A few specific Christmas movies influenced Dallas Jenkins when making his own upcoming Christmas flick, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, but there were also a few non-holiday movies that also inspired him.
Most filmmakers can pinpoint a few films that they look up to when making specific titles.
Most of the time, the movies that inspire them are from the same genre, but in Dallas Jenkins’ (who is also the creator and director of the wildly popular religious series The Chosen) case when he was directing an adaptation of the 1972 book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, he looked to some projects that have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas.
The movie, which officially comes out on Friday, November 8, follows the Herdmans, a family of children who end up hijacking the local church’s Christmas Pageant and are described as “the worst kids in the history of the world.”
5 Big Movies Influenced Dallas Jenkins When Making The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
In an exclusive interview with The Direct while promoting his upcoming film, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Dallas Jenkins revealed which classic Christmas movies influenced him the most while filming.
Jenkins began by revealing that “the most influential movie in [his] life is It’s A Wonderful Life,” indicating that that was a major influence on The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
However, he also directly named A Christmas Story due to how both it and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever feature “an adult narrating through their eyes as a child:”
“Yeah, what’s interesting is the most influential movie in my life is ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ It’s my favorite movie of all time. I watch it every year. So that’s always going to be an influence, especially when you’re doing a Christmas movie. ‘A Christmas Story’ is an obvious one. It’s got narration like this movie does. It’s an adult narrating through their eyes as a child.”
However, Jenkins also mentioned a few other movies that greatly influenced The Best Christmas Pageant Ever which are not part of the Christmas genre. One of those other films was Babe, which is a 1995 flick about a piglet who isn’t instantly accepted by the other animals on the farm he lives on.
The other two movies that Jenkins mentioned were “the Paddington movies,” which the director referred to as “masterpieces:”
“But honestly, there’s a couple other movies that aren’t Christmas movies, like ‘Babe’ or ‘Paddington.’ The ‘Paddington’ movies, which are just masterpieces, ‘Paddington’ one and two, because they have that timeless feel, and they’re funny, but they feel real. It’s, you know, it doesn’t get too slap-sticky.”
The director also mentioned how “all good classic Christmas movies have a lot of humor,” which is something he strived for, but he also wanted to make sure The Best Christmas Pageant Ever “felt real.”
He went on to talk about how there are “maybe even more tears an emotion” in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever than there is in “most Christmas classics:”
“I really wanted it to feel funny, yes, and all good Christmas movies, classic Christmas movies, have a lot of humor, but I ultimately wanted to make sure that when we got to the meaningful part, that it felt real, that it didn’t feel like we’re in a place that doesn’t actually exist. And so I think that this movie has maybe even more tears and emotion than most Christmas classics that I’ve loved, because I think we grounded it in enough reality that it felt like something that we could really feel was reflective of our own experience.”
When asked what he wanted audiences to take away from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Jenkins mentioned that there were two main things, with the first being “the final words of the movie,” which are, “Unto you a child is born:”
“I think there’s two things that are really important to me for the audience to take away. One is the final words of the movie from Lauren Graham, ‘Unto you a child is born.’ We’ve heard that phrase before. It’s been in songs. It’s what the angels said to the shepherds when they announced that Jesus was born. And I think that truth of what that actually means, that Jesus came as a humble servant, born in a stable.”
The other main message that the director wants people to take with them when they walk out of the theater is “how we think of other people,” and mainly “people who are different than us:”
” It’s not the typical thing we think of when we think of conquering kings, or when we think of the nativity that always looks so bright and cheery and so the truth of the nativity story is something that I really want people to take away, but also how we think of other people. People who are different than us, people who come from the other side of the tracks, people that we consider other, that we would maybe reconsider that and that ignorance isn’t always bliss, that maybe knowing and understanding people and making sure that they’re seen can not only help them, but actually teach us something new as well.”
The Direct also spoke to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever lead actors Judy Greer and Pete Holmes, who echoed Jenkins’ sentiments about why the movie is so special and why they think it will resonate with audiences.
Specifically, Holmes stated that he is “thrilled to be in something that [he] can see” with his family and a movie “that is true to the spirit of Christmas.” Holmes, who is also a comedian, jokingly added that he likes the movie because it “doesn’t have Judy (Greer) in an ape outfit,” referencing her casting in the Planet of the Apes films:
“And I’ll sidle up to that comment and say that now I’m a dad. I have a six year old. I’m thrilled to be in something that we can all see as a family together that is true to the spirit of Christmas, and doesn’t have Judy in an ape outfit, which is not my favorite Greer.”
Greer revealed that she “[loves] the message of this movie,” and that it features “a gorgeous message about acceptance and being non-judgmental and having an open heart:”
“I love the message of this movie, and that’s, yes, he was right. I’ve always wanted to be in a big Christmas movie, but the message of this film is so beautiful. And it’s really like, it’s like the inside of the cake, the frosting is that it’s so funny and it’s charming, and it’s sweet and it’s beautiful looking, like it’s shot so well, and then you have, like, hidden underneath all that is this, like gorgeous message about acceptance and being non-judgmental and having an open heart.”
