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How it all began
Many have been the portraits of down-and-out Santas and Christmas Scrooges in the movies. Yet never has the world seen a Santa who has started out in quite such a hilariously rock-bottom place as Willie T. Stokes. He drinks like a fish, swears like a sailor and spreads a lot more Christmas sarcasm than holiday cheer. He's completely politically incorrect, not to mention he's only in the Santa business for the criminal opportunities. But, as BAD SANTA reveals, even Willie isn't beyond finding his own little piece of holiday redemption - even if his idea of a Christmas tale might have Charles Dickens spinning in his grave.
The story of Willie's wild Christmas turn-around all began with a one-line idea from executive producers Joel and Ethan Coen. They summed it up this way: "A bad Santa suddenly changes." The Coens had in mind for the story's hero a character like those the 1930s actor Wallace Beery used to play - a deliciously bad-tempered, comical rascal who turns out to be a rough-edged diamond. Another major inspiration was Michael Ritchie's classic comedy "Bad News Bears" -- and especially Walter Matthau's portrait of the unforgettable Coach Buttermaker, a man who is not above conning little kids into making martinis for him, even as he leads his rag-tag team to victory.
Says producer Sarah Aubrey " 'The Bad News Bears' is one of Joel and Ethan's favorite movies. As we developed Willie's story, we were inspired by the tone of the hilarious relationship between Walter Matthau and those misfit kids, which is always biting, never sentimental, yet also has some qualities you could almost call moving."
Once the concept was in place, producers Aubrey and Cameron took the project to the screenwriting team of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who turned in a savagely smart script. Even Aubrey and Cameron were a bit shocked by its fearless, forthright comic style - but in a good way. "We started out with the idea of a drunken, slovenly, criminal Santa Claus who gets changed by the love of a kid and it just evolved from there," explains Cameron. "From the very first draft, the script took a lot of chances. It pushed the envelope of Christmas comedy in every way imaginable, but at the same time it was laugh-out-loud funny."
Soon, the project grabbed the attention of director Terry Zwigoff, who had recently drawn critical acclaim and a hip, cult audience for his raw-edged comedy "Ghost World" -- as well as his offbeat ode to underground comix "Crumb" - and he brought further inspiration to the creative team. "I read the script on a plane and I was laughing so hard I was almost embarrassed," Zwigoff recalls. "What also appealed to me was the challenge of making this unsympathetic character sympathetic. I usually find that Christmas films ladle on the cheap sentiment, but with this story I saw a chance to do something more truthful. That's what I liked so much about the screenplay - it's harder edged and more true and, therefore, ultimately more moving."
Zwigoff had already proven an affinity for turning alienated malcontents into storytelling magic with "Ghost World." But this would be his biggest project to date and he came at it with both a comic boldness and an artistic sensibility that impressed the producers. " 'Ghost World' wowed us," comments Cameron. "We saw that Terry has a rare ability to be very, very funny and wry, while also revealing that his characters have enormous hearts underneath their shockingly strange exteriors. We knew he would get the humor, as well as the heart, of this film."
Continues Aubrey: "What Terry brings to BAD SANTA is a sum of his most accessible yet still wonderfully dark comedy. He slowly and carefully builds sympathy for what seem to be extremely unsympathetic people. He never strays from the edge, or from the black wit of the story, but at the same time, he takes the audience on a real journey with Willie and Marcus."
Even with Zwigoff on board, the film's edgy take on Christmas was still scaring most studios - and the filmmakers were searching for anyone willing to take a risk on the project. "Then I got a call from Bob Weinstein," remembers Zwigoff. "He had just seen 'Ghost World,' loved it and said he wanted to make a Terry Zwigoff movie and asked if I had any ideas or scripts. I sent him 'Bad Santa' overnight and by 11 a.m. the next morning Bob said Dimension Films wanted to make it."
Says Weinstein: "I saw the story of BAD SANTA as very much in the spirit of Zwigoff's irreverent comedy and his wickedly funny world view but, at the same time, the film's hilarious hard edge is offset by a great heart, a combination which made it even more original and appealing. I was so excited by this script and working with Terry. It is rare with a Dimension film that I take producer credit, but I wanted to be alongside producers John Cameron and Sarah Aubrey throughout the whole process."
