‘A Merry Little Ex-Mas,’ with its ’90s nostalgia and relatable drama, is a dream for its stars

by

Oliver Hudson had the biggest crush on Cher Horowitz.

Hudson fell in love with her after seeing the 1995 movie “Clueless,” which instantly made Alicia Silverstone famous. The movie had a fantastic cast, and everyone seemed to have a starring role, but the story really centered on Silverstone’s character, Cher – the bubbly and popular girl at the heart of Beverly Hills high school.

Young women wanted to dress like Cher. Hudson wanted to date her.

The actor, who is now 49, recently shared that Cher was his biggest inspiration. He explained he once tried to find someone like her in Los Angeles, but wasn’t successful. He was particularly impressed with Alicia Silverstone, finding her incredibly charming in the film and recognizing her as a talented actress overall.

Actor Hudson was happy to join the cast of “A Merry Little Ex-Mas,” Netflix’s new holiday film. He admitted he was a little apprehensive before reading the script, fearing it might require some nude scenes. He recalled previous holiday movies, like “Hot Frosty” and “The Merry Gentlemen,” featured shirtless actors, and he didn’t want to be asked to do the same. He jokingly worried about having to dye his gray chest hair for the role, as he’s approaching 50 and wasn’t keen on the idea.

Television

The popular actor, known for his roles as a teen idol, is in a new holiday movie on Netflix. Filming involved a lot of dancing and showing off his impressive physique.

“A Merry Little Ex-Mas” avoids being awkward. The film stars Hudson and Silverstone as a divorced couple spending one final Christmas together with their children in the charming town of Winterlight, Vermont. Hudson plays Everett, a doctor focused on his career, while Silverstone is Kate, a kind and resourceful woman who can fix anything… except her marriage. As they raise their kids, Sienna and Gabe (played by Hudson’s son, Wilder), the couple has drifted apart, and Kate quietly resents giving up her dream career. Years ago, she’d sacrificed a promising job as an environmental architect in Boston to support Everett’s move to the countryside and help him build his medical practice. Now, she feels she’s lost her chance to make a real difference in the world, and that regret weighs heavily on her.

This movie has everything you’d want in a heartwarming holiday film: lots of silly fun, beautiful lights, and even genuine snow. But it’s not just fluff – there’s also some serious, relatable drama, particularly in the complex relationship between Kate and Everett. It feels authentic and mature, not just like a contrived plot device.

Silverstone, who worked on the show with Melissa Joan Hart and her mother Paula, believes divorce is never an easy decision. She says she’s never met anyone who would casually end a marriage, particularly if both people still have feelings for each other.

The story needed a happy conclusion, but Silverstone felt it wasn’t believable if the couple simply got back together too easily. She wanted them to face challenges and work for their reconciliation, because it seemed unrealistic for two people to split up and then decide they wanted to be together again so quickly, all within the space of a 90-minute film.

Jameela Jamil and Pierson Fodé join the cast as temporary challenges to Everett and Kate’s attempts to fix their marriage. Jamil plays Tess, a witty and glamorous New Yorker who leads a global charity. She enters Everett’s life after an accidental fall, and he invites her to spend the holidays with him and Kate – creating a very uncomfortable situation! Jamil, a longtime fan of Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, immediately accepted the role.

Jamil, known for her playful personality and work on “The Good Place,” jokingly admitted she would have agreed to anything for the project. However, after reading the script by Holly Hester, she was pleasantly surprised by how heartwarming and genuine its portrayal of Christmas was.

She was glad Tess avoided a tired stereotype – the arrogant newcomer from the city. Tess didn’t arrive with a bad attitude, which was a refreshing change.

Jamil explained she was tired of seeing the same type of character repeatedly. She wanted to create someone genuinely sympathetic, someone Kate’s character wouldn’t automatically dislike, especially considering Kate is also going through a personal change. Jamil jokingly called the project ‘Perimenopause: The Christmas Movie’ because she believes many people can relate to the character’s experience – a woman simply seeking love while navigating a difficult time, as evidenced by her questionable decision to spend Christmas with a stranger. She felt it was refreshing to portray a character with more depth than the typical ‘rude and snobby’ trope.

