Interviews
Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti on “Fred Claus”
Just Claus
Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti put their own spin on Santa and his…brother?
From Metromix.com
By Drew Tewksbury
November 5, 2007
t’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but the Christmas movies are flying into theaters faster than a greasy Santa on a slip-n-slide. “Fred Claus” puts a new spin on an old classic, by introducing Fred (Vince Vaughn), the down-and-out bungling brother of Santa (Paul Giamatti).
Following a skirmish with some synthetic street Santas, Fred needs some help from his family members up north. Way up north.
His brother gives him a job as a not-so-little-helper and a place to stay in the elves’ gingerbread city. But Santa is in a little trouble of his own, a Grinch-y efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey), arrives to streamline the present producing process and threatens to outsource the elves.
Holiday-flavored slapstick and shenanigans abound, under the direction of Vaughn’s “Wedding Crashers” helmer David Dobkin and with the support of accomplished actors like Kathy Bates, Rachel Weisz and, yes, Ludacris, as a bite-sized DJ elf.
Metromix recently sat in with Vaughn and Giamatti as the on-screen brothers shared their thoughts about Santa, making a PG-movie and unwanted tube socks.
When was your belief in Santa Claus shaken?
Vince Vaughn: I remember the day that I had neighbors—I was six years old—that let me know there was no Santa Claus. I was covering and I said, “Of course, guy, there is no Santa Claus.” But then I went to my sisters and they said, “OK, now you know the painful truth that there’s no Santa Claus, but don’t tell mom and dad, cause we might not get gifts any more.”
You’ve worked on a lot of R-rated films and “Fred Claus” is PG. Was it difficult to keep the crudeness down?
VV: I loved those claymation films growing up, and I think this is a live action one of those. It has such great heart to it. I think it works on a smart level, but the movie never has to be risqué, or have shock value or be gratuitous in order to accomplish that. So the adults are following it on one level while the kids are following it on another.
Paul, what kind of mindset did you get into to play Santa Claus?
Paul Giamatti: I did a lot of deep backstory work on Claus. Part of the nice thing about it is that he’s such an archetype. I had to work up a good “Ho, ho, ho” and all that kind of stuff. So I worked on hard on that. You may laugh, but I put as much effort as I could to get the right things down that everyone expects Santa to be.
And how heavy was Santa’s fat suit?
PG: I don’t know. The mitts were the worst. Maybe 70 lbs. It was really hot. I don’t know if I lost weight. They got me out of it every 40 minutes.
Why did you choose to make a holiday film?
PG: I get a script like this, and I don’t think, “Oh, this is going to be a big holiday movie.” I just think, “Oh, this is a good script.” It’s something that is interesting to me with a fine part and a good director. Then I heard about all the people doing it, I just knew it’d be a great time.
VV: I am fortunate that I try to find stories that would be fun to work on. Look at the actors I get to work with. Everyone’s been nominated [for an Oscar] or won but me. I start to get a complex on the set after a while. Spacey will look at me and say, “Well, that’s a choice. Isn’t that a nice acting choice? I guess that’s nice. You’re making a nice turn in the movie. Isn’t that nice, Vince?”
Do either of you have a gift you always wanted but never got?
VV: I guess understanding, thanks for asking. Sometimes under this shell this turtle has a soft interior…
As a kid Christmas is fun cause you want toys. Then you get something like socks or clothes and you don’t want those. As soon as you get older, that’s all you get.
PG: I could never really get what I want.
Related posts:
Categories
- No categories
Discussion
No comments for “Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti on “Fred Claus””
Post a comment