Perhaps it is inevitable that someone whose family Christmasses were so warm and traditional but with a little twist would want to make a Christmas film that is warm, traditional and with a twist, writes Jim Palmer.
South London actor Rafe Spall - who you may recognise from the likes of Prometheus and I Give it a Year - stars in the festive family comedy Get Santa.
His loveable ex-con Steve is called upon to help save Christmas when Santa Claus gets thrown in a south east London prison after crashing his sleigh on a test run on December 23.
The emotional kick in the movie comes largely through Steve’s attempts to rebuild his relationship with his son Tom, played by newcomer Kit Connor from Purley.
Spall was full of praise for his young co-star.
He said: "It’s his first big film and he is a really special thing.
"He’s got a natural talent and he is a really charming boy.
"He was very professional and very bright, very mature for his age. He was able to do whatever was thrown at him with aplomb."
Santa and Steve’s son Tom spend a large part of the beginning of the film persuading Steve that Father Christmas is real. It’s not something that would have been necessary in real life with Spall.
He said: "The belief in Santa Claus is a magical thing. I think it is important to preserve childhood. I think children grow up too fast these days.
"Innocence is a very difficult thing to preserve and it’s something I’m very keen to do with my own children as they get older."
He added: "We used to leave a mince pie for Santa and Guinness - he loves Guinness - and a carrot for Rudolph."
Though he said he’s always been excited by Christmas, having two young children has given the holiday a new focus for Spall.
The 31-year-old said: "I get pretty excited anyway but it definitely takes on a new complexion when you have children. You rediscover that magic again. Whereas in your late twenties, Christmas can just become a boozathon.
"It’s really beautiful to be able to give my children the Christmasses I was given by my parents."
Get Santa was shot last winter in Leeds, just after Spall had returned from New York where he had been in a Harold Pinter play directed by the late great Mike Nichols.
Spall said: "To come back to doing a Christmas film was definitely a change in gear but that’s what keeps my job interesting and constantly changing.
"They are both as difficult as each other. Just because something is light, in some ways if you’re in the middle of a story that has a levity to it, it is a very difficult thing to do to keep the ball in the air."
It may be a fluffy Christmas film, but Spall still got the chance to channel his inner Al Pacino in a scene that gave an unexpected nod to a cinematic great.
He said: "I like all of the stuff with the actors playing elves in the grotto.
"That was all quite fun. I really enjoyed the scene which was a bit of a nod to The Godfather scene where I’m sat in a circle with the elves and they are all saying it’s impossible to get Santa out of prison and I say ‘if you can get me on top of the building, I can get him out’.
"I enjoyed doing that. It’s something you don’t expect to do in a Christmas film."
Get Santa (U) was released yesterday, December 5.
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