Your Holiday Guide to Gift Giving with Judy Greer and Pete Holmes
The two charismatic comedic actors, now starring in ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ share their ideas to make your Holiday season the best ever as well.
Audiences are likely accustomed to watching the comedy of Judy Greer and Pete Holmes on smaller screens, whether it be TV, tablets or phone. Holmes especially has made a name for himself with internet content, bringing his brand of energetic ridiculousness to dozens of pop-culture loaded sketches or highlights of his standup career. Greer, has made a name for herself in comedic television such as ‘Archer’ as the overly-sexed and ribald Cheryl Tunt (whose name, itself evokes ribaldry) and other memorable appearances in ‘Arrested Development’, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘American Dad’, but she’s also no stranger to the big screen.
Greer has diversified her portfolio over her career to include political dramas such as ‘The First Lady’, recent takes on iconic horror stories with ‘Halloween’ and its sequel, and massive blockbusters like ‘Antman’ and ‘Jurassic World’. In ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’, based on the book by Barbara Robinson, the coupling of the Judy-of-all trades and the internet merryman works extremely well, as the two show off their trademark heart and family-next-door energy.
Check out the full interview with Greer and Holmes below, or continue scrolling for the remainder of the article.
Greer and Holmes play Grace and Bob, prominent and giving members of their community who are suddenly thrust into a chaotic Christmas situation. After an accident sidelines the usual director, Grace volunteers to take on the town’s annual Christmas pageant, which is one of the most anticipated events every single year. The chaos comes in the form of the Herdmans, the worst kids in town, who suddenly want to be major players in the pageant despite never having attended church prior to this. Bob and Grace and their kids are the only ones in town to embrace the holiday spirit and really give the Herdmans a chance.
Holmes, who is a gourmet when it comes to pop-culture consumption, gives off an old school Bing Crosby kind of vibe, including the dated avuncular-type sweaters he dons as Bob. When asked to build the perfect Christmas movie Dad from pieces of father’s past, Holmes barely needed a breath to delve into some of his favorites.
“I would take the silliness from Tim Allen in ‘The Santa Claus’, with the goofiness of Clark Griswold, mix those two in a blender, then I want a sprinkle of Hugh Grant from ‘Love Actually’.” Greer can’t help but try and contribute to her costar’s recipe by adding ‘Elf’s Bob Newhart’s trademark dry wit. Throughout the interview, the duo give excellent suggestions to each other as if the spirit of the season has already taken over. Holmes’ Bob is responsible for the most memorable gift within the film, when Bob delivers a giant ham for the Herdmans, who seem like they’re in need of a regular meal. That ham becomes a symbol within the story about the gift of simply caring.
When prompted, Greer had to reflect on someone who was her ‘Grace’ in life - someone who had given her a gift when she felt overlooked or forgotten. She immediately harkened back to early in her career.
“My first job was for Doug Ellen on a movie called ‘Kissing a Fool’. He gave me my first acting job ever. So that's pretty amazing” Greer admits. Once again, with a slight push from her on screen partner, Greer remembers one other ghost of Christmas past who really helped. “Mrs. Hutchison in high school, obviously. She gave me the best advice of my life, which was ‘when in doubt, sing loud’. It definitely taught me not to be timid in the room or timid on stage, and to really go for it.”
Not to be outdone, Holmes was asked to think about a time when someone gave him ‘his ham’ - an important gift that meant a lot. His response was a little of the darker introspection usually found I Holmes’ stand up. “Well, I'm from a family of terrible, terrible gift givers. They would be unwrapped in my mom's office, just sitting there for us to see. No surprises. I love my family, but we're not good at gifts, so you'd only get what you asked for, which is one way to do it…” Holmes laughs at his family’s tradition.
“But when I married my wife, Valerie, and I started celebrating Christmas with her family, her mom, Beth, gave me a book that I had mentioned once in passing. [They’re] expert gift-ninjas that would give you not just like what you asked for. It's been a great joy of my life to keep a year round file in my phone, writing down gift ideas. I learned it from them.”
What does Holmes consider to be the perfect Holiday surprise? “All the best sugar cereals wrapped up”.
“I did that for my wife one year, because we're kind of one of those houses that don't buy Cinnamon Toast Crunch, because you just end up eating the whole box. But on Christmas, it was the last gift. I'm talking Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frosted Flakes is a surprise sleeper hit, Cinnamon Life. People go nuts. There’s something nostalgic and Christmassy about it.”