The Holiday movie is an absolute unicorn. Not only does it capture the Christmas magic I want to feel during ~the holiday~ season (and features an all-star cast with Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black, and Kate Winslet), but it's also an amazing rom-com and compelling family story. Each relationship, both platonic and romantic, is compelling, and it'll make you feel just about every emotion: glee, heartbreak, yearning. And I'm convinced that, in addition to an absolutely bulletproof script from our queen Nancy Meyers, the chemistry between the characters can be chalked up to one other thing: the fact they filmed the final scene of the movie first.
Yes, you read that right — they filmed the final scene of The Holiday before they filmed anything else! In an interview with Vulture, Miffy Englefield (who plays the daughter of Jude Law's Graham) talks about how it set the stage for the rest of production.
"That’s the one scene in the film that all of the main characters are together," she says. "So it was a really, really nice starting point for us to be able to get to know each other."
Miffy continues that since she was so young when they filmed the movie, she didn't really understand who she was working with. "My dad was really good at showing me [Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, and Kate Winslet's] work and more underground things that they’d done. He wanted me to realize they were humans and not just these actors."
There was one actor she recognized, however, and that was Jack Black ("I think at that point it was when it hit me like, 'Oh goodness, this is like a thing. This is real, this is real life.'").
That final scene captures the Christmas spirit of your first holiday party, and the excitement when you finally break out that holiday dress you've been dying to wear. Because all the actors did, in fact, get to party! "It was such a nice first day because we were all dressed up," Miffy says. "We’re all raring to go and doing this little party, and we had these canapés, and music playing. It was the loveliest first day I’ve ever had."
Thanks to the energy and community on set for the final scene — which, TBH, I'd never have known was the first scene filmed! — the rest of the movie has that same kind of giddy electricity you feel when you reunite with your best friends or host your first adult party or finally visit New York City during the holidays.
Because just like the party scene is a celebration, The Holiday is about unexpected love and finding joy despite the most heartbreaking, mundane experiences. And *that* is the true magic of Christmas, isn't it?
Did you know The Holiday's end was filmed at the beginning? What's your favorite moment of the movie? Let us know on Facebook!
Lead image via Sony Pictures/YouTube
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