At a Christmas tree farm, Kate (Alicia Silverstone) finds herself drawn to Chet (Pierson Fodé). (Photo by Marni Grossman / Netflix)

Everett (Oliver Hudson) helps Tess (Jameela Jamil) after she slips and falls on the ice. (Photo: Marni Grossman / Netflix)

Kate catches the eye of a handsome 28-year-old named Chet at a Christmas tree farm. He’s tall – 6’4” – and has a warm personality and great smile. He gives Kate a card listing his many jobs, including being a Santa for parties, a male nanny, and even an exotic dancer. In a playful nod to Bill Murray’s famous striptease, Chet dramatically removes his tuxedo, revealing his impressive physique, and attempts to extinguish a fire that breaks out on Kate’s Christmas tree – a moment inspired by the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Fodé, known for his role in the Netflix film “The Wrong Paris,” described a particularly revealing scene. He joked, “I was essentially nude – just wearing sock garters and candy-cane underwear. You’d have to go further to really change the movie’s rating!” He said he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

When filming the intense scene, he remembered going all-out on the first try. He said it startled everyone so much that Alicia jumped and screamed, while Jameela and Melissa immediately burst out laughing.

Fodé and Jamil quickly became friends while filming in snowy Toronto. Fodé had a cold plunge tub on set and invited everyone to join him for workouts, seeing it as a great way to connect with his colleagues.

Jamil, who doesn’t consider herself athletic, accepted his offer to train her. It was intense – she actually got a hernia! Her advice? If you’re not used to exercise, don’t start with someone as demanding as him.

Despite the unpleasant experience, she was able to keep filming. She described the incident as both terrible and funny, adding, “It was almost worth it just for the laughs. He’s a real pro though.”

Director Steve Carr, known for comedies like “Next Friday” and “Daddy Day Care,” let his actors improvise while trying to capture the feeling of Christmas – which proved challenging. Creating the visual style for a movie like this takes a lot of work. The team wanted the decorations to be spectacular enough to impress Mariah Carey. Director Carr remembered Paula Hart emphasizing that every single shot needed to be filled with Christmas spirit.

He often faced challenges during filming. For example, a beautiful house they found as a location turned out to be right next to an airport. Once, he asked a props assistant to create a lavish breakfast scene for Kate, suggesting they think of a wild, indulgent party as inspiration. When he arrived on set, he was surprised to find a simple breakfast of eggs and sausage. The assistant hadn’t understood his request and didn’t know the meaning of ‘bacchanal.’

Looking back, Carr actually found the job to be excitingly unpredictable. He strongly supported casting 18-year-old Wilder, who was making his first film appearance alongside his father, even though some people at the studio weren’t sure about it.

Kate Hudson described her 15-year-old son, Bodhi, as a refreshingly genuine actor, unlike many young performers. She believes he hasn’t been negatively influenced by the industry, and praised Netflix for giving him an opportunity.

Hudson got emotional watching Wilder recite a heartfelt speech in the film’s finale.

He choked up while watching his son, reflecting on over 25 years of dedication. He was filled with emotion seeing his son thrive and realizing the bright future ahead of him.

Silverstone treated Wilder as if he was her own.

She explained it was touching because Wilder was 17 at the time, and her son, Bear, is now 14. She couldn’t imagine a 17-year-old not wanting to be affectionate with their mother. She remembered that Wilder happily let her shower him with kisses and treat him like a baby, even then.

Tess and Kate are both dedicated to protecting the environment. Kate even jokingly shared one of her personal rules for conservation with Tess: she limits her showers to five minutes, explaining that anyone who takes longer is, well, inconsiderate.

Melissa Joan Hart, who plays April in the film, described Alicia Silverstone as a true environmentalist. She added that many people who grew up watching Silverstone also feel a sense of nostalgia and connection with her.

Goldie Hawn described her son, Oliver Hudson, as incredibly charming. She recalled a time when she was in her twenties, ran into him at a nightclub, and was so flustered she couldn’t speak coherently. She joked that even a stoic person would fall for him, wondering what kind of captivating effect he has on people.

Silverstone said she hadn’t met Hudson before they considered working together. They spoke on the phone to see if they had good on-screen chemistry while she was filming the Acorn TV show ‘Irish Blood’ in Ireland.

“It was clear that he was solid, that he had all the things I needed,” she said.

Then, when they met in person, “we immediately became a family,” Hudson said.

The actors met in the airport lounge and discovered they were both heading to Toronto on the same flight for a six-week filming project.

When we arrived in Canada, I presented both her passport and my son’s as if I were her husband while going through customs, immigration, and the work permit process. We both found it funny, joking that we were starting our relationship by pretending to be married. It felt natural, and we quickly fell into those roles in real life.

Read More

2025-11-12 14:34