Exclusive Interview: Co-Writer and Director Shane Dax Taylor and Co-Writer and Star Austin Nichols Talk The Christmas Classic

Meet the brilliant minds behind the heartwarming holiday film, The Christmas Classic—co-writer and director Shane Dax Taylor, along with co-writer and star Austin Nichols.

In this laugh-out-loud, feel-good tale, Elizabeth (played by Malin Akerman), a big city girl, finds herself back in her quaint hometown on a mission. Her goal? Persuade her old flame, Randy (portrayed by Ryan Hansen), to part ways with his local ski resort and sell it to her fiancé’s corporate giant. However, Randy has a festive condition: Elizabeth must emerge victorious in the annual Christmas Classic, a series of zany ski events dominated by her estranged sister for the past nine years.

In an exclusive interview with Pop Culturalist, Shane and Austin share insights into crafting The Christmas Classic, where they skillfully redefine the conventional holiday genre. Dive into their passion for comedy, independent filmmaking, and more as they unravel the magic behind this delightful cinematic experience.

PC: Shane, you’ve made quite a name for yourself in the action genre, but this is your first venture into comedy. Did anything surprise you about this overall experience? What was the biggest takeaway?
Shane: I love comedies. You kind of get pigeonholed as a director, actor, writer, whatever it may be. This was my chance to break away from that and do something completely different. I want to do more for sure.

I just came off a big action film with 300 stuntmen about a month ago. I’d much rather be in a room with Austin and another actor telling jokes and having a good time as opposed to making sure there’s enough blood or whatnot.

Austin: Shane, I don’t know if you remember, but you kept saying this was your first movie that didn’t have a gun in it.

Shane: 100%.

Austin: You got to bring the family and put them in it. It’s great. It’s so fun.

PC: Austin, you’ve built this illustrious career as an actor. I imagine when you land a role, you want to take what’s there on the page and make it your own. What is that experience like for you watching somebody do that with a script that you co-penned? How have your experiences behind the camera impacted the way that you approach your work on-screen and vice versa?
Austin: That’s a great question because, on this particular movie, we wrote it a few years ago. It took time to send it to people and get it made. Honestly, I kind of forgot about it. When Shane called me and he said, “We have a movie!” He asked me if I wanted to play Bynn, and this is where the two hats come in.

It’s so interesting because when you wear one, you forget about the other. I said, “Hold on. Let me look at it.” I looked at Bynn, and I went to Shane and was like, “I don’t really want to play that.” [laughs] He called again, and he was like, “Could you please think about it again?” I was like, “Shane, come on.” He was like, “Please think about it.” I said, “Okay, let me take the script and play with it for a minute and see if I can do something with Bynn.” That’s a really weird situation to be in because that doesn’t happen a lot. You rarely write something that you’re going to play. It’s dicey and can be so tricky, but the thing that clinched it for me was if this could be a guy who’s completely dominated by his wife the whole time and he does it with a smile, but there’s a crack underneath that, where he’s about to blow. That last speech clinched it for me. I was like, “If we could do this, then I want to play him. It could be fun.”

PC: Shane, comedy is a genre that really encourages improvisation. You’ve got a cast who is well-versed in this space. As a co-writer and director, how do you create the environment where the actors can play? Do you have a favorite moment that was improvised on the day that made the final cut?
Shane: Great question. Besides Austin, who I’ve known, we’ve got Amy Smart, Ryan Hansen, who I’ve also known for a while, Malin Akerman, but I also brought in Carlos Alazraqui, who’s a stand-up comedian. He plays Dick Mountain in the film. We just let him go. We were like, “Here’s the footage. What do you think?” It was hard to not laugh our butts off and have him not break character. There were other actors throughout who did the same thing, but not to his level.

Austin: He had free rein. He did and said whatever he wanted. He always stayed in character and was headed towards the finish of the scene, but he’s so talented and so funny. There’s nothing more fun to watch than that. So with a guy with that talent, you just take the reins off.

PC: Austin, what you’ve both done so brilliantly with these characters and this script is you’ve taken these formulaic holiday films and flipped them on their heads while still remaining that heart. How were the two of you able to toe that line so seamlessly while keeping it grounded?
Austin: Well, one thing that people don’t know, which is fun trivia, this was originally called My Life is a Cable TV Christmas Movie, and it was supposed to be a little dirtier and a little raunchier. But it’s really a parody about these Christmas movies. Shane and I loved the idea of the formula of these Christmas movies, and we wanted to exploit them. [laughs]

Things change as you take on a team because everyone has ideas, and you want to make sure everyone has their say and gets their ideas in there, so things do change. But that was the kernel/birth of it all. It was that we really wanted to have fun with the genre and make fun of it a bit. That’s still in there.

PC: Shane, like Austin was saying earlier, your daughters also have supporting roles in this. How did that come about? Have they caught the acting bug? Were there any nerves with some of the dialog that you had them say in the film?
Austin: [laughs]

Shane: [laughs] I knew that Austin and Amy’s characters needed young daughters for this. I could actually work with my daughter as opposed to showing up and be like, “Hi, nice to meet you. Stand over there and say these lines.” I could work with them in the days and weeks leading up to this, and that’s how they did it.

