Last Christmas director says everyone is completely wrong about THAT fan theory
As the trailer for the new Emilia Clarke festive film drops, Paul Feig tells us: “Anything anybody thinks they know about this movie is not correct”
Good news for fans of George Michael, yuletide romances and Russian-accented Emma Thompsons: the latest trailer for Last Christmas has just dropped. And, like our first sneak peek of the rom-com, it showcases a London-set love story between Emilia Clarke’s jobbing elf Kate and kind-hearted stranger Tom (Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding).
But amid all the festive follies, the new preview raises quite a big question: is Golding’s character actually alive? Just as Twitter detectives spotted when the first trailer landed, Tom doesn’t speak to anyone but Kate, is constantly seen in the same outfit and overall just seems a tad too nice to be real.
All this could indicate that – paying homage to the George Michael song of the same name – Tom is a ghost who literally gave Kate his heart last Christmas, donating it for a transplant operation. After all, it’s clearly established in the trailer that Kate is recovering from life-threatening surgery.
It all fits perfectly, right? Perhaps not. According to Paul Feig, director of Last Christmas, the theory is well off the mark. "Anything anybody thinks they know about this movie is not correct,” he exclusively told RadioTimes.com. “It makes me laugh because it's this romantic comedy and then everyone is treating it like it's the Matrix. It's just a lovely Christmas movie!”
Furthermore, when asked if he could categorically say that Tom was alive in Last Christmas and the speculation was misplaced, Feig answered cooly: “Sure!”
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Also claiming that Tom would interact with characters other than Clarke’s, he explained Golding is only seen alone with Kate in the trailer due to time constraints. “A trailer is two and a half minutes to three minutes long – It's a love story so when you two characters together who fall in love then,” he explained. “It's kind of the only way to do it really.”
Now, there’s every possibility Feig could be telling a classic festive fib here. After all, although seemingly open about the film’s plot, he wasn’t willing to tell us what medical trauma Clarke’s character faces. Feig was only willing to say it was only a “coincidence” the actress, who has previously suffered life-threatening brain aneurysms, was cast – “It was always in the script,” he said.
But while we can’t be sure whether Tom really exists or not, we do know one thing for sure: Clarke got pooped on a lot during filming. Speaking about the moment in the trailer she’s splatted by a falcon, Feig revealed this moment was not exactly a one-take wonder.
“Every time you're doing something like that, it never works the first time – it never works the tenth time! It always takes 12 to 20 times to get it aimed just right. God bless her, you watch the dailies and it was just her waiting to get hit by this poop.
“Actually, we had to go over and reshoot that scene again because I wanted to make it even better!”
Feig added about the Game of Thrones star: “She is one of the most delightful people I have ever worked with. Truly. Every day on set I couldn’t wait to see her and every day on set she was bringing 110%!”
Although we already knew the film’s soundtrack would feature several George Michael songs, Feig also revealed that audiences will see a small glimpse of the singer in the film.
“There's a little bit of background imagery of George in one scene,” he told us. “But [Last Christmas] is really about this woman who wants to be a singer and one of her heroes is George Michael. It's about how his music interacts with her throughout her life and the situation she's going through. It's very hardwired into Last Christmas.
“Everyone will be very satisfied by the end of this film!”
Last Christmas is released in UK cinemas 15th November 2019
