With no shortage of credits to his name, the most recent addition to star David Harbour’s lengthy acting resume almost didn’t happen. During the red carpet premiere forViolent Night, Harbour chatted withVarietyabout his recent role in the Tommy Wirkola-directed action-comedy.Though Harbour ultimately decided to portray the film’s Saint Nick, theStranger Thingsveteran stated that he was initially skeptical about tackling the role of Santa Claus. “My initial thoughts were like, ‘What the hell is this? I don’t know what you guys are talking about,'” Harbour said to the outlet.
The concept forViolent Nightinitially came from a sketch created by writers Josh Miller and Pat Casey. According to Casey, the film’s premise was originally from an episode of the pairs’ cable access show that parodied the movieDie Hard. Casey said, “We did one episode where criminals took over the studio, so they were hosting the show. Then we would cut away to Santa, who landed on the roof and was going around killing the bad guys, so he could rescue us.”
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David Harbour Wasn’t Too Thrilled by the Plot of Violent Night
The idea didn’t exactly inspire a positive reaction from Harbour. TheBlack Widowstar said, “It was pitched to me as an action-comedy Christmas movie with Santa Claus at the center — who had a very different past and 10,000 years ago was a very different man — and that he has acquired a certain set of skills that he must use to fight bad guys in the future.” It was the addition of Kris Kringle’s unique skill set that made Harbour pause. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is… I don’t know about this.'” Harbour admitted. Still, despite having doubts about the role, theQ-Forceactor agreed to meet up with the director and producers for the film, which helped Harbour finally gain enthusiasm for the project. The star said, “There was something so special about the attempt that I thought, ‘Wow, if we can hit the right sweet spot with this, it’d be quite a leap – it’d be quite an achievement.'”
Likewise, the film’s director and co-stars couldn’t be more pleased with Harbour’s portrayal. “It was one of those moments where you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, this feels right,'“Wirkola told Variety, expressing that Harbour was his ideal Father Christmas. The director then added, “There’s nobody else who could play this role.” Similarly, actor John Leguizamo (who plays Scrooge) told the media outlet that he felt somewhat intimidated to work with Harbour. “He’s such a good actor that it made me a little nervous.”
In addition toDavid Harbourand Leguizamo,Violent Nightalso stars Cam Gigandet, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson, Leah Brady, André Eriksen, and Beverly D’Angelo.
