Why Tim Allen stayed in character while filming Santa Claus 2

There is a general rule when it comes Christmas films: they're either incredibly good or unbelievably bad.

And while you only have to have a flick through Netflix to find countless turkeys on offer, one set of films that really have stood the test of time are The Santa Clause franchise.

The original movie hit cinemas in 1994 and starred Tim Allen as the central character.

He starred as Scott Calvin, a regular dad who struggles to give his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) a magical Christmas.

But when Santa falls off his roof on Christmas Eve, Scott finds himself recruited as his successor and is forced to learn the ropes of his new job while keeping it a secret from the rest of the world.

Simply put, it was a hit, and spawned two more sequels.

Disney

And while working on the second instalment in 2002, Allen revealed that he actually stayed in character as Santa when not filming.

Now, while that might seem a bit strange idea, there's a good reason for this particular piece of method acting.

Speaking to the BBC at the time, the actor said: "It was fun because the children on the set – the elves – actually believed that I was Santa Claus.

"It was a tremendous amount of responsibility on my shoulders and I didn’t want to disappoint them. I had to stay in character all the time, so I couldn’t swear or get mad."

He added: "The elves would gaze at me all day long and ask me ridiculous questions about Christmas.

"The older ones, who were 13 or 14, would say, ‘That’s not Santa, that’s an actor'. I’d say, 'Are you sure I’m an actor? Are you sure you want to irritate Santa?'"

Disney

Fans of the franchise will be excited to know that Allen recently reprised his role for the new Disney+ release The Santa Clauses.

In the six-part series, it looks like it's time for Scott to hang up his Santa hat and spend more time with his wife and kids.

First, though, Scott is going to have to pick the right successor. And if he chooses poorly, it could mean the end of Christmas as we know it.

This series marks Allen's first major acting role in 15 years, and he'll be joined by Elizabeth Mitchell as Carol Calvin (aka Mrs Claus), Eric Lloyd as Scott's son Charlie, and David Krumholtz as the head elf Bernard.

The Santa Clauses is available to watch on Disney+.