David Harbour Wrecks The Halls And Talks Becoming Santa In ‘Violent Night’

Playing Santa in the festive action movie Violent Night gave David Harbour a bigger Christmas gift than he expected.

“When they put it on, it wasn’t just the outfit because I had the beard, hair, little glasses, gloves, and hat. I did take a moment, and I said, ‘Can you guys just give me a second?'” he recalled. “I went into my trailer and looked in the mirror and took a little selfie for my kids, and I spontaneously kind of went like, ‘Ho ho ho.’ There was a thing that came out of me that was very Santa, very Christmassy, and very jolly underneath it all.

Violent Night sees Harbour’s Santa caught in a home invasion and hostage situation where a wealthy family has fallen foul of a team of mercenaries. The jolly guy in the red coat soon delivers more than presents as things descend into a baubles to the wall fight for survival.

I caught up with the actor to talk about becoming Santa, what surprised him about the movie, what didn’t make the final cut, and his ad-lib that did.

Simon Thompson: How does it feel to be part of the holiday movie legacy? It’s one of those genres that only some get to, or want to, do.

David Harbour: I never anticipated that I would be part of that whole thing, so when I got the opportunity to make a very untraditional Christmas movie, it was very nice. It’s a nice thing we have about Christmas movies, how we go to the theaters during the holidays, and this generous, heartwarming, believe in Santa Claus kind of mythology. I liked being a part of that.

Thompson: When did you first hear the pitch? I know you contributed your thoughts to the project too.

Harbour: My agents gave me a pitch, and I was like, ‘I don’t know, guys, this sounds weird.’ They said, ‘Well, talk to Tommy and David Leitch, and then they’ll send you the script,’ so I talked to them. Tommy is a big Christmas guy; he’s this Norwegian, eating reindeer up in Norway, elven spirit kind of guy, and Leitch is one of the greatest action guys of our time. It was interesting, but I still didn’t know it could be done. I thought it was too wacky. They sent me the script, and it was surprisingly good. I got emotional reading at the end. The thing I developed with it was more of the idea that this guy wanted to believe in Christmas. He had become a shell of his former self, and Christmas itself was simply that Coca-Cola, 1930s idea, a saccharine concept of what being naughty and nice actually was, as opposed to what he got into. It was like, ‘What is nice? What is naughty? What are those ideas?’ He saw that he could be a natural protector and an actual heroic figure to this little girl whose family life was crumbling around her and who needed to believe there was generosity and love in the world. I wanted that arc to be stronger and clearer, so I worked on that with them. I thought it was such an interesting tightrope walk to have just a straight-up action movie like John Wick, but at the end of it, you feel like you’re watching Miracle on 34th Street, and you get a sort of heartwarming thing with him and that little girl.

Thompson: There were about 30 of us in the screening that I was at. One moment people were losing their shit, and the next, they were laughing and then ‘Aww’-ing at the tender moments.

Harbour: (Laughs) I love that. That’s exactly what we were going for.

Thompson: What was it like putting the suit on for the first time? Was there a little bit of Christmas magic for you there, David?

Harbour: Oh, yeah, absolutely. When they put it on, it wasn’t just the outfit because I had the beard, the hair, the little glasses, the gloves, and the hat. I did take a moment and said, ‘Can you guys just give me a second?’ I went into my trailer and looked in the mirror and took a little selfie for my kids, and I spontaneously kind of went like, ‘Ho ho ho.’ There was a thing that came out of me that was very Santa, very Christmassy, and very jolly underneath it all.

Thompson: I was going to ask you how you found your Ho ho ho. It’s not a traditional one, but it’s also not too far away from it.

Harbour: It’s kind of the question of the movie. As we were shooting, I looked at it a lot, and at the end of the film, he says, ‘You gave me my Ho ho ho back.’ I think it is a set piece with him. It’s like Austin Powers and his mojo. It was hard finding it in the beginning. As the movie went on, I remember we shot a scene that’s not in the film where he really lets it rip. It was on that day that I found it, and it came up from this place that was within me that had all the joy but also all the insanity of this idea of this crazy Viking guy who comes into your home in the chimney and determines whether you’re nice or naughty (laughs).

Thompson: I wanted to ask you about stuff you filmed that didn’t make the final cut.

Harbour: There is totally stuff that we didn’t use. In marketing, that’s good, and in a good trailer, but in a two-hour film, it’s different. Just watching Santa do what he does is sometimes better than having him say, ‘I’m going to eat these guys like a plateful of cookies.’ Sometimes that’s good for a trailer, and then when you see it, it’s enough instead of gilding the lily and putting too much on it. It was about striking that balance, but I think the marketing of it allows for a lot more of those little moments to be highlighted. We shot a lot of that, and even as we were shooting, we’d go, ‘We probably don’t need this in the movie, but it’s fun to get anyway. You’re in the suit. You’ve got a big ol’ bloody hammer. Why don’t you just say it?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll say it. Let’s do it.’

Thompson: I mentioned the reaction from people at my screening, but what was your reaction when you saw the finished movie?

Harbour: I’m the wrong guy to ask. Have you ever listened to yourself on an answering machine? It’s why I hate watching myself. It’s impossible for me to see, but the great thing is that sometimes when I watch myself, I forget that it’s me and I’ll enjoy the film. At times during this, I was doing that, which means it’s a quality piece of work, which I appreciate. That being said, I’ve watched some crowd reactions at points. That isn’t me watching the movie, it’s me watching other people watch a movie, but that’s been really satisfying. Many people say we have to pitch it because Covid has ruined our theatrical experience, and streaming has also taken a toll on that, but it is one of those movies to see with an audience. As you say, having seen it before the crowd of people, when you see it that way, it has a jovial feel to it, where it does feel like a crowd movie. You get in a space with people, laugh, cover your eyes, and you’re grossed out or moved by stuff; it feels like one of those movies that does want to be seen with a group of people and laughed about afterward.

Thompson: There is a lovely little nod and wink to Die Hard in this from you. It’s when you pull out a gift. It got a big laugh. Was that an improvised line or something that was scripted?

Harbour: Is that in the movie? (Laughs) Awesome. That was in ADR. We were in ADR, and Tommy was like, ‘Just say some stuff as you pull things out of a bag?’ I think I just said a few things and then blurted out, ‘Die Hard on Blu-Ray.’ That was just us messing around. It’s funny how much of that stuff actually makes it in. I’ll warn other actors; you should be careful when you’re messing around with in ADR because sometimes it winds up in the movie.

Thompson: I have to ask you about your perfect pairing suggestion for this movie as a double bill. Should someone see this and then go traditional with something like Miracle on 34th Street or lean more into the action genre with Die Hard or Lethal Weapon or The Long Kiss Goodnight?

Harbour: You could go any way you want because you could totally do Home Alone and then Violent Night or Die Hard and then this, but for me, it would be the original black and white Miracle on 34th Street. If you can stand it because it’s certainly not a new movie, the editing and pace are very slow, and it’s a different type of movie, I am so moved by the end. When she gets the house at the end, we see the guy’s cane, and you know he’s the real Santa Claus. If you watch that movie back to back with this, you’ll have quite a joyous Christmas time.

Violent Night lands in theaters on Friday, December 2, 2022