
Justin Hartley and Director Charles Shyer Discuss The Noel Diary
Jan 9, 2023
Home Interviews Exclusive: Justin Hartley and Director Charles Shyer Discuss The Noel Diary
The This Is Us star Justin Hartley and Father of the Bride filmmaker Charles Shyer open up about their new holiday movie The Noel Diary.
Netflix
Just in time for the holidays, The Noel Diary hits Netflix on November 24. Featuring some familiar faces, such as This Is Us star Justin Hartley, the Christmas-themed drama is helmed by Father of the Bride director Charles Shyer. Given his past filmography, The Noel Diary is certainly a fitting entry to his line of work. The storyline of this emotionally charged film follows best-selling author Jake Turner (Hartley) as he returns home at Christmas to settle his estranged mother’s estate. He discovers a diary that may hold secrets to his own past and that of Rachel (Barrett Doss), an intriguing young woman on a mission of her own. Together, they embark on a journey to confront their pasts and discover a future that’s totally unexpected.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
We recently caught up with both Hartley and Shyer to hear about the behind-the-scenes production process.
Making “A Great Movie” With A Holiday Backdrop
Netflix
MW: Tell us about what it was like to make a Christmas movie?
Charles Shyer: It was great because with this movie, it was like an added layer. The story worked without Christmas. [laughs] But Christmas gave us a tone. And it gave us fireplaces that were practical. It gave us things that were great. I love the crackling logs, and I love the snow. And to get to make a movie that you could curl up on yourself and pull a comforter over you and dig the movie, that for me was really important — and a movie that didn’t bore you, that had a story to tell.
Related: Scrooge: A Christmas Carol Trailer Unveils Netflix’s Retelling of the Charles Dickens Tale
Justin Hartley: It was great. I dabbled in a Christmas movie a few years ago, A Bad Moms Christmas, but my character was a bit different. But this was great. And like Charles said, we didn’t set out to make a Christmas movie. We set out to make a great movie. And that was the bar. That was what we both agreed to do. We’re just going to do a really great movie. We’re going to do our damnedest to make this thing a masterpiece. And look, I mean, it’s up to everyone else what they think of it. I love the movie. I think we did a really great job. Charles is such a gifted director, and the roles were great. The script was wonderful and I think we pulled it off. But truthfully, we just set out to make a great movie, and it happened to have a Christmas backdrop.
Preparing For A Unique Project
Netflix
MW: The movie is pretty emotionally charged. Did you guys draw on any personal experiences to help prepare for the shoot?
Justin Hartley: The prep work for me is always different. Every role is different, and you have to sort of cater it to whatever that role might be. Like, you’re not going to do the same exact prep work. When you’re doing an action TV show, you’re not going to do it during a show like this, necessarily. But that being said, the preparation and the time and effort that you put into it, and the focus, is the same. I always say that I don’t put the script down until the until it’s a wrap. Even if you’ve shot three-quarters of the movie, or nine-tenths of the movie, and you have four pages left to shoot, or whatever it might be, there’s still work to be done until Charles calls, “That’s a wrap.” So the prep work is just constantly working, constantly doing everything you can to try and get inside this guy’s head as much as you possibly can — because you blink, and it’s over. [laughs] You wake up and go, “Wait, what happened? It’s done.” It was so fast. Charles had a lot more work to do than I did, to be honest with you.
Related: Exclusive: Kathryn Hahn Peels Back the Layers of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Her Love of Acting
Charles: One of the things that you have to have is, you have to be well-prepared. So I storyboarded the whole movie. And we rehearsed, and you don’t have time to experiment a lot. So the director of photography that I use, I worked on four movies with. And I just thought it was a very well-oiled machine. The actors were just top-notch. So you hit the ground running because you don’t have time to experiment. And you know, we shot in 27 days, and it’s a road movie, a lot of it, which is really tough stuff. And I like to do a lot of takes, so I have choices. So you just got to keep rocking. And so I was well-prepared. I’m always well-prepared on my movies, though. They don’t turn out this well usually.
The Noel Diary is available on Netflix.
Publisher: Source link
Gigi Hadid Talks Coparenting With Zayn Malik
Gigi Hadid Talks Coparenting With Zayn Malik Gigi Hadid opened up about how she and ex Zayn Malik coparent their daughter Khai, and it’s genuinely healing my little heart. During Gigi and Zayn’s relationship, they were everyone’s fave couple —…
Mar 15, 2025
The Freakier Friday First Trailer Is Definitely Not a Fun Sucker
1. Based on Mary Rodgers' 1972 novel of the same name, the 2003 Freaky Friday is the second remake of the same story. The first film adaptation was released in 1976, while a made-for-television take followed in 1995. 2. The film's producer…
Mar 15, 2025
16 Women Dating Conservative Men Tell Their Stories
3. "Not only dated but married one. To clarify, he does not own anything with Trump’s name on it. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science, minored in philosophy, spent five years as an enlisted Marine, and is a…
Mar 14, 2025
Martha Stewart’s Farmhouse-Inspired Chair Is $270 Off—Get the Look for Less
Our writers and editors independently determine what we cover and recommend. When you buy through our links, E! may earn a commission. Learn more. You know you’ve made it when your home is so iconic it inspires its own furniture collection—and…
Mar 14, 2025