Violent Night director on why David Harbour was perfect for Santa
"We wanted somebody who can come in a room and you feel like they can take you apart with their fists."
All sorts of well-known actors have played the role of Santa Claus over the years – from Richard Attenborough to Kurt Russell – and now it's the turn of Stranger Things star David Harbour to slip into the iconic red suit.
In the new film Violent Night, Harbour stars as a version of Saint Nick who is rather more volatile than the jolly old man we're used to seeing, as he's forced to fight off an organised crime group planning a major break-in on Christmas Eve.
And speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, the film's director Tommy Wirkola outlined why Harbour was the first choice for the role, explaining that he was "perfect" for the part.
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"Well, it sounds like I'm making this up but really I'm not," he said. "David was the first actor we went to because we had one of those meetings really early on after I came on board as director, and we were kind of sitting there talking about names. And somebody mentioned, 'what about David Harbour?'
"And it's like, we all just looked at each other. It's like, yeah, he is so perfect for the role. And to me, like obviously he's a great actor, but he's also got a great physical presence. We wanted somebody who can come in a room and you can feel like they can just take you apart with their fists."
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He added: "He's got a great sense of humour too. And he's got that heart that is so key to this role, like, despite all that violence and all this grumpiness and what he's going through at the beginning of the film, Santa's still got a big beating heart inside of him. And obviously, David has all those things."
At one point during the runtime, the film briefly delves into Santa's backstory – touching on how he came to be such a capable fighter with the ability to see off a highly skilled team of mercenaries.
And Wirkola reckons that focusing further on this aspect of the character could make for an interesting follow-up somewhere down the line.
"When I read the script they said, 'Yeah, it's like Die Hard with Santa Claus.' And I'm like, okay, that sounds cool – but how are you going to sell the fact that Santa can take on a bunch of terrorists?
"But then when I read it, it's like, oh yeah, this is smart. His backstory was a great way of actually grounding the character. And as a Norwegian, the fact that they linked it to Viking mythology as well was very appealing to me.
"We actually had a lot more about the backstory that we ended up cutting," he added. "We just wanted to glimpse it and to tease it – so maybe if we're lucky enough, we can explore that in a later movie!"
Violent Night is released in UK cinemas on Friday 2nd December 2022. If you’re looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Film hub for all the latest news.
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