Kurt Russell's Dedication To Santa In The Christmas Chronicles Was Unmatched

Method acting is a controversial topic, mostly due to the bad rep this kind of preparation has gotten due to the ridiculous things someone like Jared Leto does or the absurd physical transformations actors like Christian Bale go through. But not all extensive acting prep requires an actor living as their character. Sometimes, it's just weeks or months of research that get tossed out the window on a whim if the director has something different in mind.

Still, when you hear about the lengths an actor goes to in order to prepare for a role, you don't normally hear it being said about Santa Claus. It's true, though: Kurt Russell is so committed to the art of cinema he gives Santa the kind of preparation and research normally reserved for the work of William Shakespeare.

Speaking with Business Insider in 2020, "The Christmas Chronicles" director Chris Columbus said that Russell wrote an extensive backstory for his take on Santa in the film. "Kurt wrote probably 175 to 200 written pages about Santa's history," Columbus explained. "He just went and did that on his own. He's just committed to the role in such a major way."

Likewise, when interviewed by ComicBook.com that same year, Columbus said Russell had answers for anything and everything related to the character, whether it was "about the mythology, about how he met Mrs. Claus. We couldn't use [all of it]. And that is his level of commitment." Columbus added:

"If you talk with him, he's very serious about this. He approaches it as if he were a method actor playing Santa Claus. And that's what got me so excited about the first movie, is that you're given that as a director and you've got to run with it."

Kurt Russell has played some truly iconic characters in hugely popular movies — and that's not counting how George Lucas wanted him to play either Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. So it may seem a bit weird that Russell would go to such lengths for Santa Claus. Except, he's been pretty open about how big of a deal it was to play the Father Christmas.

Speaking with GQ about his most iconic roles, Russell broke down how much Santa means to him. "Santa Claus is one of my favorite characters ever," he said. "It was so big in our household, my father's presentation of it as a mystery." He also called Santa "a great sweet, wonderful saint of a man, who is a real person. It's not a comic book character."

Recently, on Conan O'Brien's podcast promoting his role in "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters," Russell was asked about his biggest role, the one that follows him around the most. Is it a Tarantino movie? Snake Plissken? No. Santa. "The biggest one I've ever had is Santa Claus," Russell said. "Everybody saw it. It was really fun to do. It was something I always wanted to do. Kind of fun to go from Snake to Santa Claus."

The thought of Kurt Russell considering playing Santa Claus his biggest achievement, not kicking Elvis in the chin or even playing Elvis in a movie directed by John Carpenter, is baffling and incredibly delightful. More than anything, it is a true Christmas miracle.