Direct a Christmas pageant? Judy Greer “would never do that.” But it’s a different story on-screen.
Greer brings the mayhem in director Dallas Jenkins’ “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” where self-depracating Grace tries to wrangle disobedient kids to put on a community show for the holiday season.
“I don’t even think I met them all,” Greer, 49, joked to The Post about her young co-stars. “There were so many kids. And that actually made me very nervous. I haven’t spent a ton of time with kids, but I have two step-kids. But they were older when I met them. They were 9 and 12 when I met, and there was only two of them instead of like 100, like in our movie.”
“But what I quickly learned on set is that the kids were actually way more together than the adults on set. We have allowed ourselves in the years to fall apart completely and to be unprofessional and lazy! And the children are not,” she went on. “They were amazing and they inspired all of us to be better than we thought we could be.”
The “Halloween” actress “really loved” taking on the part as Grace opposite Pete Holmes, who played her husband Bob.
“She just gets caught up in this whole situation kind of by accident,” she said of leading the annual pageant in town. “I love that Dallas Jenkins allowed me to make her vulnerable and make her self-deprecating and make her nervous and anxious and neurotic and all of the things that make me me. I was really happy that I got to infuse some of that into Grace. It was kind of a big deal. He’s been trying to make this movie for so many years that for him to choose me to play this character was — it made me feel very flattered, but also an enormous amount of pressure.”
In real life, Greer would never lead a holiday pageant.
“Well, actually, if my husband was here, he would be like, ‘What are you talking about? You would totally do that. And then you would come home and you would be in a daze, just like Grace. And you’d be like, ‘What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?’” Greer joked to The Post. “So I guess in some ways, I would volunteer and I would immediately regret it.”
The “13 Going on 30” star can’t recall ever being in a Christmas pageant herself, but she did do the Nutcracker for a few years, and always attends Christmas Eve mass.
“I have these two little goddaughters and they’re so cute. And their mom is one of my best friends. So she and I take the girls to Christmas Eve mass every year and they wear pretty dresses. And I go early and snag us a good spot in the balcony,” she explained. “It’s not necessarily a pageant, but all the kids do the procession to the altar and that’s candle lit and there’s decorations everywhere.”
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” filmed in Winnipeg, Canada, and the weather proved to be off-putting for the California resident.
“It was really cold. And I was putting a lot of creams and lotions on my face. And I bought so many winter coats while I was there and totally forgetting that I live in Southern California,” she recalled. “I remember when [my husband] came to visit me in Winnipeg, and he’s like, ‘What are you going to do with all these jackets at home?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ You have to have a wardrobe of coats when you’re in cold weather. But it seems like there was never one that was exactly right for the right temperature.”
She also learned that indoor parking is a must. Plus, “you’re just not going to have good hair in the winter.”
“That’s just not going to be a thing because you have to have a hat on … You have to have almost like chains for your boots. Those are helpful too,” she quipped. “But I was excited about the cold weather because I live here and it’s always lovely, which is great. And I’m not complaining, but sometimes a little weather is fun. It definitely helped us all get in the Christmas spirit.”
Greer — who counts “Elf” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” as some of her favorite holiday films — started off in the industry in 1997, quickly becoming a standout in projects such as “What Women Want,” “The Wedding Planner,” “13 Going on 30,” “The Village” and “27 Dresses.”
Additionally, she’s starred in the latest “Halloween” and “Jurassic World” franchises, and has made cameos in comedies such as “Modern Family,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Arrested Development.”
“When I started I would do anything. But I really look now for either the story that is being told or the people involved. I’m super fortunate in that right now on this exact day I can do those. I can make choices based on those two things,” she told The Post.
“Sometimes I look for like, maybe it’s something I’m unfamiliar with, like a story I don’t know, or a movie that isn’t necessarily something I would gravitate toward. But the people involved are really interesting to me or the actual character, someone I’ve never played before, or I think that they’re making interesting choices. So that’s always a challenge,” she went on. “I just kind of want to be challenged and I want to be surrounded with people that are passionate. I’m lucky that I can right now. But you know, in the beginning you don’t have that luxury.”
Based on Barbara Robinson’s 1971 classic novel of the same name, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” has earned nearly $33 million worldwide at the box office and is currently in theaters.
The perfect comedy to de-stress over the holidays, it’s expected to be released on digital streaming via premium video on demand on Tuesday, December 10.