One of the biggest elements of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever are the children and how they impact the story, and to say that there are a lot of kids in the movie would be an understatement.
When asked about what it was like working with so many children, Greer admitted that she is “not used to working with that many children,” and that, at one point, she had to take a step back and take it all in:
“I’m not used to working with that many children, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t really think much about it until I actually got to set. Then I was like, ‘Whoa.'”
Holmes chimed in and said what Greer stated was true, and that she even said, “‘I didn’t really think about this practically.'”
Greer continued by saying she “[got] so sucked into the story and the message” that she didn’t fully think about how many kids she would be working with:
“I know it’s like, you read a script, and I get so sucked into the story and the message, and then like, you know it’s gonna be so fun, and we’re gonna shoot in Winnipeg, and it’s Dallas Jenkins and yada yada. And then all of a sudden they get on set, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, there are so many children here.'”
Holmes jokingly stated that Greer would “have a coffee cup with a flask” before Greer ultimately revealed that “[she] would do it over and over and over and over again.”
The Halloween (2018) and Ant-Man actress also talked about how “amazing” all of the kids were and even admitted that “they were so much more well-behaved than” she and Holmes were:
“That being said, I would do it over and over and over and over again, especially with this group, they were amazing. They were so much more well-behaved than we were on set and and they just added, you know, kids like they can’t help but add themselves. I mean, the great ones, and I think ours are great, can’t help but add themselves to the character.”
Jenkins jokingly agreed that “the kids were sometimes easier” to handle than Holmes and Greer, but the director ultimately praised both actors and the performances they gave in the film.
Specifically, he stated that “they are great comedic actors” but can both “shift towards the emotion” in the snap of a finger:
“Well, everyone asks, ‘How was it like handling all these kids? That must have been chaotic.’ I’m like, ‘The kids were sometimes easier than Judy and Pete.’ I had to corral them just as much. No, I love them. They were fantastic. I’m so proud of their performances. But yeah, they are great comedic actors, and what makes them even better is that they can, on a dime, shift towards the emotion that you see in the movie. And so it’s very hard to pull that off, but they understand timing, they understand humor, pathos. They’ve got all the moves.”
Jenkins also praised Lauren Graham, who briefly appeared in the film near the end but served as the narrator throughout. Grouping her with Holmes and Greer, Jenkins stated that “[he] was really fortunate” and knew he was “in good hands:”
“I was really fortunate. So when you’ve got a movie with Lauren Graham, Judy Greer, and Pete Holmes, you’re in good hands as a director, and I think it really played out on screen.”
As Jenkins mentioned, there is a lot of comedy in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and likely one reason that an actor like Pete Holmes was able to elevate the comedic elements of the film is due to his career in comedy.
Alongside acting, Holmes entertains fans through stand-up comedy (he is on tour as of writing). It is also worth noting that, at one time, he even hosted his own late-night show on TBS called The Pete Holmes Show.
When asked which specific scenes Holmes let his improv skills shine in, he made sure to mention that “Dallas really is a comedy fan.”
However, while thinking of moments that weren’t scripted, Greer pointed out that there was one during “the dinner” where Holmes’ character states that a frozen dinner “smells like loneliness:”
“The dinner. The ‘smells like…’ That was funny. When you’re eating the frozen dinner and you say, ‘It smells like loneliness’ or something.”
Holmes then recalled that scene as well, while also noting another scene where he tells his on-screen wife (Greer’s character) to not “tell [him] when it’s wrong,” but to instead “just tell [him] when it’s right.”
In Holmes’ eyes, he felt that that line (which was not in the script) was “like the non-confrontational confrontation of a long-married couple:”
“Oh, and I say it smells like, yeah, it just smells like you haven’t been home for awhile. And there were moments where I’m like, setting up the Christmas tree, and I don’t know why this tickled Dallas so much. I said, ‘Don’t tell me when it’s wrong. I’ll assume that it’s wrong. Just tell me when it’s right,’ which just felt like the non-confrontational confrontation of a long married couple, and that wasn’t in the script.”
The actor and comedian also directly referenced a scene where he is “slipping around” while “putting the tree on the car,” noting that his actions were “not in the script” and that he “was very happy anytime a moment like that” made it into the final cut:
“I was very happy anytime a moment like that got in there. Or like when I’m putting the tree on the car and I’m slipping around that is not in the script. Nobody told anybody to do that. And Lord, I did it so much. I loved doing it.”
The actors also spent some time praising the work of director Dallas Jenkins.
