There’s a lifelong struggle for people whose birthdays fall near a certain festive holiday: If everyone’s focused on Christmas, do they really get to celebrate like everyone else?
“When I was a kid, I was such a little brat about it, because all I could think was, I don’t get a birthday party. Or people would say ‘This is your Christmas present and your birthday present.’ But when I got older, I realized that I was so lucky, because it basically means I will always see my family for my birthday.” Edmonton-born Kevin Gillese loves Christmas, and his “big, big, big” family, so he’s written a Christmas movie about a less-than-functional family called How to Ruin the Holidays, starring Archer’s Amber Nash and Aisha Taylor, and Canadian comedy legend Colin Mochrie.
It also stars special needs actor Luke Davis, who Gillese says sparked the idea for the film. “We made a short film called That Was Awesome, and I got to work with [Davis]. And by working with him, I was like, wow, this guy’s an incredible actor, and I realized I can tell the story of my relationship with my bro, which I’ve always wanted to do.” Gillese’s brother has special needs as well, but Gillese says he’s never really seen a film accurately portray their relationship. “He’s hilarious — we’re always joking around, trying to make each other laugh — and I wanted to show that in a comedy film about Christmas time that will also give [Davis] a chance to knock it out of the park.”
The film follows Nash’s Michelle, a struggling comedian who returns home for Christmas for the first time in years under what feel like false pretenses, only to discover she has to make a life- and family-changing decision about whether her libertarian father (Mochrie) can still care for himself and her brother, Davis’s Mark.
The part was written for Mochrie, whom Gillese has known and worked with for more than a decade (“I know he said yes in part because he wants to see me succeed, because he’s an angel sent from God to make this world a better place”). And Nash, who regularly joins her husband Gillese in Edmonton Fringe shows, was in from day one. “One of the funny things about [Nash] we always say at the theatre is that she’s at her funniest when she’s getting pissed off, so I wrote this character who’s getting aggravated constantly, because I wanted to key into some of her comedy superpowers.”
Most of us don’t know the birthday-related struggle of those born close to Christmas, but almost everyone has a favourite Christmas film. And as you can guess from the title, How to Ruin the Holidays isn’t trying to be a kids’ Christmas classic — it’s more in line with a film that has a different, more vulgar take on the holiday season.
“I love the film Bad Santa,” Gillese says. “And the reason I love it so much is that it goes so hard, comedically, but at the end of the day, it’s got so much heart and it’s so sweet the way that Billy Bob Thornton’s character truly cares for this kid. And so with our film, we’re not as outrageous as Bad Santa, but we’re definitely an adult comedy — there are F-bombs, and adult humour, but at its heart, it’s about family coming together, even though that’s not always easy.”
Find your Christmas effing spirit November 6 and 25 at Metro Cinema.
