‘Bad Moms’ put a naughty twist on Christmas
See first photos from the comedy sequel out Nov. 3
“There was this one kid who ... still believed in Santa Claus. We had to pretend Santa was real when she was on set.” Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn went to great lengths to be highly respectful while shooting a mall Santa scene for the sequel to Bad Moms. At least when there were children present.
“There was this one kid who was maybe 6; she still believed in Santa Claus,” says Kunis. “We had to pretend Santa was real when she was on set. So we’d all refer to him as Santa, even the assistant director.”
But once those innocent initial scenes were in the can, the youngster was whisked away to allow the rowdy parents to let loose in a way the title A Bad
Moms Christmas (in theaters Nov. 3) compels.
“Of course any children were ushered far away for when that Santa scene took a turn,” says Hahn. “We thought, ‘What can we do to wreak havoc in the Santa photo area of the mall? Let’s give him a lap dance.’ ”
This is now expected behavior for the stars of Bad Moms, whose drink-fueled, rowdy rebellion against the pressures of perfect motherhood was the R-rated breakout hit of 2016. After the low-budget comedy shot to $113 million, writers/directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore brought back the trio of mothers — Kiki (Bell), Amy (Kunis) and Carla (Hahn) — who are once again pushed to the point of beyond caring.
Rather than dealing with the snooty moms who hounded them in the original, including Christina Applegate, this time the moms are fighting against holiday stress and the expectation of making the season perfect for their families.
The three stars, who each have two kids of their own can relate.
“The holidays are a hotbed for mother stress,” Hahn says. “It’s a great, tense process for comedy. There’s this race, this countdown, all leading up to this one day.”
Adding combustion to the mix of this holiday explosion: the respective Bad Moms’ visiting mothers. Each brings her own comedic dysfunction, starting with Christine Baranski (as Kunis’ mother) and Cheryl Hines (as Bell’s mother). Hahn’s rock ‘n’ roll mom, Carla, is visited by her cowboy hat-wearing mother played by Susan Sarandon.
“Carla never really had a mom, she had a really cool, slightly older sister,” says Hahn. “And Susan brought her unique flavor to that role.”
The cast descended upon Atlanta for an unusual April shoot featuring manufactured snow in the heat.
“Surreal is very much an understatement,” says Kunis. “We did some outdoor scenes where we’d go caroling on streets covered in fake snow and it was 90 degrees at night. The fake snow would be blowing and we’d have this torrential downpour with thunder and lightning.”
But the Yuletide insanity worked, especially during a scene where the moms steal a terrible tinsel tree from the mall. Or that magical Santa lap dance, where a certain Frozen princess showed off some excellent hip action.
“It turns out Kristen Bell has some pretty wicked dance moves,” says Hahn, who traded surprised expressions with Kunis after seeing Bell’s action. “We were a little intimidated by the depth of knowledge of these moves (Bell) pulled on Santa Claus, even taken aback. It’s pretty magnificent to behold.”