Karen Allen never expected Scrooged to become a classic Christmas film.
Allen, who plays the ex-girlfriend of Bill Murray’s selfish and cynical television executive Frank Cross, who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve that are intent on reigniting his festive spirit, didn’t realize Scrooged’s growing popularity until years after its release.
“It came out and I don’t remember anyone thinking it was a cult classic or just a classic Christmas film for the first 5 or 10 years after it was released,” Allen tells Metro.
“But then suddenly I just remember it would start to appear every Christmas on TV. And people would tell me it was their favorite Christmas film. It would appear on shortlists of the best Christmas films. Over the last 30 years it earned that position. I kind of didn’t see it coming.”
Why is Scrooged still so beloved?
But why has Scrooged remain so popular over the years, even though every Christmas seemingly sees the release of umpteen new Holiday films?
“It built an energy around itself. It has a wonderful irreverence,” says Allen. “It is based on the classic Dickens story. But it is irreverent with the material and the approach to how to tell a Christmas story. It is fun and not overly sentimental and also a great Christmas story.”
It also helps that it is led by Bill Murray, who before the release of Scrooged hadn’t shot a film in four years. And in classic Bill Murray fashion during this hiatus he had been popping up in the most random of places.
“I had met Bill maybe a year before Scrooged,” recalls Allen. “I was working with a Shakespearean company and they approached him about some of the really great comedic roles in Shakespeare.”
“Someone said he said he was feeling rusty at the time of Scrooged. I didn’t see it. Somebody said to me today that he was in Paris doing experimental theatre before it. But I don’t remember us ever talking about that.”
Working with Murray also opened Allen’s eyes to a brand new way of approaching a role, too, as he introduced the actress, who came to film from the world of theater, to the impact of improvisation, whereas she had previously believed the script to be sacrosanct.
“He has this very kind of moment to moment energy. As all good actors do. It gets less and less interesting when it is predictable. We try to help pull each other into the moment and present. So we don’t know what is coming next.”
Allen was so insistent about never changing a word of the script that if a scene didn’t work she just assumed the fault was in her performance and not the writing.
“But with Bill coming from an improv and comedic background, he saw the script as a jumping off point and springboard for new ideas. We improvised so much to make it fresh, and he would fill the scene and film with vitality.”
“It is a real skill and gift. He allowed us to explore each scene a new. I can’t imagine what it is like to be a writer and working with someone who isn’t necessarily going to use the lines written. He often would come back to the lines, but only after using improvisation to attack it differently.”
Tis very much the season to revel in “Scrooged.”
In fact, if you’re in New York on Saturday December 15 Karen Allen and Carol Kane are hosting and participating in a special screening of “Scrooged” hosted by The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences at the Metrograph.
