Nancy Meyers revealed the real meaning behind The Holiday and why she chose this festive time the movie.
“I never thought it would be, you know, a movie that you watched during the holidays…. Didn’t think of it that way,” the Something’s Gotta Give director told in the latest podcast episode of the Hollywood Gold, after rewatching her movie.
“I just really wanted to tell the story about these people.”
The Intern filmmaker said she picked Christmas time because of its solitude instead of the decorations and cosy sweaters seen in the film.
“I set it at Christmas because that can be lonely. As I noted to myself last night while I was watching, they’re all damaged.”
The Oscar-nominated writer-director further added that even though Miles (played by Jack Black) is the “the least damaged” of the characters, he’s damaged just the same.
“And the holidays seem like a good time to deal with those issues,” she continued. “So it was that, not, ‘Hey, I think I’ll make a festive holiday movie.’ Not at all.”
The hit rom-com follows the story of Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) as they look for an escape from their respective heartbreaks. In a new location, Amanda falls for Graham (Jude Law) and Iris is enamoured with Miles (Black).
Despite the filmmaker’s opinion about whether the movie is a Christmas classic or a simple drama film dealing with breakup issues, it yearly pops up on what to watch lists this time of year.
The critically acclaimed movie was released in November, 2006.