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Willie T. Stokes:
Santa on a Bender
With an acid tongue, a criminal record and a bad attitude topped off with several bad habits, Willie T. Stokes is every department store's nightmare vision of Santa. But he's also a guy who wouldn't mind being loved for once in his life. To capture both sides of Stokes - both his outrageous hilarity (and penchant for profane one-liners) as well as his sense of tragedy - the filmmakers sought out the versatility of Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton. "I have known Billy Bob Thornton for many years and after I read the script he was the only one on my wishlist to play Willie Stokes. I immediately set out to get him, and he loved the script as much as I did," recalls Weinstein. "Willie is a truly tricky role," notes John Cameron. "On the surface, he's got to be vile and reprehensible, but you've also got to see a small but shining core of humanity glimmering from underneath his exterior. Billy Bob Thornton was able to perfectly embody these contradictions."
Adds Terry Zwigoff: "Billy's very funny, but also very quick and very smart - and I think this role requires that for someone to really pull it off. There are a lot of situations where the actor playing Willie just has to improv - especially when he's got kids on his lap and of course, these aren't trained actors. Billy was completely fearless in the part. He was never afraid of being unsympathetic; he just went for it. I ended up using a lot of his ad-libs."
For Thornton, Willie is the ultimate cinematic scoundrel - but he's also more than that. "Right off the bat, you get the feeling Willie is a pretty nasty guy," Thornton offers, "but the fact of the matter is that he's really just a lost soul who had a very crummy childhood and who now feels that Christmas represents nothing more than a few lousy weeks of unhappiness. He's a loser. But, in the course of events, you could say he becomes a more loveable loser."
Thornton was also drawn to the volatile, push-and-pull partnership Willie maintains with his Elf associate, Marcus (played by Tony Cox). "I love that it's a real Odd Couple relationship," he says. "We don't exactly like one another but we definitely need one another because Willie can crack the safes, but only Marcus has the skills to turn off the alarm systems. We can't commit our crimes without each other. To me, it's kind of like a great Martin-and-Lewis style act, with two guys who can't get along with each other or without each other."
The role of Willie was also another opportunity for Thornton to shatter expectations, which he has made a habit of throughout his career. "I don't repeat myself in roles," he comments. "There's a real joy for me in changing myself into somebody different in every movie. With Willie, part of the thrill was trying to make him seem, no matter how outrageously bad he is, like a real human being."
Terry Zwigoff learned another part of Thornton's process: "Billy told me the key to his acting is his hair. Once he gets the hair right, he knows exactly who the character is supposed to be!"
Though Thornton always strives for unpredictability, even he never foresaw a day when he would play Santa, being built more like a beanpole than the portly man from the North Pole. But, in the end, Thornton saw his physical mis-match as being yet another sign of how pathetic Willie is at representing Christmas cheer. Still, even Thornton couldn't resist the strange and mysterious power that comes from dressing up like Santa. "I started to like wearing the Santa suit more and more," he admits. "I don't think either Willie or I ever saw ourselves as Santa, but it's something you can't help but try to grow into."
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Marcus: Santa's Little Felonious Helper
The mastermind behind Willie Stokes' Santa scams is none other than Santa's long-suffering Elf, Marcus, the team's diminutive but driven heist-planner. Marcus is played by Tony Cox, in a complete about-face from the actor's natural personality. "Tony is basically the nicest guy in the world, and here he is playing the most crooked, most corrupted person you can imagine, so I think a real part of his challenge was just getting over his innate goodness," says John Cameron. "Ultimately he developed a really wonderful Frick and Frack kind of rapport with Billy Bob Thornton."
Naughty or not, Marcus was a role Cox had been awaiting for a long time. Explains Cox: "For a person of my stature to get a great role like this opposite Billy Bob Thornton just doesn't usually happen. I haven't seen a role like this in the 20 years I've been an actor." He was cast in the midst of extensive auditions, during which more than 100 actors were viewed for the role. "Tony was by far the funniest person we saw, and he's also a great actor," sums up Zwigoff.