When asked what it was like to work with the man behind The Chosen (a show which just announced when its next season will come out), Greer noted how passionate he was about making the movie and making it the right way, especially since “he was so desperate” to adapt it for so long:
“No, the best thing about Dallas, and there’s so many great things about working with him, is just his passion for the project. And it’s really, it’s strange to me, sometimes when I go to work on a job and you think like the director doesn’t even seem like they want to be there. Like there couldn’t be anything more opposite than Dallas. Like he was desperate to make this movie. He hung on to this idea for literally years, knowing that he was going to do it someday, having faith that that would happen, and when he got the reins of it like he just made the most beautiful version of this story that I could imagine.”
Greer also pointed out how much energy Jenkins had on set, as well as how “he was so happy all the time:”
“And every single step of the way, he had more energy than all of us. He was so happy all the time. He was so excited to be at work. Like he seems like, almost not human in his ability to like, not even be cold when it’s very, very cold and outside (in) Winnipeg in the winter time.”
Holmes made sure to point out that Jenkins “has the physique of a terminator robot” due to the amount of push-ups he performed on set and that it was “as if he was made by cybernetic systems.”
Jenkins also talked about his passion for the story in general. While the movie is his creation, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was first a book released in 1972 that Jenkins has enjoyed with his family for many years.
When asked about what the book meant to him, Jenkins held up the very first copy that he has owned for 20 years and talked about how he was “ugly crying” when he read it to his children for the first time:
“I actually have the copy of the book that my wife brought home 20 years ago. It’s all dog-eared and messed up just because I’ve had it for 20 years. And when I was reading it to my kids, I had read it as a kid, but I didn’t remember a whole lot about it. Just because it’s been out, as you know, for a long time. But as I’m reading it, I’m loving the laughs, the Christmas of it, the timelessness of it, the nostalgia. But I get to the last chapter and I am crying so hard I can’t read. I’m just ugly crying.”
Jenkins then talked about the timelessness of the story and how “the message is so resonant” with him:
“And my wife takes the book from me, and she starts reading it to the kids, and we’re just basically passing it back and forth, trying to get through it, because the message is so resonant, and that’s what is timeless about it. The Herdmans, who are described in the book as ‘the worst kids in the history of the world,’ that’s what the other kids think. They come from the wrong side of the tracks. They’re in poverty. Their parents are absentee.”
The director also pointed out that one of the biggest takeaways from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is that the Herdmans, who are seen as the villains of the town and of Christmas, “are actually closer to the truth of the story than everyone else:”
“And when they hijack this Christmas pageant, you think it’s going to be horrible, but because of their poverty and because of their unique perspective, they’re actually closer to the truth of the story than everyone else.”
Jenkins then mentioned that the Christmas story of how Jesus “came in a barn and as a humble servant” is a story “for everyone,” no matter who they are or where they come from:
“That message of seeing others differently than how we perceive sometimes, making sure that we know that this story, this Christmas story, is for everyone, and that maybe the things we take for granted about the story, the fact that Jesus came in a barn and as a humble servant, not as a conquering king, those things are, I think, more resonant now than ever. Especially during an election season, when we are so divided and we think of people who are in other tribes as being other.”
While it has already been confirmed, many fans (especially of country music) will find a bit of a surprise once the credits roll for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and that surprise is Blake Shelton performing the song “Go Tell It On The Mountain.”
When asked how the country star got involved with the movie and how he ultimately came to record a song to go at the end of the film, Jenkins revealed that it happened after Shelton publicly talked about “how much he loves The Chosen:”
“So, we see Blake tweet, or X, or whatever you want to call it now, how much he loves ‘The Chosen.’ And then his wife, Gwen Stefani, is commenting how she’s obsessed. And I’m like, ‘I love both of these artists.’ And so when we were looking for a song to kind of bring the movie to a close, we were thinking about various artists who could do it, and we thought, ‘Well, maybe Blake Shelton would consider it, if he’s such a ‘Chosen’ fan.'”
Jenkins was ultimately right. According to the director, Shelton got back in touch with him and not only “loves Christmas,” but “loves [Jenkins’] work:”
“So, on the set of ‘The Chosen’ while I was filming Season 5, I made a video that I sent to Blake, and I said, through his manager, I said, ‘Hey, would you consider doing a song for this movie?’ Turns out he loves Christmas, loves my work, and was honored to do it. And so we suggested ‘Go Tell It On The Mountain.’ And he did what I think is my favorite version of ‘Go Tell It On The Mountain’ I’ve ever heard.”
“Having Blake Shelton kind of bring the movie to a close” was something that was ultimately very special to Jenkins and something that he called “a huge honor:”
“And so having Blake Shelton kind of bring the movie to a close with such a great message and great lyrics and he just brought it for the song, it really captured the spirit of the movie. And so it was a huge honor to have that in my film.”
A special release of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever will hit theaters on Saturday, November 2, and the film will officially release on Friday, November 8.
This post was originally published on here
