Disney+’s upcoming miniseries The Santa Clauses will be a bit passing of the torch event for The Santa Clause franchise. Not only will Scott Calvin’s time as Santa finally come to an end, but many other new characters will also join the franchise in his place. Rupali Redd, Matilda Lawler, and Devin Bright are among the new cast member to join The Santa Clauses in various pivotal roles.
For Scott Calvin (Tim Allen), the time has finally come to retire in The Santa Clauses. However, as he prepares his family for a whole new life away from the North Pole, the first order of business will be finding a new Santa to take his place.
We speak to Rupali Redd, Matilda Lawler, and Devon Bright on the making of The Santa Clauses and their roles as some of The Santa Clause franchise’s newest young characters Grace Choksi, Santa’s aide Betty, and Santa’s close elf friend Noel.
The Cast on The Santa Clauses
Screen Rant: The Santa Clauses is kind of a legacy story from how Scott Calvin became Santa that all of you are entering. Were you big fans of The Santa Clause series and how did that influence how you approached each of your roles in the series?
Rupali Redd: Definitely. The Santa Clauses was so magical, and it felt kind of like a fourth Santa Clause movie. It really fun and exciting to play that role, it’s really fun.
Matilda Lawler: You used the word ‘legacy’, and I think that’s a great way to say it. It’s this iconic film franchise, and it felt like we had this duty to protect it and add on to it in a special way. So, it was a really special experience.
Devin Bright: Yeah, ‘legacy’, like Matilda said, it’s iconic, so I feel like I had a duty to protect it, but also become a part of it, and make it sort of where I’m also a part of it, and I’m not just continuing it, but I’m also making it a little bit of my own. And so, it was trying to find that balance, but it was really, really fun to film. And so, I hope that people feel the nostalgia come back, but they can also appreciate the new characters that come in.
The Santa Clause series also had a lot of really memorable characters like Bernard the Elf. In taking on roles like being an elf to a Santa who has been around for 28 years now, what were some of the ways you all tried to put your own staple on each of your characters in the series?
Devin Bright: I feel like adding some of my personality to Noel is a way that I do that, and then just performing my character well that I can become one of those elves that when people watch the franchise they love. So, I feel like adding my own personality to it kind of makes it to where I can kind of add my own take on my character and my own take on elves. So, it was really fun for me to try to do that.
Rupali Redd: Yeah, it was really fun because I got to add some of my actually personality into the TV show. I’m half-black, half-Indian, and so is my character, which is very fun for me to play, because it’s kind of like me.
Matilda Lawler: I really like the question. I feel like anytime you’re playing a character, you kind of are naturally there in the character. Your personality is already kind of naturally there, but I guess I did add my own personal spin on to it at time, like Devon and Rupali said. I’m obsessed with my character, and so I was so excited to play her.
About The Santa Clauses
Scott Calvin is on the brink of his 65th birthday and realizing that he can’t be Santa forever,” the log line reads. “He’s starting to lose a step in his Santa duties, and more importantly, he’s got a family who could benefit from a life in the normal world, especially his two kids who have grown up at the Pole.
Check out our other The Santa Clauses interviews here:
The first two episodes of The Santa Clauses debut on Disney+ on November 16th.