The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with
Our Little Secret
stars Lindsay Lohan, Kristin Chenoweth, and Ian Harding.
The Netflix movie captures both Christmas cheer and chaos, with a mix of holiday hope and a comedic twist on family gatherings.
During this conversation, the co-stars share their favorite holiday movies and discuss working with director Stephen Herek, known for iconic films like
The Mighty Ducks
, and share their thoughts on
Wicked
and
Freakier Friday
.

Netflix pulled off a Christmas miracle this year with Our Little Secret. As part of the streamer’s holiday slate, this feature landed a stellar cast led by Lindsay Lohan (Falling for Christmas), Broadway legend Kristin Chenoweth, and Ian Harding (Pretty Little Liars) and directed by filmmaker Stephen Herek, of The Mighty Ducks and Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead fame.

Meeting your significant other’s family for the first time can be intimidating, but what if you run into your ex at the family gathering, too? With a cast like this one, which also features Tim Meadows, Judy Reyes, and Chris Parnell, Our Little Secret not only captures that hopeful Christmas cheer but also gives a little bit of a chaotic Christmas Vacation spin on the festivities.

In this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Lohan, Chenoweth, and Harding share their own favorite holiday movies with us, as well as their favorite Stephen Herek flicks. Chenoweth, who originated the Broadway adaptation of Glinda in Wicked, also shares her thoughts on Jon Chu’s upcoming movie, and Lohan reveals just how long she’s known about Freakier Friday.

Kristin Chenoweth Calls ‘Wicked’ a “Love Letter” to the Broadway Show
Image via Universal Pictures

COLLIDER: It’s great to talk to the three of you. If you don’t mind, I have an individual question for Kristin first. I definitely want to know if you can share what it was like watching Wicked the movie for the first time for you.

KRISTIN CHENOWETH: Emotional. I was hopeful because sometimes movie musicals, when we do them poorly, we should get made fun of, and there have been a few bad ones. But I was so pleased with how beautiful it looked and that Jon Chu chose to keep the story between the two girls as the stars. So, it was a love letter to our show. It was a love letter to our show, so for me, it was a part of my legacy, and just getting to be a part of it, I’m just very proud of it.

‘Our Little Secret’ Is Joining the Holiday Ranks of Magical Greats
Custom Image by Federico Napoli

For all three of you, do you have a go-to holiday movie, and has it changed as you’ve gotten older?

LINDSAY LOHAN: When I was younger, I would go to Miracle on 34th Street. It hasn’t changed. But then movies like Love Actually have become a favorite, and other movies, as well. Now it’s going to change again because of my son. [Laughs]

CHENOWETH: That’s right.

LOHAN: So the go-to is going to be whatever he likes the most.

CHENOWETH: Absolutely. I grew up with [National Lampoon’s] Christmas Vacation, but one that I keep forgetting about that I love is Polar Express. I know it’s animation but the Polar Express, I love that film.

IAN HARDING: Wow, now it’s my turn! You kind of said them all. I remember always wanting to watch [The Muppet Christmas Carol], but then I also didn’t want to because I was definitely afraid of the Muppet, [Sweetums], the big hairy monster-looking thing. So, whenever that would come on, I had to stop, and then I had nightmares, so I think my parents were like, “We can’t watch it anymore.”

LOHAN: The other one that is a funny factor for Christmas, not sentimental, would be Elf.

HARDING: Elf, of course!

CHENOWETH: How could we have forgotten that one?

HARDING: There’s a bunch.

LOHAN: And we’re sitting where it takes place. [Laughs] Oh, Home Alone! Hello!

HARDING: Yes, of course. That happened in the lobby here. Oh my goodness.

CHENOWETH: That’s ranked up there high for me, too.

We could do eight minutes on just holiday movies. Thank you for the answers.

The Legacy of Director Stephen Herek
Image via Disney

One of the things that I was so surprised to learn after I watched your movie was that it was directed by Stephen Hereck, and I hadn’t put his name together, and then I realized, “Oh shit, he directed Bill & Ted’s [ Excellent Adventure], Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, The Mighty Ducks . The list of movies he’s helmed is crazy. For all three of you, how many days on set before you started geeking out about one of his previous films?

