Kurt Russell calls Goldie Hawn ‘magical’ while celebrating family’s special Christmas connection
The 72-year-old and his son, Wyatt Russell, team up in their new series, ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,’ a spinoff of the ‘Godzilla’ franchise.
Kurt Russell and his son, fellow actor Wyatt Russell, are teaming up to fight an army of monsters, but there is nothing scary about the holidays for this famous family.
The father-son duo, who are playing the same character at different ages in the AppleTV+ series “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” told Fox News Digital about the unique Christmas connection in their family and what they learned from each other on set.
“We had worked together for a long time and a lot on basically creating this character because it wasn’t written for us. It was just a casting idea. So, now we had to make the casting idea pay off, and that meant us going to work,” Kurt told Fox News Digital.
The 72-year-old revealed that, on a day off, he went and watched his son and took inspiration from his work.
Kurt Russell and his son, Wyatt Russell, play the same character at different ages in “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” (AppleTV+)
“He’s really good, and I see what he’s doing. And I see what I can do to fall into that rhythm a little better than what I was doing and what I would have done,” he explained.
During the interview, the pair joked about learning nothing from each other, but Wyatt shared advice from his dad that goes beyond the camera.
“What I learned from him is that it’s really important that you really like the thing you’re going to do for you,” the 37-year-old said. “You didn’t let somebody else push you into it. You’re not letting other people tell you how they think you should be or what your career should look like. You have control of your reins. You have control of saying no. You are in control that way.
WATCH: KURT RUSSELL AND HIS SON SHARE WHAT THEY LEARNED WORKING TOGETHER
“And then, also, in the same breath, when you do say yes, now you are not in control, and you have to give over the reins in a way to somebody else. And somebody else is going to cut your performance, and you have to be OK with that.”
Wyatt is the youngest of four children shared between Kurt and his long-time partner Goldie Hawn. Kurt has one older son, Boston, from his marriage to Season Hubley. Goldie has two children, Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson, from her previous relationship with Bill Hudson.
Wyatt Russell is the youngest of four children of Kurt Russell and long-time partner Goldie Hawn. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
With their big family, holidays at the Russell-Hawn household are truly festive, in part because Kurt and Goldie have played Santa and Mrs. Claus in “The Christmas Chronicles” and “The Christmas Chronicles 2” on Netflix.
“The inspirations of the character of Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus are very much drawn from my original family with my mom and dad and three sisters, and then even more so from the family that I have and am fortunate enough to live in with four great kids,” Kurt said.
“Goldie’s magical as Mrs. Claus,” he added. “I haven’t got the words for how much that means to me because that one’s going to be there for my great grandkids, for our great grandkids to see and go, ‘That’s cool, that’s who they [are].’ I love what we did, and it’s a blast.”
Kurt Russell said he loved working with Goldie Hawn on “The Christmas Chronicles” films. ( JB Lacroix/WireImage)
Kurt and Goldie are grandparents of seven: Rani, Bingham and Ryder from Kate; Bodhi, Wilder and Rio from Oliver; and Buddy from Wyatt.
Wyatt and his wife, Meredith, are expecting baby No. 2 and are thrilled to have grandparents close by.
But the “21 Jump Street” star teased his dad about his grandparenting skills, joking, “I did catch my dad sleeping the other day when he was supposed to be watching Buddy.” (Wyatt’s wife was present).
Kurt cracked up and said, “That’s not true,” jokingly adding, “I had one eye open.”
Wyatt confirmed he was teasing and went on to compliment his mom and dad, as well as his in-laws.
Wyatt teased his dad about his grandparenting skills but said he and Goldie are “the best grandparents.” (Randy Holmes/DISNEY via Getty Images)
“They’re the best grandparents, they’re so invested. All they want to do is be around their grandkids,” he said. “They’re like the best. You couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m so lucky in my life, and Meredith is so lucky in her life. And his other grandparents, Nana and Pop Pop — Ron and Karen — are the best. We’re so lucky to have invested grandparents the way that they are.”
Kurt added, “If these kids turn out to be lousy, messed-up kids, it won’t be the grandparents fault. On either side.”
“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is streaming on AppleTV+.
