The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with screenwriter, producer, and director Richard Curtis for Netflix’s
That Christmas
.
Written by Curtis and directed by Simon Otto,
That Christmas
explores overcoming the hardships of the holidays beyond the glitz and glamour.
In this conversation, Curtis reveals he’ll no longer be directing, why this may be the “last chance” to catch his work, shares his first experience working on an animated movie, and more.

After years of dominating Hollywood with his charming romantic comedies, British screenwriter, producer, and director Richard Curtis is finally taking a swing at animation. The man owns the market for holiday movies that serve as an any-time re-watch since penning Bridget Jones’s Diary and Love Actually, but for Netflix’s holiday line-up this year, Curtis teamed up with first-time feature filmmaker Simon Otto (How to Train Your Dragon) to adapt his own book trilogy with That Christmas.

According to Curtis, the holidays are a time to “take stock of our lives.” In this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, he says, “I think Christmas is a really good time to set a story that’s about childhood, family, and community.” That’s why That Christmas, featuring the vocal talents of Bill Nighy, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, and Brian Cox, highlights the hardships of the holidays rather than just glorifying the glitz of the season. It’s a story that blends magic with real-life issues of managing loneliness and discovering self-worth, and will surely become a new favorite on rotation every year.

Check out the full conversation to find out what Curtis has planned next, why he gravitates to holiday stories like these, how that Love Actually Easter egg even surprised him, and tons more. You can watch the interview in the player above or read the transcript below.

Richard Curtis Is Finished Directing – “It’s Just Not Gonna Happen”
Though he could be persuaded under one condition…
Image via Universal Pictures

COLLIDER: I really wanna thank you for your work. So many of your things mean so much to me.

RICHARD CURTIS: That’s very, very sweet of you. I’ve peaked after this. After this, I don’t think there’s much to come, but I’m glad.

That actually leads me to my next thing. What do I need to do to get you to direct again?

CURTIS: It’s just not gonna happen. Although, I have actually directed the pop video for the Ed Sheeran song in the middle of the movie, and I rather enjoyed that. But the big secret was that we shot it entirely in my house, so maybe the only thing we can do is just come up with a movie that’s just set on my street, and I might do that. I don’t want to get up early, and I don’t want someone to offer me bacon sandwiches every morning. I’ll just eat them.

When we spoke last time, you mentioned to me you had a much longer cut of Pirate Radio , and now that I have you again, what do I need to do to get you to show it to me?

CURTIS: I’ve gotta find it, the four-and-a-half-hour version.

Related This Underrated Richard Curtis Comedy Is One of His Best – And It’s Not a Rom-Com Curtis delivered a love letter to the ’60s with this underappreciated feature.

You said five hours and 15 minutes.

CURTIS: Five hours and 15 minutes. Even I thought that was a bit long, but the 4.5-hour one I’d love us to watch together.

I’m just gonna ask, please look for it.

CURTIS: Okay. You follow me. Stalk me for it.

I’m dead serious, though. I really would like to see it.

‘That Christmas’ Is Richard Curtis’ First and Last Animated Feature

This is your first animated movie. What the hell took so long?

CURTIS: Do you know, I just don’t know that I thought I could presume to do an animated movie. What’s been so gorgeous about this one is what I’ve written has tended to be quite close to my own life and quite realistic, and I think if I’d ever thought I was gonna do an animated movie, I would have thought, “It better be set in space and it better have huge monsters in it.” What was lovely is that I’d written these small little children’s books and someone said, “Let’s make an animated movie, but let’s make it intimate like the Charlie Brown Christmas animation,” which I so loved when I was little. So, I think what took me so long was misunderstanding that it might be possible to do an animated movie that was really kind of personal, and just to do with little feelings at Christmas rather than a whole alternate universe.

What did you learn making this that you would take with you if you do another animated film?

CURTIS: Oh, that’s such a good question. I think the detail of emotion that comes out in this movie with the little kids’ faces and everything like that is a real joy to me. I think that I would take with it that I could tell any kind of story with any kind of detail of emotion, and it would be fulfilled.

Is there a chance I can get you to direct an animated movie where you direct from home?

CURTIS: No. This movie is directed by Simon Otto, and this movie would be terrible if it were directed by me. [Laughs] He was so wonderful. My big takeaway is people in animation are nicer than people in live-action, and the reason is, I think, because they know they’re gonna have to spend, as it were, five years together in the same cell. So, they better behave well from day one.

