Christina Milian And Devale Ellis Discuss ‘Meet Me Next Christmas’
The holidays are almost here, which means many merry movies are coming our way — but Netflix has already set the bar high this season with the November 6 arrival of their film Meet Me Next Christmas.
Source: Courtesy / Netflix
The film stars Christina Milian as a Layla, a beautiful woman who has become suddenly single right before Christmas after catching her boyfriend creeping. Determined to turn her holidays around, Layla remembers forming a connection with a handsome stranger James (Kofi Siriboe) whom she met the previous December during an airport layover. The pair bonded over the Pentatonix in the airport lounge and pledged to meet at the group’s concert if they both ended up single the following Christmas. So Layla embarks on a quest to reconnect — the only problem is the show is sold out. This is where Teddy, a charming concierge steps in. Layla hires Teddy’s concierge service to help her get tickets — but with time running out the pair find themselves in one crazy predicament after another until the inevitable happens and Layla finds herself having to decide whether it’s James she really wants or Teddy who is right for her!
Check out the trailer below:
BOSSIP Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden spoke with Christina Milian and Devale Ellis just days after the release of Meet Me Next Christmas to discuss the Pentatonix, their belief in fate and rising to the challenge of their onscreen dance scene. The pair were on a high from their feel-good film, which both Ellis and Milian have been enjoying on repeat at home with their families. We asked them about filming a holiday movie that’s about two single adults finding love.
“To be honest it felt good because love cures all right? Devale told BOSSIP. “When everything is going wrong, if you could find love in the midst of turmoil you can find anything and in this turmoil, that adventure that we call Meet Me Next Christmas we find love. One of my favorite scenes I always say is when Christina is running through the street and you got ‘Hallelujah’ playing in the background and she’s in slow motion and she’s running. But the best part was her face before that when she realizes, ‘ I Love Teddy!’ That’s a moment that — I’m in the movie and I’ll be like [Ellis fakes tears] ‘Go get Teddy Layla!’
Source: Courtesy / Netflix
“The romance and the romantic comedy part, we checked all the marks,” Milian added. “When we were shooting the film we had to make sure that they had more Christmas. I think that was actually the bigger deal. When we were shooting we were like, ‘Are there enough lights? Are there enough trees? There has to be that Christmas magic. We got the connection with the chemistry and all the different people but make sure we get a lot of Christmas and so it was nice seeing it. We had the Pentatonix of course.”
Speaking of the Pentatonix — Milian and Ellis were both enthusiastic about the film’s incorporation of the popular harmonizers.
“I think we all we all know there’s pretty much like 3 artists people go to — it’s Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men and the Pentatonix for the holidays,” Ellis told BOSSIP. “My dad loves the Pentatonix so he was like, ‘You’ll be in the movie with the Pentatonix? I was like, ‘Chill out, chill out. Yes, they’re going to be in the movie with me, alright?”
“It’s great because people what they have with them is the sense of nostalgia,” Milian added. “I was aware of their music. I’ve heard their songs before. I heard about people going to their Christmas shows, but it wasn’t until I got the script and saw this great concept about trying to get these tickets to this Pentatonix concert that I really dived in. And it’s like ‘OK let me just check out their whole world,’ because it’s almost like they have their own little club, which I’m sure has gotten much bigger since the movie. So I feel like we’ve been let into the club. They’re fantastic.”
Source: Netflix / Netflix
The pair also spoke about their incredible performance scene in the movie, with both Ellis and Milian confiding they were nervous despite Milian’s pop superstar status.
“I was nervous,” Devale admitted.
“I was nervous,” Milian said.
“You was not nervous! She’s not telling the truth,” Ellis interjected.
“You know what, he was learning it so fast, and he was just like dancing in some Santa shoes, I think the first day he might have came in Timbs, but he came ready to go and it’s very cute to see it in person and then on the film. It’s fun because you really get to see kind of guys like let go like that. Me, you’ve seen it before but then you see the character with Teddy but I think it’s really it’s heartfelt and it’s light and it’s fun.
“Shout out to Rusty and the whole team and JJ putting everything together,” Ellis added. “That was our choreographer. She was on us.
“We only had a couple days, like three days and then next thing you know we were shooting it a couple weeks later,” Milian said.
Source: Courtesy / Netflix
Fate is a huge theme in Meet Me Next Christmas, initially because Layla is sure the connection she made with James in the airport lounge was so strong she believed there must be more to it. It turns out Teddy was also in the lounge that day and also had an interaction with Layla. It turns out the actors are believers just like their characters.
“I believe in fate,” Milian said.
“I do too,” Ellis added. “I dropped my cup on the floor and then one dropped in her bag and then randomly a year later I ended up being her concierge — yeah I think it’s definitely fate that Layla and he had run into each other before in the same time that she also met James.”
“Yep so you know love was giving her some choices,” Milian added. “But you know Teddy came through at the right time. He was right by her side to try and make the other thing happen. It’s fun to see — it’s fate, the fact that she sees the cup at the house and she’s like, ‘Ohh my gosh,’ she puts the two and two together. I’m a firm believer in fate. Even in life, I’m like things are kind of meant to be and I feel like the circle of life, like people around me, just gets smaller. I could be in another place in the whole entire world and have just met somebody maybe, and maybe just a few weeks later, that I’ve never met in my life and all of a sudden I’m like in Japan and France or something at like dinner and I run into them. Like what are the chances of that?”
Those experiences are so real right?! If you haven’t already checked this project out it’s a great watch with the family or your significant other.
Meet Me Next Christmas is streaming now on Netflix