A lot of these lines go over kids’ heads, and fortunately, they went over my kids’ heads as well. So I was able to get away with that. Like Austin was saying, this film was closer to an R rating, and we brought it back down to PG-13. So a lot of the lines that we said went over the kids’ heads. Once people see the film, they’ll understand what we’re talking about. Only I could get my kids to say some of the things that they say; I’d be embarrassed to get someone else’s kids to say it. [laugh]

PC: Austin, without giving any spoilers, Bynn feels like that character that perfectly exemplifies the unexpectedness of this film where you never know what ridiculous outfit he’s going to wear and it continues to build and build. Why was that final scene so needed? How did you prepare for that moment since it’s very different than the Bynn we see throughout?
Austin: I can’t remember how it was originally, but when Shane and I started talking about me playing Bynn, we really took a look at it. I think Bynn might have become a little bit bigger of a character simply because I was a writer on the movie, which is really weird, but the honest thing to say. [laughs] I knew we wanted there to be great resolution. I didn’t want him to be this dominated husband the whole time. I thought it’d be really satisfying for him to blow up in the end. Selfishly, it was so fun to do. I remember we were on the slopes that day, and we were losing the light. It was coming down to the end. Shane came and was like, “We might only have one or two shots at this.” I was like, “Okay.” Luckily, we got through it before it got dark. But it was so fun to do. You get to blow up and explode. It’s a lot of fun for an actor. It feels good.

Shane: There wasn’t that big monologue. When I was trying to convince Austin to play Bynn, we always knew the character needed that arc, but Austin also wrote this amazing monologue that just happens to be the biggest one in the film. It sets the tone that he has come full circle. He’s been beaten down for so long. He needed to step up and he does in that moment. It really sells the film and that character.

Austin: I’ve always loved characters who are quietly going crazy and showing outwardly that they’re fine. They’re like, “No, I’m fine.” There’s something so endlessly entertaining for me about that.

PC: Shane, the chemistry between your cast is incredible. Was there a moment during filming when you realized they had the dynamic needed to bring these characters to life?
Shane: Yeah, most sets, Austin’s been on more than me, but you do a scene and you go back to your trailer. You don’t see them again until the next morning. On this set, we would all hang out together. We went out to dinners after we finished up our days. On our off days, we all hung out together. We shot this in a cool town in New Mexico called Ruidoso. There were a bunch of places in this town that we would just hang out. That’s rare. I tried to explain that to my kids. I was like, “This isn’t normal. Enjoy these moments.” We had trailers, but I don’t know if anyone ever went into them.

Austin: Hardly at all. I remember one day we broke for lunch, and Malin texted us. She was like, “I’m heading to this great lunch place. Do you want me to grab you something? She bought us all lunch, and I was like, “Who does that?” Malin was incredible, as was Amy, Ryan, and everybody involved. That’s the great thing about a comedy too is that everyone brings that spirit to set. So when Shane calls cut, we’re just going to hang out, joke around, and be with each other for the next hour while we’re waiting for the lights to be set up for the next scene.

Shane: It is very rare. I just came off another film, and you want to recreate that, but it just happened with this cast. Hopefully, it’ll happen again. We wrote an end credit scene so hopefully there’ll be a sequel and do it again.

PC: Austin, you’ve worked on projects of all sizes. What is it about independent filmmaking that excites you as a creative and storyteller?
Austin: Freedom. There’s something so special about a small group of people getting together that are passionate and want to make something so badly. There are always notes. There are always people who want things changed. That’s always going to happen. That’s part of what we do. But it’s having a small group of people who believe in something.

We went to shoot this in a tiny little town in New Mexico with a ski resort. On the first day, there’s a blizzard. We can’t even get up to the mountain. We lost half a day. Then when we all get up there, we’re fighting and scratching to make the day and make it happen. That’s everything. We do a movie in fourteen days, and everybody gets to go home to their families, and we have this great story to tell. There’s nothing like it. Indies are the best.

PC: The writing is absolutely hysterical. I actually found myself laughing out loud watching some of the absurd things that these characters say. I know both of you initially set out to make an R-rated holiday movie. How much further were you planning on pushing the script and what didn’t make that final cut?
Shane: I’ll start. The opening sequence is now animated. It wasn’t before. We were able to change some lines and say somethings. It opens, for those who haven’t seen it, with Malin on stage doing a drunken karaoke bit, and it went a lot further. It had some different lines. We were able to change that up and bring it back down, and do an animated sequence. It’s kind of like A Christmas Vacation. It opens with an animated sequence and it’s a lay of the land. That’s the biggest part.

Then Dick Mountain. He goes off on some tangents. They were absolutely hysterical. We sent it to Quiver, and we weren’t sure if we were allowed to push it that far. Maybe we’ll do deleted scenes and put it out there.

Austin: I was just talking about this the other day with someone. That’s what I miss about DVD special features and commentary. We lost that. I wonder if that’s something moving forward we should bring back because I always loved watching that stuff. Another Easter egg that people will never see on screen is we originally had a very dirty grandmother who had a very, very, very potty mouth. She was removed. We removed her entirely from the film. But if we ever make a sequel or anything like that, we’re going to find a way for the grandmother to show up.

Make sure to follow Austin on Twitter and Instagram. Watch The Christmas Classic wherever you stream movies.