The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with
Meet Me Next Christmas c
o-stars Christina Milian and Devale Ellis.
In Netflix’s #1 movie, Milian’s Layla journeys through New York City in pursuit of the perfect Christmas romance.
During their conversation, Milian and Ellis share behind-the-scenes stories including tips and tricks for challenging scenes, and discuss the
American Pie
legacy.

It took no time at all for Rusty Cundieff’s Netflix holiday rom-com, Meet Me Next Christmas, to soar to the top of the streaming giant’s Top 10 like a shining Christmas tree star. Starring Christina Milian and Devale Ellis, the movie clearly captures not only the seasonal spirit but the hearts of something to the tune of 18 million people — and counting!

So, what’s the special recipe for a crowd-pleasing Christmas flick? Aside from a talented cast and a heartwarming story, its co-stars believe that may have something to do with the hilarity that even had them breaking character on set. Meet Me Next Christmas is about Layla’s (Milian) pursuit of a Christmastime fairy tale love that has her tracking down coveted Pentatonix tickets for a Christmas Eve concert. With her eyes on the prize, Layla receives help from an unexpected accomplice, Teddy (Ellis), in a magical adventure across New York City.

In this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Milian, who also serves as executive producer on the film, and Ellis share their excitement in seeing the movie hit the Top 10. They share “pro tips” and tricks for tricky surprise scenes, why their director’s time on Chappelle’s Show may have given this holiday romance the edge it needed, and revisit Milian’s first-ever feature film role.

Christina Milian Revisits Her First-Ever Movie Role
“I was ‘Band Nerd #2’.”
Image via Universal Pictures

COLLIDER: I definitely have to start with an individual question for you, and that is, what the hell do you remember about filming American Pie ?

CHRISTINA MILIAN: Oh my gosh! [Laughs] First of all, that was the first film I ever did. It was a small role. I played the “Band Nerd,” and I never knew it was going to be the movie that it ended up being — such a huge success. And, of course, I never looked at flutes the same way. Let’s just put it that way. Everybody was like, “Oh, you played a band nerd…” Yes, I was one of those. I had, like, two lines.

You were in a scene with Stiffler. I mean, he was the guy.

MILIAN: Yes!

DEVALE ELLIS: He is American Pie.

MILIAN: He doesn’t let us in. We were at the door and he wouldn’t let us come in. He was like, “Oh no.”

What’s funny is people who are younger who have not seen that movie don’t understand how big that movie was.

MILIAN: It was huge.

ELLIS: It was huge.

MILIAN: They made how many movies?

ELLIS: I think they did two.

Related How To Watch the American Pie Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date) ‘Tis been baking for 23 years…but “Oh! It’s so fresh!”

No, they made about 17.

MILIAN: [Laughs] Seriously.

It’s one of those straight-to-Blu-ray? It’s never stopped.

ELLIS: Oh, for real? I didn’t know that.

MILIAN: Yeah, I think he’s right about that.

I’m joking about the 17. Honestly, they’ve probably made eight. That might not be an exaggeration.

ELLIS: I didn’t know they made that many!

The first one’s the good one.

MILIAN: So, yes, I was “Band Nerd #2” or something.

ELLIS: That’s how we all start.

‘Meet Me Next Christmas’ Is Already a Netflix Christmas Miracle
“We’re dealing with new situations now with streaming.”

It’s weird to be talking to people when the movie is out and successful. What does it mean to you? I read that it was 18.1 million people in the first week or first few days. It’s crazy.

ELLIS: It is.

MILIAN: We feel so grateful. Like you said, press doesn’t come after. It’s usually in advance. But we’re just really humbled. I think we’re humbled by the whole thing. We’re grateful. That means people watched it, people watched it again, and they like it. We’re getting a lot of people who are very complimentary. It’s making people feel good.

ELLIS: It feels good to be a part of something that is being recognized and loved. That’s just a big thing. You put out art, and you don’t know how people are gonna receive it. So, when people can receive it like this and continuously share and tell more people how much they love it and how good they feel, as an artist, that’s what you wanna do. You wanna inspire people and make people feel good, and that’s what we did, so we’re excited.

I’ve talked to so many actors and directors about having to worry about opening weekend and you never really know how something is gonna do, but 18 million people watched. That’s a crazy number. And that’s just already.

MILIAN: Exactly. Like you said, already. And it’s crazy because we’re dealing with new situations now with streaming.

ELLIS: Right. We don’t know what the numbers mean.

MILIAN: We don’t even know what anything means! I’m a big fan of Netflix, and that was my goal in life was to work with Netflix, and now I’m on my third project, and a couple of other things I’ve done with them. But the goal set and the fact that the success comes with it makes it like, “Oh, wow.” I knew that it was the right place for me, and then you find other people that you work with, and it’s just a really great home for us.

