Freddie Prinze Jr and Aimee Garcia star in Christmas With You, a delightful and family-friendly Latin-themed holiday movie from Netflix. Directed by Gabriela Tagliavini, Christmas With You marks Prinze's first feature film role in roughly a decade. Nevertheless, he hasn't missed a step, and for his return to incorporate his own Latin heritage makes it all the sweeter and more personal for him.
Christmas With You stars Lucifer's Aimee Garcia as a pop star in a rut and in search of a hit song. Inspired by an Instagram video from a young fan named Cristina (Deja Monique Cruz), she decides to visit the young girl at her school in something of a publicity stunt. However, thanks to a winter storm, she finds herself snowed in with Cristina and her father, who just so happens to be a songwriter. The two inevitably begin a musical collaboration, but their bond might also grow to become something more intimate.
While promoting the release of Christmas With You, Freddie Prinze Jr and Aimee Garcia spoke with Screen Rant about their work on the film. They talk about how refreshing it is to be part of a movie that showcases Latino talent, both in front of and behind the camera. They also discuss their chemistry together and how acting, especially in a romantic comedy, requires absolute trust in their scene partner.
Freddie Prinze Jr & Aimee Garcia on Christmas With You
Screen Rant: First of all, when I was eleven years old, I saw a Fred Jones who was mixed-race Latino like me, and I never forgot it.
Freddie Prinze Jr.: We snuck that one in, brother! (Laughs)
It's something you don't realize how much it means to you until years later.
Freddie Prinze Jr.: I appreciate that, man, I appreciate that very much, thank you.
Yeah. Well, kind of from there to here, this is a Latin-led production, in front of the camera, behind the camera. It's our time now! Maybe it would have been earlier if you had gotten to play Jigsaw, but that's a whole other conversation. In Punisher, weren't you up for that?
Freddie Prinze Jr.: I was! Yes, I was. The director and I really kind of clicked on a tripped-out performance that I gave, but I guess the studio did not have the same connection.
Tell me about getting to show off Latin culture in a movie that everyone's going to be able to watch this Christmas season.
Freddie Prinze Jr.: I would love to. I don't ever get the opportunity to do it, unless I wrote it. Every Latino I've played on film is an after-the-fact name change. The character is Mike Jones, and then the studio is like, "Look, we can say we're diverse! We hired Freddie Prince Jr., so now his name is Miguel Rodriguez!" And those don't count. I don't count any of those. I've met with resistance from Latinos in my own industry, who maybe didn't feel I was Latino enough. Which is okay, they're allowed to be entitled to their opinion.
But when I do get the opportunity, which I did with this, to simply earn that respect and show what I can do? You'd better believe I was ready! I've been ready my whole life for this. When Gabriela was willing to take a chance on me, I was not going to let her down. That was an opportunity to show up. When people see this, they'll see Aimee singing, dancing, acting, making you cry, making you laugh, talking some trash! That's an opportunity for her to show off.
Actors don't often get to show everything. Unless it's a musical, right? Or something on Broadway. And this isn't either of those things. So both of us kinda got opportunities to show off. I got to show off cooking. She gets to show off everything! It means a lot. It's legit the only time it's happened where I didn't write it.
Aimee, correct me if I'm wrong, but you and Freddie have known each other for a while, right?
Aimee Garcia: No!
Freddie Prinze Jr.: We're just dogs for life, though. We just met on this.
Oh wow, okay. Tell me a little bit about building chemistry and being scene partners. How did you get along?
Freddie Prinze Jr.: Yeah, how did we get along?
Aimee Garcia: Swimmingly! It was just easy. I always say, acting is like tennis. You can't play without another person. It's just really easy. You're just present and you listen. My personal process is, I work and I literally break down every minute of everything, and then I throw it all away, and on set... It's like learning the choreography inside out so on the day you can just have fun and dance. That's how I really like to approach this. I could think that a scene is going to go a certain way, and then Freddie comes up with an idea that I didn't even think of, that makes it magical and makes it so much better. We might think that we're going to be dancing in this scene, and then we'll get there and they're like, "You can't dance because they're taking longer than expected in hair and makeup for those actors who are going to shoot this way," and you just have to roll with it! It ends up being great. It was really nice to be with someone...
I think trust is really important. So I'm really grateful for that. This was Freddie's first romantic comedy in this space in a while, so I feel like, there were little moments where... One of my favorite moments between the two characters is when we're walking, and without planning, we're looking at each other at the exact same time. Those little moments, you can't plan. You just have to completely surrender to your scene partner. And it's scary, because it's the unknown! But because it's the unknown, you discover little things that you don't plan, the audience doesn't plan, the director doesn't plan. And we're like, "Are we literally looking at each other at the same time? Oh my God, we are! And in that uncomfortableness, I feel like it's just real because it's not planned. It's created in that moment because of trust. Do you agree? I don't know! (Laughs)
Freddie Prinze Jr.: I would, 100%, give you a hundred grand and a fake passport and get you to any country you needed to get to. That's how much I love you. Everything she said is dead on. Trust is the main thing. I would lie in court for this girl. I would, under oath! And I'm one of the few who still believes in God, but I would still lie. I'd just ask for forgiveness, we're all good. But yeah, man, I love Aimee to death. I've said this before, but she does not see problems. She only sees solutions. And we've all worked with people who focused on the problem, and she is one of the rare unicorns that it just doesn't matter what the issue is, she'll steamroll right through it. I don't think she slows down for speed bumps when she's driving, because she does not see them.
Check out our other Christmas With You interview with director Gabriela Tagliavini as well.
Christmas With You releases on November 17 on Netflix.