Two peas in a pod! Kristin Chenoweth opened up about the bond she formed with her Holidate costars, including Emma Roberts.
“She’s not that much taller than me, so it gave my neck a break. I loved it. Secondly, I loved [that] there was a real sisterhood we developed on that movie with Emma, myself and Jessica Capshaw,” Chenoweth, 52, told Us Weekly exclusively on November 11 while promoting Kelloggs’ Do it Yuleself campaign. “Cap’s probably one of my best friends.”
The Wicked actress also gushed about costars Francis Fisher and Cynthy Wu, adding, “We just had a really tight-knit, female-powered group, and I’m really proud of that.”
In Holidate, Chenoweth stars as Roberts’ character’s aunt. The holiday-themed rom-com, which hit Netflix on October 28, follows Sloane (Roberts) as she forges a platonic agreement with a man named Jackson (Luke Bracey) to be each other’s plus-ones to holiday gatherings. Over time, the pair start to develop real feelings for each other.
Holidate centers on the importance of being able to spend the holidays with loved ones — and Chenoweth is no stranger to the concept. In her household, there are certain traditions that her family has tried to uphold over the years.
“My mom was big into ceramics when I was growing up. She made this beautiful Christmas ceramic tree, and on each point is a candle. … We would light a candle and say what we were most thankful for,” she explained to Us. “That tradition kind of got a little lost as I became an adult and began to work all the time. Though I don’t have a ceramic Christmas tree — it’s probably in my parents’ attic — because we know I’m on the go, they come to me a lot. When I’m done working this year, I will get to come home to Oklahoma and be with them for the first time in a long time.”
The Glee alum said that she’s continued to practice her family’s candle-lighting tradition wherever she is that time of the year.
“It might not be the ceramic Christmas tree, but candles and lighting with whoever I’m with,” she added. “Whether it’s a cast of people in a concert tour with me, it doesn’t matter. I take the time. We light a candle, and we say what we’re grateful for. I think this year it will be probably the most important one yet.”
One recent tradition Chenoweth may do without this year is exchanging “a little gift” with her boyfriend, Josh Bryant. “What woman doesn’t want to be given a gift for Christmas? But I really do mean that I don’t need a gift this year,” she explained.
Chenoweth’s love for Christmas has led to her starring in several holiday movies and dropping the 2008 album, A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas. If she ever made more holiday-inspired music, the Broadway actress said she is “down” to work with Ariana Grande, with whom she performed “You Don’t Own Me” for her 2019 record, For the Girls. “I would be so lucky to get to sing with her again,” she said.
Chenoweth recently teamed up with Kelloggs for its Do it Yuleself campaign, which aims to provide quick and easy recipes for holiday snacking using the brand’s crackers. “In my family, around the holidays, we don’t play around. When it comes to food, we eat — and I personally am not a cook. I like things that come in packages,” she explained, noting that the recipes featured at www.KelloggsFamilyRewards.com are “all different, all unique and cute.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
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