You wouldn't think that David Harbour is a fan of Christmas movies. With his denim jacket and white tee, his mane of hair and rocker's 'tache, he looks like a cross between Bruce Springsteen and James Hetfield, his gruff, rugged, man'sman image completed by a huge cigar clamped in his right fist.
“I am a fan of Christmas movies,” he grins with a magnanimous wave of his cigar. “My favourite is Miracle On 34th Street, the original one, in black-and-white - or the crappy colourised version - about Macy's and everything. I love that movie. As a kid, it just blew my mind. I remember watching that and thinking, ‘Santa Claus is real! He's real!’”
So when Harbour was offered the chance to actually appear in a Christmas film, as Santa, there was only ever going to be one answer.
Hence him today sitting in a Brooklyn studio next to a Christmas tree lit by a twirl of fairy lights.
“I feel like doing a Christmas movie is a bit of a rite of passage for actors,” he muses. “I mean, it's sort of a fun], I don't think it's really my brand, the jolly, sweet guy. But this combines a lot of heart and a lot of simmering rage that I feel I can work through.”
