The Holiday: 19 things you didn't know about the hit Christmas movie
4 December 2024, 17:45
Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet and Jack Black all star in one of the most famous Christmas films of all time but there's plenty you still don't know about it.
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The Holiday has topped our Christmas movie must-watch list year after year now as we can't help but fall for all the love stories it has to offer.
Starring Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet and Jack Black as the main characters, The Holiday explores all different types of relationships and honestly, it has us feeling warm and fuzzy inside every time.
First released in 2006, it's been almost two decades of enjoyment from this film but there are still things we don't know about it.
From the famous countryside cottage to Jude's shocking admission, here are 19 facts you need to know about Christmas movie, The Holiday.
1. The cottage isn't real
Every Christmas, people flock in their hundreds to find out where The Holiday cottage is and how they can stay there themselves. However, in recent years it has been revealed the famous little house isn't actually real.
Shattering the illusion Jude revealed in an interview it was a design built in a field that was based on Honeysuckle Cottage in Holmbury, St Mary which you can hire on Airbnb.
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2. The Holiday...2?
It's not totally off the cards! Jude, who plays widower Graham in the movie has said he "loves the idea" of a sequel. And we have to say, we agree too.
3. Dustin Hoffman's cameo was not planned
Being the joker he is, Dustin drove past the DVD shop where Kate and Jack were filming inside and decided to walk in and join the set.
He knew director Nancy Meyers too and his scene instantly made the cut.
4. Rosehill cottage in LA
You'll notice in the movie the camera never follows an actor inside the UK cottage because while the exterior was in Surrey, the full interior was in LA. All indoor footage was created in a sound studio. Bubble burst.
5. Real life romance
Kate Winslet and Rufus Sewell, who play Iris and Jasper in the movie, had a real life romance prior to filming. We're guessing that got a little bit awkward at some points.
6. The trickiest scene
Not Cameron running in heels in the snow or the scenes with Jude's children, it was in fact the Christmas party engagement shot that was the hardest to achieve.
Apparently it took multiple takes to get that right with Kate herself dropping to her knees to pray for the perfect scene.
7. The Wombats song for The Holiday
It's reported their 'Kill The Director' song was written after they were left disappointed by the film.
8. They were how old?
With the movie being nearly 20 years old, it goes without saying the stars of the show were obviously that much younger too. Cameron was 34, Jude was also 34, Kate was 30 years old and Jack was 37.
9. Snow flurries
To create the perfect Christmas scenes in Surrey, the crew hired a snow machine but in fact, it snowed three times that week for real too.
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10. The "boob graze"
The famous line that happens in the sushi bar between Iris and Miles actually happened in real life between Jack and the director. She found it so funny she immediately wrote it into the script.
11. Casting secrets
The Holiday was specifically written with these four actors in mind meaning the writers could make the most of each of their strengths. Something that definitely comes across on screen.
12. Top selling Christmas movie
It's not THE most successful Christmas movie of all time but it is the ninth. According to the most recent reports, it made almost £200million.
THE HOLIDAY [2006] - Official Trailer (HD)
13. Where are The Holiday kids now?
One of the most common questions from the movie is where are Graham's two daughters now? Miffy Englefield (real name Rebecca) and Emma Pritchard, who played Jude's on-screen kids, Sophie and Olivia, both shunned the limelight after the film.
Miffy, who was just seven when she appeared in The Holiday is now 25 years old and lives in West Sussex with her daughter Frankie who she had with drummer Alex Whitley-Conway.
Emma, who played the younger of the two sisters, has kept an incredibly low profile since her time on the big screen.
14. Kate's movie admission
Despite being in some huge movies like The Titanic, Kate has confessed it's The Holiday she is most recognised for.
She said: "People come up to me in the street more about The Holiday and the episode of Extras that I did than Titanic. I promise you. Especially at Christmas.”
15. Why Jude Law doesn't watch The Holiday
Despite being a Christmas phenomenon, one that Jude is "delighted and thrilled" with, he's admitted it's not a Christmas movie he watches with his kids.
He claimed "it's not my family Christmas movie" as he admitted it would be weird to watch him with Cameron for them. Fair enough.
16. Cameron's miles in heels
It's the classic scene of Amanda, all glamorous, running up a heel in heels in the snow that she has dubbed her most active movie scene yet.
In an interview with Vulture she said she spent a week running across various snowy fields in heels. She said: "They only used two shots, but we shot like ten shots of me running across ten different fields. And I’m wearing that Valentino cashmere, wool trench coat, a turtleneck cashmere sweater.
"Literally, I was so fit by the end of that week. I ran probably seven miles a day in those heels. Through mud and hills. It was so hilarious.”
17. Kate Winslet Easter egg
Only the eagle-eyed amongst us would have spotted but when Iris arrived in Amanda's LA mansion, she checks out the film collection and in there is Enigma - a Kate movie from five years before.
18. One movie divided into two
Despite starring four big stars, they never really interacted during the filming process. With only one scene featuring all four of them, it meant they practically shot two separate movies.
19. The Ending at the beginning
Not filmed in order, the stars of the movie have confessed the end scene was actually one of the first they filmed.
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