Lacey Chabert's Favorite Christmas Movies Are So Wholesome You'll Melt

There are enough celebrities who are currently vying (if unofficially) for the title of Christmas Queen that Lucy van Pelt has some serious competition. In terms of sheer cultural ubiquitousness, Mariah Carey seems to be the frontrunner on the strength alone of her 1994 multi-Platinum single, "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Hot on her heels are some other pop divas, including Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande, and Sabrina Carpenter, who've all had a holiday hit that has remained popular for years afterward. While that's all happening in the music world, things seem a little more clear-cut in Christmas movie land. Sure, numerous actors have been in huge holiday films that are watched year after year, but it's hard to think of another actor who's been in more Christmas movies then Lacey Chabert.

Chabert may not be the Christmas Queen per se, but she is certainly the queen of Hallmark movies, having starred in 28 of those films, with the majority of them being Christmas-themed. Hallmark films aren't Chabert's only holiday outings, either; in addition to Hallmark's "The Christmas Quest," Chabert is also the star of Netflix's "Hot Frosty," both released this year.

Someone who does that many Christmas-themed movies would likely either love or loathe the holiday. Fortunately for Chabert, it seems that the former is the case, as she appeared on an episode of "The Rachael Ray Show" in 2022 to discuss her career and her love of all things Christmas. That discussion included her revealing two of her favorite holiday movies, and it should be no surprise that they're a couple of the most wholesome Christmas films around: 1989's "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and 2003's "Elf."

Both "Christmas Vacation" and "Elf" have been marketed up the wazoo, with new pieces of merchandise licensed from the films sold in stores every holiday season, released in conjunction with the movies themselves playing on basic cable ad nauseam. All of this cultural saturation has made each film feel as familiar and cozy as a warm blanket, and revisiting the movies year after year has the vibe of seeing beloved family and friends during the holiday season. In this way, the effect these movies have on fans and pop culture at large is absolutely wholesome. After all, who doesn't melt at the sight of Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) in a cardigan and Santa hat, or Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) grinning ear-to-ear in his elf costume?

That said, it's a little inaccurate to call the movies themselves "wholesome," even if they seem that way by 2024 standards. "Elf" contains a lot of slyly subversive humor (much of it courtesy of Ferrell's then-writing partner, Adam McKay), with gags involving Buddy being unaware of how the real world operates when it comes to things like sexual politics and alcohol. "Christmas Vacation" is even more openly ribald, a PG-13 movie trying to maintain the R-rated traditions of the first "Vacation" film, including everything from a female temptress for Clark to foul language throughout. If looked at from a censorship lens, both movies have material that is not necessarily for young children.

However, that's all part of their charm, and another example of how the core of a film is so much more important than what's on the surface. Both "Christmas Vacation" and "Elf" are morally wholesome, promoting such qualities as love, togetherness, understanding, forgiveness, acceptance, and the like. Most of Chabert's Christmas movies follow this same ethos and involve similar themes, so it's no surprise that she'd pick these films as her personal favorites.

There is, of course, a great irony beneath all of this, which is that one of Chabert's earliest starring roles in a holiday-themed movie happens to be one of the most grotesque and nasty holiday horror films ever made by a Hollywood studio. That film is 2006's "Black Christmas," the first of two remakes of the 1974 proto-slasher classic. Written and directed by Glen Morgan of "The X-Files," "Final Destination," and "Willard" fame, the film stars Chabert as one of several college students who are being menaced at a sorority house by an escaped killer who grew up in the building many years earlier.

Released the same year as Morgan's writing partner James Wong's "Final Destination 3" (which Morgan co-wrote), "Black Christmas" has a nastiness to it that is special due to a number of factors. For one thing, Morgan and Wong were interested in pushing the envelope at the time, making both "Final Destination 3" and "Black Christmas" uncompromising in their tone and content. For another, Dimension Films and odious executive producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein were unsatisfied with Morgan's original cut of the film, demanding that more violence be added amongst other elements. Thanks to all of this, "Black Christmas" 2006 feels especially twisted.

Ultimately, though, it's Chabert's appearance in the film which further cements her qualification for Christmas Queen, at least when it comes to cinema. She's been involved with so many aspects of the holiday movie, from romance to comedy to horror, and she has great taste in Christmas films to boot. All that is to say, watch out, Mariah; if Chabert ever decides to record a holiday single, we may have to give her that Christmas Queen crown.