This Saturday, Will Kemp stars with Reshma Shetty as David, an American in London without a gift for, well, gifts.
After a few run-ins with Anji (Shetty), a personal shopper, he decides to put his gift-giving into her hands.
The result is Jolly Good Christmas, which is a good old-fashioned holiday-romping rom-com. We caught up with Will to talk all about it.
There you are, Will. Hi, how are you?
Oh, I’m good, thank you. How are you? Carissa, isn’t it?
That’s me. Yes. And you’re Will. [laughs] Are you Will?
I am Will. That’s me as long as you are you, and I am me. We’re fine. [laughs]
Good. So nice to talk with you today. Thanks so much for taking the time.
Oh, it’s an absolute pleasure. Great to talk to you and great to meet you.
I’ve actually talked to you before.
When did we talk on? Remind me.
Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce. I can’t believe you don’t remember! [laughs]
That was a lifetime ago. I had such an amazing time on that show. I absolutely loved that, as I probably told you at the time.
It was one of my favorite roles that you’ve ever been in.
I learned such a lot with the people that I got to go to work with every day. It was a great role. I probably told you at the time it was originally a guest star of three episodes, and I ended up doing 15, I think.
You can’t help it when the chemistry is off the charts.
With Alanna Ubach, you have no choice.
That’s right.
She grabs you by the shortened curlies and demands that you are present. She’s awesome, an absolute rock star of an actress.
Today we’re talking about Hallmark movies, and you have made some incredibly successful Hallmark movies.
They have been pretty well-received. I’m very lucky. I have to be honest with you. I love these. I actually really enjoy the opportunity to mix it up with some holiday-themed rom-com.
What excited you about Jolly Good Christmas?
Jolly Good Christmas takes place in London three days before Christmas. An absolute joy to be able to film in London, which I don’t surprisingly get to do that much at all.
One of the challenges of this, and I love a challenge, was playing an American, which I have done quite a bit in the past, but also the real challenge of playing an American in London, shooting in London, surrounded by Londoners and the crew.
Reshma Shetty, who plays Anji Patel opposite me, lives in New York and plays a lot of Americans. For her, the challenge was to remember that she was playing the English counterpart and native to London.
I felt ripped off. I felt cheated that you were playing an American.
Have you seen it?
I have.
You have seen it?
That was the first thing I noticed was, oh my goodness. So often, you do end up playing somebody with an American accent when you don’t have one. Here you are in London, and you’re using an American accent that you don’t have.
I know. [laughs] I very much hope that you were able to get past that soon and enjoy the film, and I hope you were able to embrace the fact that I was playing an American, which I enjoy. I think that there wasn’t a choice. I mean, the way this was scripted, it was brilliantly scripted.
So I think, anyway, and this is what drew me to the project, apart from the producers and the directors I’d obviously worked with before, was Ron Oliver’s script was such a unique and authentic combination of a South Asian family, the Patels in London, and what felt authentic, to then you needed to have an American or someone from another country come in as the outsider. The culture clash.
For me, playing an architect and playing a character who’s only recently come to London was a wonderful opportunity to explore London through the eyes, pretty much, of a tourist.
I absolutely loved being in James’ Park along the embankment in front of the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Somerset House and just to marvel at the architecture, the juxtaposition of the modern and the old, the cobbled stones with the glass buildings. We shot in the old Bailey, at the Old Barons Bank, I believe.
This phenomenal architecture, like glass structure that looks right out on this beautiful building that survived World War II and has been there forever as part of the landmark and the architecture.
I had a wonderful time in that respect, just being able to really revel and admire the architecture of Buckingham Palace and see again and be reminded how wonderful London really is.
You get to share some of that with people who are maybe seeing it for the first time ever, which is always fun, I think.
Exactly. What I love about working with Jonathan Wright, the director, we did Love, Romance, and Chocolate in Brussels in Bruges, which was with Lacey Chabert, and he captures the country or the city that you are in and treats it really like a third character.
I felt, and I hope that you also felt, that it was a real part of our story, very authentically London and that you got to experience, from a pub to a park to the palace to Big Ben.
Even something about racing around with Christmas puddings.
That well-known Christmas tradition of running with a mince pie dressed as an elf. Not to ruin it for anyone, but…
That’s a good tease, I think. That’s something you need to see to believe.
There you go. Yes, I do believe there are a few pictures that I may never live down, but it’s a fun caper. I hope that you enjoyed the ride and there were some laugh-out-loud moments as well as some heartfelt, poignant parts of it and general Christmas frivolity, I hope.
Part of seeing London was whenever you were running through the streets; that’s something else you don’t often see in a Hallmark movie — two lead characters pounding the pavement in that way. What was that like?
Believe me, we did run and gun down Piccadilly, down the arcade, through Somerset House, I believe. Somerset House was phenomenal. A lot gets shot there, but I’ve never filmed, and it’s beautiful. But yes, we were running and gunning. You’re absolutely right.
Hallmark is beginning to explore new avenues. What’s exciting at this time to be a part of that is there’s slapstick in this. I’d say there’s physical comedy. I’d say, to your point, the chase is something that’s traditionally romcom, but maybe not traditionally Hallmark.
They are very cleverly, and highly commendably, beginning to explore all of the elements that ultimately make a more entertaining film.
Now, you see that every movie is different than the next, and the formulaic side is just falling away. Everything’s unexpected at this point.
That’s exciting because, I have to say, I love challenges, as I’ve probably mentioned. A lot of the time with these scripts, it comes with its challenges of what’s new about this?
How can I keep to the formula which is in place, the structure which is in place, but as an actor, where are the opportunities to subvert that or change that, or work against it?
I think that Ron Oliver put a script together that was just the right side of all of that. It’s still within the world that people love and the reason why they tune in.
What’s your pitch? What would you tell people about the movie? What’s the draw of this movie compared to the others that will also be airing in abundance?
It’s Christmas in London. It’s a fun, madcap caper, but it’s still heartfelt. What I learned from doing the film and playing this role was that the perfect gift really is important, and it does exist, but it can take many forms.
If you are open and prepared to listen and pay attention to those you love, the perfect gift will present itself and isn’t always what is expected. It can be very unexpected as well.
My favorite gifts have been the unexpected.
I was having this chat, and we talked about it, and sometimes, it’s an experience, things that are material we have learned as we are growing older that you can’t take it with you, but an experience, you treasure it becomes part of your DNA, part of you.
For example, my brother bought our father and his son, my nephew, a ride in a hot air balloon, which was, I think, in 2020. It kept getting postponed.
But the experience of grandfather and grandson riding in a hot air balloon was such a bonding experience and such a wonderful thing they will never forget. I thought it was a really great gift. That was technically in the form of a gift card.
Gift cards have their place.
They do. But it has to be perfect because it has to be personal and specific to that individual.
My final question for you, because I know you have to cut out, is with the time difference, it seems like it’s going to be impossible for you to tweet along with the film while it airs.
I think it’s one or two in the morning. I will try, and if people are willing to go to @IAmWillKemp on Twitter, I will give it my damnedest.
I always love that, and I love to read all the comments and, hopefully, people will embrace me as an American. I had a great time, and I think it works. Hopefully, you’ll agree.
I agree.
I’m very intrigued to see what people think of it.
Thank you for another great movie, and you have a wonderful holiday season yourself.
Thank you so much. Likewise, I hope you are surrounded by love and happiness and possibly the perfect gift.
Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day, Will.
Thank you. You too. It’s been a pleasure.
Jolly Good Christmas premieres on Hallmark Channel on Saturday, October 29 at 8/7c.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.