We spoke to Ricky Martin and Keegan-Michael Key about playing the bad guys in Netflix’s new Christmas movie.
Playing a baddie in a family movie is very different to playing a baddie in a “grown up” movie. We, as adults, can disassociate the actor from the character, we know that Anthony Hopkins isn’t really a cannibal, and we know that Alan Rickman isn’t really a well-dressed German thief.
Kids though, they think differently. They’ll remember an actor’s face as being the bad guy or gal from a family movie, which is why we are all still terrified of Christopher Lloyd (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) and Angelica Huston (The Witches).
Netflix have a new Christmas movie coming out this month, and in Jingle Jangle (check out our review right here), we actually get two baddies for the price of one. Keegan-Michael Key (Toy Story 4, The Predator) and Ricky Martin (American Crime Story) are working together to bring down a much-loved toy store, and we were lucky enough to chat to both actors in the run-up to the movie’s release.
When we asked Key how he felt about potentially getting weird looks from kids on the street after they’ve watched this movie, it turns out he’s actually really looking forward to it:
“I am, and I’ll tell you. I take their derision and hatred as a compliment, because that means that I’ve done my job. And the thing is that all life is a drama in some regard, and a protagonist needs to have an obstacle to overcome. So the antagonist is a really essential part of the story, so you really want to make sure that you’re giving it your all, so that the protagonist really has to fight something and overcome something.
“And I think that can be hopefully helpful to a child, because they in their own lives can hopefully overcome something. So it is like being the heel in professional wrestling, you accept the hatred, you accept the boos, and it’s good! That would be my hope!”
Additionally, Ricky Martin didn’t hold back on the fun of being a bad guy. Normally you hear an actor trying to find the humanity in their villainous roles, but Martin knew exactly what he was playing at:
“I think my character is Machiavellic, I think he’s a hypocrite, I think he’s a liar, I think he’s evil, and I think he was just made with a glitch. I think that’s what it is, full on, he is unapologetic, and he has a plan!”
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey is released on Netflix from Friday, November 13. You can check out the trailer right here:
These interviews have been edited slightly for clarity.
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