to go pro.
Lastly, there is Henry Lawfull, who leads A Boy Called Christmas as Nikolas. He is front and center in a film that surrounds him with some impressive talent like Sally Hawkins, Jim Broadbent, Kristen Wiig, and many more. Despite being surrounded by all of these veterans, Lawfull carries himself like a pro and more than holds his own as he guides us through Nikolas’ journey for his father. I talked to Lawfull about what it was like to work with so many talented people and how it felt to lead the film and he answered the question with so much humility that indicates to me that we will be hearing much more about him in the future.
A Boy Called Christmas is now streaming on Netflix!