Even though this is based on your books, one of the things about animation is it often goes through big changes during the production process. Were there any big changes that happened on this or was it pretty much what you wrote at the beginning?

CURTIS: There was one big change. The first time we screened the movie, the movie had a much gentler beginning. Actually, this has happened a couple of times in movies I’ve done. In Bridget Jones’ [Diary], that song she sings at the beginning, “All by Myself,” that came later in the movie, and we thought, “Let’s tell everyone she’s lonely and sad.” In this movie, it now starts with a flash forward to Santa arriving, so it starts with an action sequence like Raiders of the Lost Ark . That was the one big change. That always just came in the middle. So, there was one dramatic moment, but otherwise it’s pretty well the movie that we wrote.

Related From ‘Notting Hill’ to ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’: 10 British Rom-Coms That’ll Make You Swoon Seep into these movies with a warm cup of tea.

One of the things that I commend you for is that the kids are dealing with real issues and second-guessing their worth at times. It’s real people. Talk a little bit about writing that and why it’s important to not just dumb it down.

CURTIS: I’ve always thought that what was interesting to me was the only thing I could write convincingly about. So, in the book, there was a lonely boy, and I didn’t explain why he was lonely. Then when we got to writing the movie, I thought, “Well, I’m not going to make him have a father who’s an explorer and a mother who lives in France. I’m going to think, ‘What would be difficult now in my village?’” So, I gave him a mum who was working overworked as a nurse — it’s a sort of pandemic story — and a dad who just left and was still living in London. I try and write what’s real to me, and I assume that that’s going to be of interest to other people rather than having to make up stuff which I don’t feel.

Don’t Miss the ‘Love Actually’ Easter Egg!
“I thought it was going to be some ghastly American ‘Miracle on 58th Street’…”
Image via Universal Pictures

Whose idea was it for Love Actually and putting clips in the film?

CURTIS: It was not my idea. It was very rude. I came in one day, I thought it was gonna be a clip from some ghastly American Miracle on 58th Street. It’s a moment where they say, “We don’t want to watch the horrible, boring Christmas movie.” It turned out to be my movie, but it is 20 years old now, so I think it’s fair.

I personally loved it. A lot of people won’t realize what the connection is, but I knew the connection.

CURTIS: So did I!

You write about the holidays a lot and Christmas. What is it about the holidays that has resonated with you, that has caused you to write so much about it?

CURTIS: I think it’s changed, actually. When I wrote Love Actually, I was very interested in Christmas as a sort of deadline. I always used to sort of be half in love with a girl and think, “I better buy a present that proves that I’m in love.” Now, what I love about Christmas is that it’s the one time a whole family, a really broad family, about 30 of us, all come together and take stock of our lives. So, I think Christmas is a moment when you work out are you happy? Are you sad? How are things going? What could the future hold? I think Christmas is a really good time to set a story that’s about childhood, family, and community.

Related The 10 Best Richard Curtis Movies, Ranked Richard Curtis has made some fantastic movies throughout his career, and these are the best.

As a fan of your work, what are you currently working on?

CURTIS: I’m trying to experiment with a few new things. I might be doing a musical. I might be writing a short book. I even tried to write a poem. So, I’m not over-optimistic. I think if anyone wants to enjoy my work, they should watch this film. It might be their last chance.

I’m gonna say no, there’s gonna be more. Do you have a desk filled with unproduced ideas and scripts? What’s your ratio for writing something and getting it made?

CURTIS: My ratio has recently got better because I spend half my time doing my charity work, and therefore I don’t make the films I shouldn’t make because I’m waiting such a long time. But over the whole of my career, it’s 50/50. There are about seven films I wrote that never got made. There’s two sitcoms I wrote that never got made. People should be encouraged. If they think that I’ve written films that they like, I’ve also written films that they wouldn’t have liked.

That Christmas will hit Netflix on December 4.

The story of a Christmas that needed more than just a sack full of fixing.Director Simon Otto Cast Brian Cox , Fiona Shaw , Jodie Whittaker , Bill Nighy , Lolly Adefope , Alex Macqueen , Katherine Parkinson , Sindhu Vee , India Brown , Zazie Hayhurst , Sienna Sayer , Rosie Cavaliero , Paul Kaye , Guz Khan , Andy Nyman , Jack Wisniewski , Kuhu Agarwal , Bronte Smith , Freddie Spry , Ava Talbot , Rhys Darby Runtime 92 Minutes Writers Peter Souter , Richard Curtis Expand