Thanks to her part in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time, Beverly D'Angelo is holiday royalty. Thus, her appearance in Violent Night comes as a pleasant surprise, even if her character is cut from a very different cloth from Ellen Griswold. The film is an action-packed, holiday-themed extravaganza that deals with equal parts comedy and R-rated action, while never letting go of its saccharine Christmas sensibilities.
Violent Night stars David Harbour as Santa Claus. While delivering presents as he does every year on Christmas, Santa comes across a dangerous situation; a group of thieves led by "Mr. Scrooge" (John Leguizamo) has taken an entire family hostage. The family is headed by matriarch Gertrude Lightstone (D'Angelo), a tough-as-nails, foul-mouthed wealthy aristocrat who rules over her family with an iron fist. Despite the family's obvious and numerous dysfunctions, Santa still takes it upon himself to save them, no matter how many heads he has to crack along the way.
While promoting the release of Violent Night, Beverly D'Angelo spoke to Screen Rant about her work on the film and about some of the highlights from her career. She discussed her early days hanging out with rock'n'roll pioneer Ronnie Hawkins and the lost Vacation revival script by Michael Rosenbaum that was ultimately passed over in favor of the version released in 2015. She also talked about some of her upcoming projects, including TV and film work, as well as a long-in-development one-woman show that was delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Beverly D'Angelo on Violent Night
Screen Rant: First things first, are you a Christmas person? Do you like the mistletoe and the eggnog and the presents and all that?
Beverly D'Angelo: Do you have kids?
No, I don't.
Beverly D'Angelo: I never was. I'm very non-materialistic. I don't even celebrate my birthday, except when people make me. But as soon as I had kids, that's when I went, "Oh yeah, Christmas. Gotta do Christmas." So I do that every year, dutifully. My two children are now 21, and they still love Christmas. And it is a family holiday. We get all the family together and we do celebrate it and I do cook and do all that stuff.
I just like the spirit of really highlighting the idea of giving and loving, and all that stuff that seems to get reinforced around Christmas. So I guess, in that way, I'm a Christmas person. But I like to think of Christmas as everyday. (Laughs) When you're single, you're the add-on to other people's Christmas parties. But when you have kids, it's down to you.
When I was talking to Tommy Wirkola, he said that he didn't really have to direct you; he could just strategically deploy you. Can you talk about getting to be a sassy wicked matriarch in this movie?
Beverly D'Angelo: It was absolutely thrilling. It was something I went after with a vengeance. Like, "Please, I've got to do this!" I love that he said that, it's like he's talking about me like I'm a missile. Like a heat-seeking missile. And that's good for me! I just loved it. I loved inhabiting that kind of person, who was not using any tricks. She just sat in her power. Not with a sense of entitlement, as much as, "this is what it is."
There's no facade to her. There's no need to hide.
Beverly D'Angelo: No need to hide, no need to dress it up, no need to do anything about it. Just be there and be a badass.
"You're going to respect me, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Beverly D'Angelo: You have no choice! You will!
You're such a legend because you go all the way back to hanging out with Ronnie Hawkins and The Band before they were The Band. Ronnie, who just passed away this year, that was upsetting.
Beverly D'Angelo: He called me Belvedere. There's only one person left who calls me Belvedere. When I auditioned for him, he said, "Stick with me, honey, and I'll have you farting through silk!" (Laughs) I was 18. I always tell people, my higher education was that I graduated from The Ronnie Hawkins College of Rock and Roll Knowledge.
But Ronnie did direct me to an opera teacher. I studied opera while I was singing with Ronnie. His name was Ed Johnson, in Hamilton, Ontario. He was really the person who showed me the connection between singing and storytelling and drama and lyrics as tools for emotion, you know? So that was key. Ronnie Hawkins was a very important person in my life. Thank you for even mentioning him or knowing who he is! Because he was an original. He was one of them.
He was one of the original Rockabillies, and he went to Canada to do a gig, and it just exploded. He brought rock and roll to Canada. His brand of rock and roll. And it was seminal! This was the late 50s. He always had a connoisseur's taste with the bands he assembled. It was really an honor to graduate from that 'college,' as anyone who worked with you would tell you. So thank you for mentioning his name! We did lose him this year, that was sad.
A few years ago, they did the Vacation revival. I think Screen Rant readers probably know you best from that massively successful franchise. But before they did the Ed Helms one, your friend Michael Rosenbaum wrote a script for it. I heard you and Chevy had much larger roles in that script.
Beverly D'Angelo: Yeah. I think the script by Michael and Chris started with Ellen and Clark outside of a courthouse where they've just gotten divorced! But their daughter is getting married, and she's adamant that they show up in Arizona or wherever she's living, so they have to go across the country and get back together. And what's odd is: isn't that kind of the movie that George Clooney just made? Something like that?
We saw it as, "Hey, it's about Clark and Ellen and that family. Don't we want to follow their story?" But there's something about demographics, and I think they didn't want old people in it or something.
There's no reason you and Chevy can't carry one heck of a movie! You were so great in that Netflix show, Insatiable, but the online discourse was so weird...
Beverly D'Angelo: It was so weird! C'mon, it was weird. You know what's funny? I just heard from Debby [Ryan] last night! She moved to my hometown, Columbus, Ohio. And it was so funny that she wrote me, because I was doing my hair and trying to get a rock star look, but it keeps ending up looking like Insatiable! Funny you should mention that.
Speaking of Michael Rosenbaum, I adore his podcast, Inside of You, and you were on an episode talking about some projects you were working on, like a book you're writing, a podcast of your own, and a stage show.
Beverly D'Angelo: I recorded about eight episodes, with Land Romo producing, and I thought, "This is a career!" You have to find the guest, you have to do the research and everything. I just saw it as a much bigger thing. It wasn't something where I could go, "Oh, and on the weekends, I'll interview somebody!" It takes forethought. I did Gilbert Gottfried's podcast, and it was so good. Frank Santopadre was so brilliant, and I thought, "This is how it should be done." I didn't have the bandwidth for it.
The book turned into a one-woman show, which is an assemblage of monologues that are embodied memoirs, with video that's contextual and some songs in there. I was getting ready to take it out on the road, booking it in some small theaters, just to try it out... And then COVID hit!
Bummer.
Beverly D'Angelo: We got through COVID, and in the fall of September 2021, I did a pilot for CBS that would end up getting picked up. I did a role on Law & Order: SVU that might turn into recurring. That was the beginning of 2022. Then I did this, and The Trainer, a film with Tony Kay, that he's editing now.
I did a small film that I just finished two weeks ago that Robert Schwartzman produced. Robert has some family. He's Talia Shire's son, he's Francis Ford Coppola's nephew, Jason Schwartzman's brother, and he's his own man. He has a wonderful production company called Utopia Media. I worked with him as a director a while ago, and now he's got a whole big company going! He produced this movie, and I was glad to work with him again.
I haven't gotten back to my one-woman show, but it's always around. It's my ace in the hole. If nothing else is happening, I can just go out on the road.
About Violent Night
An elite team of mercenaries breaks into a family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone hostage inside. However, they aren't prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he's about to show why this Nick is no saint.
Check out our other Violent Night interviews here:
Violent Night is currently in theaters.