Merry Little Ex-Mas’ Alicia Silverstone, Jameela Jamil, & More Talk Netflix Movie

A Merry Little Ex-Mas stars Alicia Silverstone, Oliver Hudson, Jameela Jamil, and Pierson Fodé spoke with ComingSoon about their new Netflix movie. The group discussed the film’s funniest moments, its characters, and more. It is now streaming on Netflix.

“Recently divorced Kate (Alicia Silverstone) hopes for one last perfect family Christmas before selling her house. But her holiday plans are hilariously derailed when her ex-husband Everett (Oliver Hudson) unexpectedly introduces his younger and successful new girlfriend,” says the synopsis.

Tyler Treese: Alicia, I was so excited because I wanted to see you and Melissa Joan Hart on screen forever, and it really lived up to my excitement level, getting to see you guys. So what stood out about working with Melissa? I know you both were producers on this as well.

Alicia Silverstone: Well, to be honest, I’d never seen Melissa act before this. I know that’s like illegal, but I had no idea, and I was really impressed. I enjoyed working with her. I think she’s a really good actress, so I loved it. I loved working with her as an actress.

Oliver Hudson: Have you seen me act before?

Alicia Silverstone: No.

Oliver Hudson: Okay, great.

Alicia Silverstone: I’ve never seen any of you. None of you.

Oliver Hudson: She had cast approval, but she’s like, “I don’t, I guess…”

Alicia Silverstone: No, I had to go through and watch things [laughs].

Jameela Jamil: She does eenie meenie miney mo, and then we got the jobs [laughs]. I am an Alicia and Melissa super fan, and so my inner 9-year-old lost my mind and I have… I dunno [about] this ’cause this is creepy. I have multiple selfies that I was taking of myself when they were acting together. I’m just like in the background, just showing my friend where I am because I lost my mind with excitement. So it was very, very cool for me.

Oliver, your character and Alicia’s are going through an “conscious uncoupling.” I love the use of that phrase throughout the film. How is it showing that these two had a reason for wanting to get divorced, but that there was still this connection and love was still there? How was it finding that balance? Because I thought it was really well done.

Hudson: Yeah, I think it speaks to sort of just relationships in general. I mean, I think those embers were still burning, and they just needed to be stoked a little bit.

Sometimes you can just pass each other like ships in the night, and then before you realize it, you have built up resentment, and you haven’t talked about it, you haven’t communicated. And the scar tissue is now thick, and it’s easier to say, “You know what, let’s go our separate ways because this isn’t working.” When the reality is, it just needs to be talked about, you know? And I think that’s sort of what happened here.

Jamil: I think you also just need to date a new woman who’s so annoying that she sends you hurtling back to your original wife.

Hudson: Right [laughs]. Or that.

I didn’t think your character was that annoying, Jameela. One thing I liked about the film was that there wasn’t a clear-cut villain. We do get to see a lot of the good sides of your character, too. So what really appealed to you about this role, Jameela?

Jameela Jamil: That was something we talked about a lot. I think the temptation with Christmas movies or anything where there’s the new woman is for her to be, especially the big city girl from loads of privilege coming around and looking down on the town, looking down on the ex-wife, like sabotaging.

We didn’t want that dynamic. It’s been done to death. I think we wanted to show that it’s just two women navigating their own love lives who aren’t enemies with each other. They’re just caught in a very tricky triangle. And I like that. I like the idea of not pitting women against each other all the time. And I wanted her to be likable. I wanted it to be a challenge of you not wanting to know who you are rooting for necessarily, but obviously it’s gonna be Kate.

It’s just that it was fun to play nuance and someone who’s just like… she’s sort of having her own manic episode, you know. She’s living a perimenopausal fever, right? You know, in this film. And so why is she at this man’s house that she’s known for a few weeks, and she’s with his ex-wife, and she’s trying to make it seem like that’s completely normal, and she’s just coping through the whole thing.

She’s just, you know, she’s going through her own little experience, and I’m glad that she wasn’t the typical villain. I think that would’ve been very boring.

Pierson, you have my favorite scene in this whole film. I thought you were hilarious in it. How was it doing the exotic dance at the table? That was incredible, my girlfriend and I were both screaming during it. It was so funny.

Oliver Hudson: I can answer this for him.

Pierson Fodè: Oh, please.

Hudson: It was easy for him because that’s what he had done prior to becoming an actor.

Fodè: That’s how I made my money in LA for years, and got my first job, was exotic dancing. Actually, at Oliver’s house [laughs]. Just for him in his room. It was very interesting.

No, it was a blast. We had a great time. I mean, we, we couldn’t stop laughing the entire day. Every scene that we shot I think was kind of funny and magic.

Jamil: I don’t think I’ve ever seen Alicia smile more.

Alicia Silverstone: It was really funny. It was hard not to laugh very hard at that scene. Yeah, there’s a scene where you are just walking out. He kisses me and leaves, and he’s tripping on ice. Everything he did, I was snorting with laughter, and I just think it’s so brilliant that someone is handsome, and obviously, we’ve all talked about his body, all that stuff, but he is just such a good actor. He plays the opposite. He goes for comedy at all times. He goes for goofy, ridiculous at all times, and that’s really cool.

Fodè: Oh, thank you.

Source: Comingsoon.net