Based on a real humanitarian mission, Operation Christmas Drop is available on Netflix to warm your holiday season. In it, Kat Graham plays a hardworking political aide who learns to open her heart to more than just her work thanks to an Air Force base and its captain Andrew (Alexander Ludwig).

Kat Graham sat down with Screen Rant to share her thoughts on why it’s the perfect holiday film for 2020, as well as her excitement for the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

This film was fantastic, and it looks so much fun to shoot. I never knew anything about Operation Christmas Drop. What can you tell me about the location and the set? Everything looked so beautiful and lush.

Kat Graham: It was that beautiful. It was that lush. It was that fun. It was that positive, and it was also that real. We shot on the actual Andersen Air Force Base, where they do the real-life mission Operation Christmas Drop. We worked with the real Air Force, the real Navy on a live Air Force Base. They made cameos; it was awesome. It was very surreal and magical.

Let's talk about your character Erica for a second. Because Erica is a humanitarian. However, she is not without her own personal flaws. What are some of the personal challenges Erica has to overcome in this film?

Kat Graham: I think Erica has to overcome a couple things. I think Erica had this very specific idea about her life, and who she was supposed to be. "I'm here to do a job, and I'm going to get my promotion. And this is the way my life is going to be, and I'm going to pour myself into my work, and the only thing that matters is that I do this job."

I think at the end, she really lets go of the idea of who she thinks she's supposed to be, who she wants to be, and what is the best version of herself - which might not be in politics; which might not be who she thought she was supposed to be.

I think, especially in a year like this year where we're all dealing with things unexpected, that we have had to shift who we think we are and our priorities and who we want to be. There's a lot of self-reflection that I think came with this year that, I feel like is mirrored in Erica's journey.

This is a rare Christmas-themed movie without snow. Can you tell me about how the film carries the holiday spirit?

Kat Graham: Well, there's a couple ways that it does. But for me, a lot of us can't go home for the holidays or can't see our family or have large gatherings with our family. That doesn't mean that Christmas doesn't exist, or the holidays don't exist, because we all can't be together. We are together. And we're more together now, I feel, as a global community than we've ever been. We're really connected to each other, and I think that that's something that is a part of this film: that we're in this together.

Togetherness, and the gift of giving, and this idea that things have to look a certain way or feel a certain way - that's gone out the window this year. So, I definitely feel that that's the kind of holiday or the kind of Christmas that I can get into. Because nothing about me looks or sounds [like] everything is just perfect. Nobody has the perfect life, or the perfect family, or the perfect relationship. Like, it doesn't exist. It doesn't exist. So, I love this film represented that, and that there are still things to celebrate when things don't look exactly how you plan them to.

One of the great things about this film too is the chemistry between you and Alexander [Ludwig]. Can you talk to me about working with Alex and collaborating with him?

Kat Graham: Alex and I are still, because we filmed this last year and we talk all the time, really good friends. We also did a lot of work together; we have the same coach. So, we were able to really rehearse together. We work the same way as actors. He was always available to rehearse, and we were just great friends.

And we just cracked each other up. Like, we literally had moments where we were like, "We gotta shoot this. You've got to pull it together; you gotta stop making me laugh." We had such a great time, and that's not necessarily an experience that I've had with every actor I've worked with. But I've been really fortunate that Alex and I had the most fun. Sometimes too much fun, where it's like, "We got a movie to do, bro."

The movie was fantastic. And let me just say, you are my favorite April O'Neil of all time.

Kat Graham: Thank you so much. We did a movie on Netflix, coming out next year. We did the Netflix movie version of the show, so I'm excited for you to see it. I've read the script. I finished the ADR for it, or the recording and VO for it, and I think you'll really like it. It's super fun. Turtle power!

Next: Netfllix: Every Movie & TV Show Releasing In December 2020

Operation Christmas Drop is now streaming on Netflix.