LOHAN: I did with Rock Star when I first had the call with him to direct the movie. I really liked him as a person. It seemed like it would be easy-going to work with him as a director. So many directors nowadays, you have people who really want to prove their point and their vision for the script, but he’s the kind of director where you can really work with him, and he’ll work with you, and I really valued that. So yeah, I geeked out from the first Zoom.

HARDING: I didn’t put a name to him at first and then it was only like, I think after I’d been cast, I was like, “Oh yeah, why do I know this name?” I looked him up, and I realized one of my favorite childhood movies, which is The Three Musketeers — I was obsessed with that, like I went as one of the musketeers for Halloween — I didn’t know that he directed that. We had a phone call before we even started shooting, and we’re talking about what we think the tone of Our Little Secret is going to be, and then that lasted for 10 minutes, and then for the rest of an hour, I just picked his brain about all of that and shooting a period piece and carriages, and obviously given some of the actors that were involved, it was a pretty wild set. So, I was absolutely smitten, and he was like, “Wow, I mean, of all the movies, that’s your favorite?” I’m like, “Absolutely.” He was like, “Mighty Ducks?” I was like, “I don’t care about that.”

LOHAN: I love The Mighty Ducks.

CHENOWETH: I do, too.

HARDING: Yeah, so that was one of them. That was my favorite.

CHENOWETH: My favorite is Mr. Holland’s Opus. I love that story so much. It’s so loaded with so much heart with set music being a central character. That, for me, was my favorite of his.

Like I said, his resume is crazy.

Related ‘Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead’ Became an Unexpected Success ‘Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead’ proved an accidental hit on cable and in video rental stores.

I love learning about the behind-the-scenes and the making of movies. Is there anything you think that soon-to-be fans of this would be surprised to learn about the actual making of this movie?

LOHAN: A lot of it was not shot on location, and it feels like it is. The whole movie and the set were so good for the houses, for your house. Actually, both houses. A lot of it was shot on the sound stage, which I don’t think you feel when you’re watching.

CHENOWETH: You don’t. It feels like it’s all over the place, but it’s centrally located.

Is ‘Freakier Friday’ Getting the Band Back Together?
“I’ve been waiting all my life for someone just like you!”
Image via Disney

Before I run out of time, Lindsay, I do have to ask you an individual question. I am really looking forward to Freakier Friday and I’m just curious, what the hell was it like to go back to that universe, and how long did you know they were wanting to do this?

LOHAN: Well, Jamie Lee Curtis and I were very close, so we’ve been talking about it for a long time. For a few years, we’ve been talking about it. Then she was like, “Okay, I’m going to pull the trigger on this,” and really started pushing for it. So when I was filming Irish Wish in Ireland was when she had the meeting, and she was like, “Okay, they’re in.” Going back to working with Disney, it’s such a machine, Disney, that in this weird way, I stepped on a lot, and I was like, “Oh my god, I feel like I’m 10 years old again.” It was just wild for me, and beautiful, and such a great experience. We had so much fun. I’m so, so excited about the movie. I’m just so excited to share it with people. It’s really beautiful. It’s really fun.

Can you tease anything about it for fans?

LOHAN: It’s so hard. If I try to tease anything, I don’t want to get in trouble with Mickey Mouse.

I don’t blame you.

LOHAN: There are so many exciting parts of it, I can’t say anything. There’s more music in this, I will say.

Our Little Secret hits Netflix on November 27.

Our Little Secret Two resentful exes must awkwardly spend Christmas together after learning their new partners are siblings.Director Stephen Herek Cast Lindsay Lohan , Kristin Chenoweth , Ian Harding , Jon Rudnitsky , Chris Parnell , Tim Meadows , Dan Bucatinsky , Henry Czerny , Katie Baker , Ash Santos , Jake Brennan , Brian Unger Runtime 99 Minutes Writers Hailey DeDominicis