Welcome to Devale Ellis’ Surprise Acting Class 101!
Image via Netflix

So you see the shooting schedule in front of you for this one. What day did you have circled in terms of, “I can’t wait to film this,” and was there any day circled in terms of, “Oh, I have to film this?”

ELLIS: I couldn’t wait to do the ball, the dance. I couldn’t wait to do that because I like being on stage. I love live shows. I wanted to see what that experience would be like to have the camera and the crane and actually do the dance. The only day, which was a couple of days later, that I was like, “I can’t wait to get this over,” was getting splashed with the water! It was wild cold outside and I had to get splashed, like, seven times. So, I was like, “Let’s get this over with.” It was super late. But then it was funny because I come back inside, and Christina has Popeye’s chicken, and she’s sitting there warm, sitting by the heater, like, “You hungry?”

MILIAN: I was by the heater.

ELLIS: I was just like, “Man, this is insane.”

MILIAN: Then I had to go out and run in heels in my dress. I had Spanx under there. Believe me, I was hiding some stuff under there. [Laughs]

Image via Netflix

I’ve gotta do a follow-up. What is it like when you know you’re about to get splashed, trying to keep your eyes from closing too soon?

ELLIS: You gotta focus on something that’s not the splash. So for me, I kept telling myself, “Look at the billboard,” right? “Count the letters on the billboard.” Because you have to give yourself something to do. Artistically, they say, “Live truthfully in an imaginary circumstance.” That’s what acting is. If I get out of the car and I know the splash is coming, naturally, I’m going to wait for it. So, what I told myself is, “As soon as you get out this cab, see if you can count all of the letters before you get splashed.” And I got up there and I looked, and every time I did it, I got to the “M” in Christmas, and then I got splashed. So, that’s how it looked that way. That’s how I did it.

Related ‘Meet Me Next Christmas’ — 6 Things To Know About Netflix’s First Christmas Movie of 2024 It’s nearly Christmastime, and Netflix’s latest film will kick off the festivities with carols by Pentatonix.

I’m glad you shared that. Thank you for sharing.

MILIAN: Actually, it’s a great thing that you said that. I’ve always had trouble when I’ve done a film or done anything that acting being surprised. I’m not good at acting surprised. [Laughs]

ELLIS: It’s not easy.

MILIAN: Because in life, I don’t usually get surprised, and if I do, it’s a surprise and it’s natural. But to act surprised is a whole other thing. So, I’m gonna have to take some notes from you.

ELLIS: It’s a good pro tip. I’m gonna start classes — surprise classes. You want to be surprised?

Was there a day that you had circled?

MILIAN: I think my favorite thing I couldn’t wait to film was our dance sequence that we had at the Snow Ball. It was kind of like, “I can’t wait to get it over with,” just because we learned the dance and I just didn’t want to have too much time apart from finally doing it because you have a very heavy film schedule, and sometimes you just want to get that part over with. It was also going to be our first kiss in the movie, and you just never know with your co-stars what the kiss is going to be like. But then when we got there, we did the dance stuff, and then we had to do the kiss stuff, and it was actually like nothing. It was like out of my head. It didn’t matter.

ELLIS: Yeah, it was easy.

Did You Catch Christina Milian’s Character Break?
Image via Netflix

When your co-star’s training you to dance, I swear I saw you breaking in that scene, laughing.

MILIAN: Oh, people noticed that!

ELLIS: [Laughs] Yes, they did.

I’m like, “She’s really laughing.”

MILIAN: Oh, I broke character, for sure. There was no part of me in character watching that scene. I was not in the scene. It was me personally watching the situation happen. So, they cut around a lot of that because I couldn’t be in character with you guys.

ELLIS: That scene was hilarious.

Image via Netflix

By the way, I love that kind of stuff where you can see that the actors are really having a blast doing something.

ELLIS: That was [director] Rusty [Cundieff]. Rusty directed Chappelle’s Show. So, imagine directing [Dave] Chappelle. You can’t tell him what to do and then, “Do it again and again.” You have to be able to capture it, and I think Rusty did a good job of setting the cameras up and letting us do what we do. He was like, “Kalen [Allen], do your thing,” and then, “Improv.” Christina’s improv, like all those dance moves, we never practiced it. We just let him lead us through it, and that’s how it came out.

I think it’s a great scene. I’m not trying to…

MILIAN: Oh, not at all. I love the scene and I love breaking character. We were there for the editing afterwards and I watched all the tapes. I was like, “I’m not in character!” [Laughs] It was like I forgot the cameras were there because they’re so goofy.

ELLIS: It was fun. Kalen is goofy. I can be goofy at times, and we play off of each other. And she’s goofy, too! You see how goofy she is? You weren’t in character, but you were funny in that scene, too.

Meet Me Next Christmas is available to stream on Netflix now.

Director Rusty Cundieff Runtime 105 Minutes Writers Molly Haldeman , Camilla Rubis

Watch on Netflix