A new romantic Xmas movie
Longtime friend, French actor Karl E. Landler, plays the main male character in the newly released romantic movie Christmas in Paris, written by Erica Brennan and directed by Justin G. Dyck. He is joined by star-studded cast including famous American actresses Rebecca Dalton and Daphne Zuniga.
The movie premiered on November 9, 2019 and is available on Super Channel, UPtv, on DVD on Amazon and VOD.
As the plot goes, Lucas played by Karl E. Landler, a wealthy French entrepreneur, heads to Montana, a western state in the USA, for a very attractive business proposal. The Frenchman meets Robin the Texan beauty (Rebecca Dalton).
She is the woman of his dreams, so he whisks her away to the City of Lights for a whirlwind Christmas adventure. But in the middle of their magical Parisian getaway, she discovers a secret about him that could push them apart.
As part of the holiday season celebrations we invite you and your family to watch the movie Christmas in Paris, and find out if Lucas and Robin will live happily ever after!
Behind the scenes
I first met Karl in 2014 when he was attending the Grand Prix F1 of Monte-Carlo, during an interview at the American Bar of the Hotel de Paris. He visits the Principality often and is habitué of the Cannes Film Festival. We both presented the Cultural Fashion Award to Constanza Cavalli Etro during the 6th edition of the Monte-Carlo Fashion Week in May 2018, at the Yacht Club of Monaco. He also participates in the Monte-Carlo TV Festival every year, and he was part of the cast of the popular French series “A Famille Formidable”.
I am really glad to see Karl as a main protagonist in a romantic film when he used to play the tough hero. He explains this new Xmas movie appeals to the sentimental kind who loves to be swept away from their daily life, and enjoy spontaneity and adventure. He enthusiastically affirmed: “You will love Christmas in Paris!”
I asked Karl about the differences and similarities between himself and Lucas, the character he plays in the movie. “I was brought up by a single parent and built myself up without a father figure, same as the character I play in the movie,” a similarity with his real life experience. “Then, like so many around us, Lucas will have to confront a ghost from the past in order to grow and evolve. Will he take the right decision?”
Karl sees the role as a mirror of his own journey when he had to face an uncomfortable decision, that moment in your life that pushes out of your comfort zone, without knowing if it is for the best or not, but the only way to know is to take that leap.
He added: “You always have something of yourself in every role. You absorb the information in the story, and interpret the character through the filter of your own background. You try to open up and avoid being biased. I use the sum of my experiences to create another being named Lucas in this case, it becomes a new version of Karl enhancing or erasing different sides of my own personality.” So I asked him how he manages to get back to his own self, and he said: “When the camera is off, I am fully back in my own skin, until the camera rolls again and the director says ‘Action!'”
I wanted to know what Karl loves about the character, and he said Lucas really wants to share his world with the right person, finding in Robin (Rebecca Dalton), someone who might understand who he really is, not the businessman everyone else thinks they know. “But it is not going to be easy, as he will have to be willing to alter some of his life patterns that used to protect him. I really like his courage.”
The biggest challenge for Karl taking this role, was that Lucas is a successful businessman, a social media sensation and to top it all a womanizer, but as the story unfolds the actor adjusted those settings and made him react to a new circumstances. “I wanted to show his heart peeling off layer after layer from his social persona, to give birth to the real Lucas.”
Karl spoke highly of the cast in the film. “I am really blessed to have been able to join Rebecca Dalton in this production, she is just a great person and professional actress and I enjoyed working alongside her on a daily basis. We shared some great moments during the takes and behind the camera.
A special mention goes to Daphne Zuniga, who you probably know from Melrose Place. I used to watch the show every evening in France when I was a teenager. I have to confess I had a crush on her, and here I am a few years down the road playing in the same film. I am so thrilled to have the chance to work with Andrew Jackson who plays Robin’s Father, and Randy Thomas, we had only one scene together but a very intense one.” (Photo insert: Karl E. Landler with Daphne Zuniga and Rebecca Dalton)
He emphasized that the best scene partner is someone who is a great listener, someone who gives his/her attention generously while you are saying your lines. They react to the performance even when she/he is not on camera. He said that it sounds basic but not everyone is doing it.
You will love Christmas in Paris!
Get in the holiday spirit by watching the movie Christmas in Paris on Super Channel, UPtv, and is available on DVD on Amazon and VOD.
Today’s Quote
“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: Loving others.” Bob Hope
Monaco Reporter 