Kurt Russell has had many iconic characters from Snake Plissken to Jack Burton, R.J. MacReady to Gabriel Cash, Col. Jack O’Neil to Wyatt Earp.
More recently he’s back in the spotlight from roles in the “Fast & Furious” to “Guardians of the Galaxy” films to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Bone Tomahawk,” “The Hateful 8,” and “Deepwater Horizon”.
He’s also been embraced as Santa Claus in director Chris Columbus’ two “The Christmas Chronicles” films, the second of which just hit Netflix. Speaking with Yahoo recently, Columbus revealed that the actor told him he wants that role to be the last one he ever plays:
“[Kurt] said to me, ‘I want to walk into the sunset, this being the last role I play. He wants to continue doing it. Deep down into his soul, he’s committed to this role. That means eight weeks growing the beard with little additional flourishes, working with the script every night before he shoots with me. It’s an intense commitment. And he takes it very seriously.”
The first movie in the series is what Columbus dubs a remake of his first directorial effort, the well-regarded Elisabeth Shue-led comedy “Adventures in Babysitting” (aka. “A Night on the Town”).
The ‘Christmas’ sequel sees the little girl from the first movie, now a cynical teen, traveling to the North Pole to help Santa and his wife (Goldie Hawn) foil a plot by a bad elf to cancel Christmas forever. It is now available on Netflix worldwide.