Actor, author, and former White House staff member Kal Penn is set to appear on The Santa Clauses, the Disney+ revival of the beloved holiday movie franchise The Santa Clause.
Penn will play the character of Simon Choksi on The Santa Clauses – a product developer, tech inventor, and single father who wants to reinvent the way that things are delivered to people’s homes. Unexpectedly, Simon and his daughter Grace (played by Rupali Redd) get involved with matters concerning the North Pole. During an interview with PRIDE, the out gay actor talked about the journey that Simon experiences over of the course of The Santa Clauses miniseries.
“He’s this ‘tech bro’ entrepreneur who has started a delivery service company,” Penn said about his character. “Because he’s built his business that way, Santa puts him on this long list of people who might be potential replacements. Tim Allen’s Santa Claus is retiring, so my character and Peyton Manning’s character and a bunch of other folks [are considered]. The challenge that you’ve got with Simon is that he’s also a single dad, so he’s home raising his wonderful daughter.”
Disney released the very first The Santa Clause movie in 1994 with Tim Allen in the lead role. Now, Allen is returning to The Santa Clauses along with a brand-new cast of actors to introduce this universe to a new generation.
“One of the coolest things for me with our show is, we’ve got 2022-era technology for what’s already a beloved franchise,” Penn noted. “So just imagine what exists now in terms of building the North Pole, special effects, and everything that should go into a magical movie… that’s just been updated! It’s still funny, it’s still characters that everyone identifies with, but it’s also more inclusive and more engaging. In a world that is as polarizing as the one that we live in, I just thought that it’s so cool that you can tune out the noise of the real world no matter who you are, no matter who you’re watching this with, and just celebrate these six chapters and episodes around the holidays.”
You can watch the full PRIDE interview with Kal Penn about The Santa Clauses below.
The actor also reflected on his dynamic with Redd, the incredibly talented and charismatic young actress who played his daughter in the series. “She made my job a lot easier,” Penn admitted. “Simon is a relatively recent single dad – we find out that his wife passed away relatively recently.”
“And Grace grounds Simon through the entire arc of the series. She’s so good,” the actor remarked. “I’ve got to give props to her parents for rehearsing with her at home. She’s like, seven years old, or eight years old? A real pro. She just comes in and knows all of her beats and knows exactly how she fits into the whole overall plot. I’m really excited for her and everything that’s going to happen to her wonderful career.”
The Santa Clauses premieres Wednesday, November 16 on Disney+.
