Who’s ready for Christmas? Okay, before you start throwing things at me, you have to understand that I just got back from Vancouver, British Columbia. No, I wasn’t frolicking in a winter wonderland, per say, but I was wearing a Santa hat the entire trip.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment sent me and 4 other bloggers to Canada to experience behind the scenes action of the upcoming movie that will be released just in time for the holidays, Jingle All the Way 2! Nearly 20 years from the release of the first movie that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, and the late Phil Hartman, we all wondered the same question, “why now?” The answer we got from the director Alex Zamm as well as star of the new film, Larry the Cable Guy, is why not now?!
Jingle All the Way 2 is a collaboration between Fox and the WWE and if that sounds wild, you’ll be eager to know that Larry the Cable Guy is cast next to comedic wrestler Santino Marella (Anthony Carelli) in the film as well as the ADORABLE and talented 7-year old Kennedi Clements. Though we can’t say too much about what we witnessed…yet. I can tell you that the actors are fantastic in the film, there is some tender moments and lots of comedy, and it’s going to be a great family movie this holiday season! Also, being on set is such a surreal event. Watching the actors and directors and producers and cameramen and lighting and extras and makeup people all working together like a well-oiled machine is awe-inspiring. Of course there’s take after take of the same lines at different angles and different verbal inflections that must get monotonous to many but it’s what it takes to make a great movie! Also the phenomenal rapport that director Alex Zamm had with the actors and especially the 7-year old girl was great to see! I have an 8-year old daughter that couldn’t hold it together for one photo, so seeing such a young actress perform so maturely was impressive.
Oh and then there was the time where we ventured over to Larry’s tour bus and kicked it in his make-shift tent while chatting and watching golf. Did I mention there was torrential rain at this point? Larry the Cable Guy (Dan Whitney) is truly an amazing man. He treated us like family, spoke highly of his children that had just visited him on set the previous week, and even passed around photos of the kids on his iPhone! He’s proud of this movie and went as far as changing some semi-foul language in it to keep it clean for his own family and ours! It was strange to hear him speak outside of Larry’s persona, I was surprised to not even detect much of an accent. But when he went all “Giterdone” mode in the conversation I was just beaming ear to ear. Not to mention this funny tidbit: When praying for some kind of free wi-fi in the Canadian streets we could connect to, just near Larry’s tour bus we found this network connection, and no we didn’t ask for his password!Larry had me again raving over his personality when on a slight break in filming he engaged a passer-by (man in a motorized scooter) in conversation. Literally, they sat and chatted about whatever strangers chat about for nearly 30 minutes. Larry kept strong eye-contact and seemed as if he knew this man all his life. Really put a celebrity back in the “human” column for me!On our last day out, we moved set locations and met up with Santino Marella and watched part of one of his scenes being filmed. We interviewed him casually and loved that he too was just a down to earth guy and father of a daughter who may be getting into acting herself soon! I don’t believe because it’s a Christmas movie that this photo gives too much away..Thanks so much to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and the Fox Home Entertainment Insiders for sending me on such an amazing trip! Stay tuned to hear more as the details of the film making are released and the movie debut nears!
I attended this event on behalf of The Mommy Files, my all-expenses paid media trip was hosted by Fox, all opinions and experiences my own!