Riddle me this — if a movie takes place on Christmas and comes out at Christmas time, is it instantly a Christmas movie? That’s what Deco’s Chris Van Vliet is trying to find out from the cast of the new comedy “Why Him?”
Hey, people say that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie because it takes place during the holiday. So I guess that technically makes “Why Him?” a Christmas movie too. It’s just a very crude, f-word filled Christmas movie, but a Christmas movie nonetheless. I flew to L.A. and shared the holiday spirit with Bryan Cranston and James Franco.
James Franco (as Laird Mayhew): “By Christmas morning, you’re gonna be calling me son, I’m going to be calling you dad.”
Bryan Cranston (as Ned Fleming): “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
James Franco (as Laird Mayhew): “I think it’s gonna, dad.”
Bryan Cranston (as Ned Fleming): “Don’t.”
James Franco (as Laird Mayhew): “What, dad?”
Bryan Cranston (as Ned Fleming): “Stop that.”
In “Why Him?” Bryan Cranston is a father meeting his daughter’s boyfriend for the first time — and let’s just say he’s not a fan.
James Franco (as Laird Mayhew): “I got a little surprise. Ta da!”
Bryan Cranston (as Ned Fleming): “Is that our Christmas card?”
James Franco (as Laird Mayhew): “It’s all you!”
Megan Mullally (as Barb Fleming): “It says, ‘Happy holidays’ and everything.”
James Franco plays Laird, aka a dad’s worst nightmare. He’s a billionaire tech mogul who lives a lavish lifestyle and has literally no filter.
James Franco: “He certainly swears up a blue streak. Is that right, ‘blue streak?'”
Bryan Cranston: “Yeah.”
James Franco: “Why is it a ‘blue streak?'”
Bryan Cranston: “As far as streaks go.”
James Franco (as Laird Mayhew): “My instinct is to hug you right now.”
Bryan Cranston (as Ned Fleming): “Good night.”
James Franco (as Laird Mayhew): “I don’t know what his issues are.”
The two go at each other … making for an awkward Christmas for them, and a lot of laughs for us.
Bryan Cranston: “I had more fun on ‘Why Him’ than on anything I’ve ever shot.”
This is Bryan Cranston’s first comedy in years, because we’re used to seeing him as Walter White on “Breaking Bad.” And if you know anything about the show … you know not to cross him.
Chris Van Vliet: “If Walter White met Laird, what would his reaction be like?”
Bryan Cranston: “Walter White would have a very subdued reaction to him. He would say, ‘Come on into the garage, I want to show you something.’ ‘You ever see something like that in the barrel?’ And he’d look in and I’d push him the rest of the way in and he’d slowly dissolve. And then I would go back in the house and go, ‘Where’d your friend Larry go?'”
Bryan Cranston (as Ned Fleming): “You are not the guy we want our daughter marrying.”
James Franco (as Laird Mayhew): “You want to play with me?”
Bryan Cranston (as Ned Fleming): “You are going down.”
It’s a very crude R-rated movie, but you can tell they had a ton of fun making it. In fact, Cedric the Entertainer performed the “Why Him?” jingle that the cast came up with on set.
Cedric the Entertainer: “Why him?”
Cedric the Entertainer and Griffin Gluck: “Why him, why him, because there’s nobody else. Yeah!”
Chris Van Vliet: “Woah.”
Griffin Gluck: “Yeah, you gotta throw the kick in there.”
Chris Van Vliet: “That was a good kick at the end.”
“Why Him?” is in theaters Dec. 23.
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