The following contains minor spoilers for The Christmas Chronicles 2*_.*_
Kurt Russell has been an actor since he was a kid, but the accomplished performer has only a single writing credit to his name in all those years. While he may not be much of a writer in the grand scheme of things, it turns out he did contribute something of note to his new film, Netflix's The Christmas Chronicles 2. Director Chris Columbus reveals that Russell wrote a single line for his on and off-screen partner Goldie Hawn. And it might be the best single line in the movie.
The scene takes place near the end of the film. The characters of Jack and Kate are getting ready to return home, when Jack tells Mrs. Claus he will never forget her. Goldie Hawn's character responds...
Oh, you will from time to time, and that's as it should be.
Director Chris Columbus tells Insider that Kurt Russell was actually responsible for that particular line, though the rest of the script was handled by Columbus himself along with Matt Lieberman. Columbus particularly loves the line and the way Goldie Hawn delivers it. He says he was excited to work with Hawn on the Christmas Chronicles sequel. While Hawn has been mostly a comedic actress throughout her career, the new Netflix Christmas movie is completely earnest and the director says he wanted to work with Hawn as an actress rather than as a comedian.
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn have been together on screen and off since the 1980s and the pair are together again in The Christmas Chronicles 2, where Russell returns as Santa, and Hawn has a much more significant role as Mrs. Claus. The fact that the two know each other so well is probably a big part of the reason that Russell wrote a great line for his long time partner. And really, if you're going to introduce somebody to play Mrs. Claus to Kurt Russell's Santa, who else are you going to think of first?
Kurt Russell's only official credit as a writer is for 1996's Escape From L.A. which he is credited as writing alongside John Carpenter and Debra Hill. However one has to wonder how many of his films he's been able to punch up by adding an improving lines in small ways like this.
And viewers seem to be embracing the film in a big way. As of this writing, The Christmas Chronicles 2 is the number two item on Netflix in the U.S. It's an opportunity to see Goldie Hawn give a performance that we haven't seen in some time. Hawn has been semi-retired in recent years, with the Amy Schumer comedy Snatched being her only significant role in the nearly 20 years before this. We certainly haven't see Hawn in a role that wasn't a straight comedy in some time.