Once he snagged the role, Cox worked closely with Thornton to cement the two men's outrageously antagonistic relationship. "Marcus is always supposed to be on Willie's case," he says, "but sometimes Billy had to push me to be even meaner to him. He'd play jokes on me, make me want to get revenge on him. He's such a great actor, I learned a lot from him."
Says Thornton of being beat up by Cox: "You know I've been beat up in a lot of movies, so I kept telling Tony, 'It's OK, believe me, I've experienced this before, so just hit me' but he had a hard time wailing on me. At the same, he just kept cracking me up. He is really a funny guy."
Cox used his trademark ad-lib style throughout the movie. "Every role that I do, I improv a lot," he says. "For this role, I thought about Marcus and figured yeah, he's an evil guy, but what makes him so evil is that he has this feeling that he has to stay on top of Willie every second. He sees yelling at Willie simply as doing what he has to do to get the job done. Because the bottom line is that he needs Willie. He wishes he didn't, but he really does."
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Terry Zwigoff (Director)
Terry Zwigoff most recently directed and co-wrote the acclaimed indie hit "Ghost World," which received two Golden Globe nominations, two AFI nominations and appeared on over 140 Top Ten lists in major newspapers and magazines. Based on the underground comic by Dan Clowes, the film brought Zwigoff's smart, original style to a touching and funny exploration of two young misfits who feel out-of-sync with a modern America of strip malls and fast-food chains.
Zwigoff began his film career accidentally in 1978, when he found a rare 1934 recording by an unknown Chicago blues musician. A musician himself, Zwigoff was so impressed by this old 78 that he began what was to become two years of detective work to discover who the artist was and what his life had been like. "Louie Bluie," a documentary film rleased in 1985, was the result.
Zwigoff's next film, "Crumb," a cinematic portrait of the controversial comic book artist, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and became a runaway success with audiences and critics alike. "Crumb" was chosen Best Film of 1995 by a dozen major film critics and won every single film critics award for Best Documentary of 1995, including the NY, LA, and National Society of Film Critics Award. (The latter also voted it runner-up to "Babe" as Best Picture of the Year.) "Crumb" became the third-highest grossing documentary film ever made. Zwigoff will next direct "Art School Confidential," co-written with Dan Clowes.
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Writers)
Writing partners John Requa and Glenn Ficarra made their debut with the family comedy "Cats & Dogs" and also collaborated on the new "Looney Tunes: Back in Action," a live-action/animated adventure directed by Joe Dante and starring Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman and an all-star cast. Next up for the duo is the sequel "Cat & Dogs 2: Tinkles' Revenge."
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The Kid: An 8 Year-Old with A Santa Problem
Another character who discovers he needs Willie is The Kid, AKA Thurman Merman, a pudgy, orphaned, persecuted 8 year-old hoping for a closer relationship with the real, true Santa Claus, played by newcomer Brett Kelly. Kelly won over Terry Zwigoff at first sight. "The minute I saw his headshot I just fell to the floor laughing," recalls Zwigoff. "I said if this kid can walk and talk he's hired." Ever so, Kelly very nearly lost the role of The Kid - to ChickenPox. Although the filmmakers were blown away by his initial audition, when they tried to call him back they found out he was ill with the highly contagious disease. To avoid spreading a pox among cast and crew, Kelly was forbidden from the set, and was only able to snag a second audition when his mom got a signed doctor's note swearing the boy was cleared to be in public.
"Brett really was the dark horse candidate," says Sarah Aubrey. "But once he recovered, he surprised us by being so remarkably natural and having a fantastic chemistry with Billy." Adds John Cameron: "Brett is the perfect innocent angel in the midst of all this criminal activity and profanity. I think he pretty much personifies what it means to be a kid: he's sweet and wonderful even as he drives Willie insane."
Kelly might be just a kid but he had no problem getting the film's definitively adult concept. "This Santa is pretty bad," he comments, "because most Santas give people stuff and this guy would rather take it away!" In describing Thurman he says: "He's a shy kid who doesn't really have anybody to be his friend. So when he meets Willie he really believes he is Santa. Thurman doesn't really care what bad things Santa does, because he likes him no matter what. Just for being Santa."
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