Giamatti Gets Into Spirit With 'Fred Claus'

Ho-ho-holiday film fact: By the Internet Movie Database's estimation, Santa Claus has been played 546 times on film.

And just in time for the holidays, Jolly Old St. Nick (Paul Giamatti -- No. 539), has loaded up the sleigh with laughs for "Fred Claus," a comedy about the lesser-known brother (Vince Vaughn) spending some quality time -- albeit raucous quality time -- with his iconic sibling at the North Pole.

With perhaps the exception for actor John Call, who played Santa in the 1964 Z-grade cult classic "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians," you have to believe coming up with a different spin, creatively, to play the character on film is quite a chore. Nonetheless, as a regular guy in real life, Giamatti said the script's demands helped him comfortably slip into the groove.

"In the script, the idea was that he was just a normal guy -- but a guy who happens to be Santa Claus and happens to run this huge company," Giamatti said in an @ The Movies interview. "I just tried to build on the idea that he was this stressed out, over-worked CEO -- but he's still Santa Claus."

And, Giamatti wants to make clear right away that when he's running the show, there is no lead in Santa's toys.

"And no sharp edges or no small parts you can swallow," Giamatti said, laughing. "Absolutely not. All the toys are perfectly safe."

Fred Claus is a down-on-his luck repo man who has always lived in the shadow of his younger brother, Nick. But being the saint that he is, Nick decides to help Fred out by offering him a job at the North Pole to earn the money that he needs to bail himself out of trouble.

But as a 6-foot-5-inch man among a world of elves, Fred doesn't exactly fit into place -- and the holidays may be in jeopardy because of it.

The film, coming out on DVD Nov. 25 (Warner Home Video), also stars John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Kathy Bates, Elizabeth Banks and Kevin Spacey.

Certainly it's not uncommon for an actor to bring a bit of real life to the role. Fortunately for Giamatti -- who is the son of late Major League Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti -- he said that he didn't have to drum up any bad memories involving his older brother and sister to help Nick get the knack for his sibling rivalry.

"I've always got along pretty well with my siblings," Giamatti said. "There wasn't a whole lot of overt rivalry, but there probably was a lot subconscious stuff going on. I don't feel like our parents played us against each other. We got along OK, but I still could project myself into the idea of a rivalry."

Whether he's brought real life into his roles or not, Giamatti has certainly had the opportunity to do so with a wide range of roles over the years. From comedy ("Sideways," "Private Parts"), drama ("Cinderella Man," in an Oscar-nominated role), dramedy ("American Splendor," "Man on the Moon") and mystery ("The Illusionist"), to war films ("Saving Private Ryan"), action ("Shoot 'Em Up") and sci-fi ("Planet of the Apes"), Giamatti is grateful that he's had so many chances to mix it up.

"I'm lucky that I've gotten the chance to do so many different things," Giamatti said. "I'd be bored if I didn't have the chance to. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had to do the same thing over and over again."

Despite the diversity of his roles, Giamatti has often been labeled in the media as a character actor. If that's what he indeed is, Giamatti doesn't mind the notion. In fact, while others bristle at the label, he embraces it.

"A lot of people ask me if it bothers me to be called a character actor," Giamatti said. "For a long time I said, 'No,' then I wondered if it was supposed to be bothering me. But it really doesn't. I don't necessarily know what it means, but I have absolutely no problem being called a character actor."

But if being a character actor is to imply someone who plays routine, Giamatti said there was nothing routine about "Fred Claus." Working with Vaughn for the first time, Giamatti said he ventured into a whole new area of performance art.

"Vince does a lot of improv, which I never did a whole lot of before," Giamatti said. "But it was a lot of fun to do that with him. He knows how to do it well and you feel comfortable doing it. We really hit it off right away. It was nice. There were no bumps in the road."

There's no doubt that Giamatti's smooth ride as Santa for "Fred Claus" lasted all the way to the theater. That's because, while all the time it takes on the set shooting fantasy films might take the fun out of the final product for an actor when they see the film for the first time, Giamatti said that watching "Fred Claus" -- and more specifically, his brother, Santa -- made him a believer.

"I actually got much more caught up in it (than normal), which was nice," Giamatti said. "I wasn't sitting there watching myself. I was just enjoying the movie."

Only time will tell whether Giamatti will don the red suit again for another film, considering that some actors have played Santa more than once.

One thing's for certain: No matter how well Giamatti feels that he played St. Nick among the previous 538 portrayals, he still comes in behind that Santa who braved the Martians.

"I think he did it the best," Giamatti laughed. "That movie was fantastic."