Christopher Meloni’s harebrained ‘Happy!’ holidays
This Christmas, Christopher Meloni is bringing chaos to all — and to all, a violent night — with Happy!
The madcap Syfy series (premieres Wednesday, 10 ET/PT) surrounds the former Law & Order: SVU star with complete disorder: Meloni’s Nick Sax is an ex-cop turned hitman who, after a botched job, comes into contact with an imaginary blue horse/unicorn named Happy (voiced by Patton Oswalt). Nick’s pulled out of his seedy life of drunkenness and debauchery by this chatty critter so he can find a girl who has been kidnapped by a perverted Santa.
“Everyone likes to see this and every actor likes to play this — the antihero or the guy or girl who has this journey of self-discovery,” Meloni says. “Nick still doesn’t know how (messed) up he is — he only realizes superficially what he’s missed in life. ... There’s a lot of mining to do with this guy, what makes him him and his bad choices.”
USA TODAY talks with Meloni about the show and his seasonal favorites.
Q: You’ve played some crazy characters before. Was Nick a culmination of those?
A: There was a real sense of exploration and freedom in everything we did. It was a great playpen of anarchy, and it plays to suits I enjoy: physical comedy and quips. But also meaning and heart and all that.
Q: It’s like A Christmas Carol, with a unicorn instead of three ghosts.
A: We absolutely thought it was Christmas Carol combined with It’s A Wonderful Life and maybe Quentin Tarantino and a little Sin City. It’s this mishmosh — you would never put those things together.
Q: There are a lot of holiday accessories strewn about. Do you have a favorite?
A: Nick Sax’s scarf, without question. It has “Feliz Navidad” on it — that just made us laugh because it’s so warm and cheerful and José Feliciano-esque.
Q: A swear jar comes into play. Do you need one of those in real life?
A: I mean, Uncle Sam takes like 35% of my money and the state takes another 10%. If I had a swear jar, that would be another 25%.
Q: When did you realize physical comedy was a tool in your arsenal?
A: When I was a child, I was enamored with the comedy that came through my television — all three channels I had to get up and click the dial to get. Abbott and Costello, Three Stooges, Jerry Lewis — I gravitated toward that. I perfected the art of running into a door.
Q: What’s your go-to holiday film?
A: My mom actually turned me on to
It’s A Wonderful Life. I usually poohpoohed those “old movies” but, man, when I saw it, it blew me away. Right now it’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas and, if I bump it into it, Bad Santa.