In Last Christmas, Kate (Clarke) harrumphs around London, a bundle of bad decisions accompanied by the jangle of bells on her shoes, does her job as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop.
“Santa” is Kate’s firm-but-fair boss at the Yuletide Wonderful store. Whatever her birth name, “Santa,” is the name she has taken for herself, at least in her store.
Director Paul Feig is a huge fan of Michelle Yeoh and was thrilled to learn she’d accepted the role. “Honestly, the first person I cast when I read this script was Michelle. I was 10 pages in reading the Santa role and realized it was the perfect fit. What is great is I get to show Michelle being funny. She never plays that on screen, so I was delighted. Santa is a wonderful character. She is a hard-working woman who absolutely loves Christmas, and she has turned it into this amazing business. The Yuletide Wonderful shop is so overblown, but it’s still classy. She sells junk, and she sells beautiful stuff. She is Santa.”
Much like Kate, Santa is a survivor, and that “can-do” attitude quite spoke to the actress when she was considering the part. “Santa wants to make a good life for herself, no matter where she’s working,” Yeoh says. “When she worked at the pet store, she called herself ‘Kitty.’ At the health-food store, she was ‘Miso.’ When she worked at the bakery, she went by ‘Muffin.’ Now, working at a Christmas shop, it seems appropriate that she call herself ‘Santa.’
“Santa is devoted to her shop and has little time for anything else, but she has a soft spot for Kate or, whom she calls her, ‘Elf,’” Yeoh continues. “Kate is lazy, forgetful and doesn’t take responsibility for anything, but she can sell things off the shelf like no one’s business. Santa is like a big sister to Kate, and she won’t let her get away with anything.”
Check out the film’s official trailer
Feig’s passion for London is being captured in Last Christmas, and Yeoh likewise feels the city to be magic during the holidays. In fact, she attended school in London years prior. “Christmastime is special because it revolves around family, love and giving,” Yeoh says. “This film illustrates Kate’s journey in finding the value of loving others and, most importantly, learning to love herself.”
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