The Nutcracker Star Ben Stiller Picks His Favorite Holiday Movies

The old Hollywood warning is clear: never work with children or animals, as both will easily overshadow any star.

“Yeah, so making this movie was the opposite of that — it was about working with kids as well as animals,” Ben Stiller says of his new feel-good holiday film, “The Nutcracker” (streaming Friday on Hulu).

But before the veteran actor (“Meet the Fockers”), director (“Tropic Thunder”) and producer (“Severance”) can continue, one of those child co-stars, 11-year-old Ulysses Janson, intervenes.

“Yes, they should say, ‘Never work with adults,'” says Janson, who goes by Uli.

Stiller gives him a very Ben Stiller look, wide-eyed. “I think you got something there, kid.”

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And so it goes for the next 20 minutes: effortless banter mixed with good-natured banter between the 58-year-old actor and two of his four young co-stars, who also include 13-year-old Homer Janson and twins Arlo and Atlas, 8.

That easy camaraderie bursts from the screen in “The Nutcracker,” a heartwarming vision from director David Gordon Green (2018 reboot of “Halloween”) that tells the story of career-obsessed Michael (Stiller) who must watching over his four turbulent and suddenly orphaned nephews who are waiting for news of their placement in foster care.

Real Brothers’ Antics Inspired Hulu’s New Movie ‘The Nutcracker’

The unique gift of “The Nutcracker” is that Green met the four Janson brothers while she was visiting an old college friend who had moved to the family farm outside Wilmington, Ohio. Spending time with his crazy, talented kids made the director think he essentially had a movie ready to shoot, with the cast and farm location already locked down.

Stiller recalled: “David called me and said, ‘Hey, I have this idea for a holiday movie with these boys who live on a farm but have never acted, and we’re going to take some cameras 35mm and rock and roll”. It starts in eight weeks, are you up for it?

He admits that after reading the script, his first question “as a cynic was: Is this doing some sort of parody of a holiday movie? But it’s not.”

Stiller was intrigued, thanks in part to his deep affection for a range of classic holiday foods.

“I never thought, ‘Oh, I have to make a holiday movie,’ no, but I love them, from those Rankin/Bass animations (“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”) to ‘It’s a Life “Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Polar Express, all films that put you in the spirit of things,” he says. “I also loved that it felt so organic – it wasn’t a big studio production.”

The Janson brothers went from neophytes to savvy professionals, says Ben Stiller

The four Jansons took to filming like ducks to water, Stiller says, no doubt put at ease by the fact that their familiar family farm also served as the film’s setting.

“I mean, these guys live in this house that you see, so they would scream, but the cats and the guinea pigs and the dogs and the goats, they’re all still there, wandering around,” Stiller says. “Sometimes things happened without even knowing if the cameras were rolling.”

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Check out the trailer for Ben Stiller’s new holiday movie, “The Nutcracker” (streaming on Hulu), starring four real-life brothers and newbie actors.

Homer Janson says he and his brothers worried that once filming was scheduled, the quartet would have to spend hours cleaning up the property. But the opposite happened, to their greatest pleasure. “It’s supposed to look like four boys live alone in this place, so we made sure that was the case,” Homer says with a laugh.

It didn’t take long for the boys to become familiar with the movies, from the perks (“It would be the free breakfast burritos every morning,” Uli Janson says happily) to the lingo.

“At first we were saying, ‘Walk on your brand,’ and they were saying, ‘What’s a brand?’” Stiller says. “And then at the end, they’re like, ‘It’s a 30mm lens, and it’s going to cover and take an over-the-shoulder shot.’ “

What’s next for the Janson brothers, ballet dancers? A performance of “The Nutcracker”

Are there any other actors in the works for the Janson brothers, who, as “The Nutcracker,” are also talented ballet dancers?

“Well, we’re practicing for a performance of the real Nutcracker, which will be at the same local theater that you see in the movie,” Homer Janson said.

Stiller leans forward. “But I’m their manager now,” he said with mocking seriousness. “I own their rights to life; their parents sold them to me. You’re okay with that, aren’t you?”

Home and Uli smile. Stiller feels like an old friend. The best part about working with him?

“Ben is so nice, he’s so amazing…” Uli said. “Keep going, please keep going,” Stiller says, deadpan.

OK, so what is their favorite Ben Stiller movie?

“Well, Homer has watched ‘Alex the Lion’ about 15 times,” Uli says, but Homer quickly corrects him: “You mean ‘Madagascar’.”

Stiller voiced the lion in this animated hit. It is quick to draw. “That’s true, but he should have been called ‘Alex the Lion’, without a doubt. Good point, Uli.”

For Homer, Stiller’s best include “Tropic Thunder” and “Zoolander.” But he will soon add another film to this list after working with the star.

“The whole experience was very pleasant working with Ben,” he says.

Stiller may be flattered, but again, he just can’t resist going on a comedic adventure.

“Well, yes, at first,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “But later, guys, admit it, things got tough there, we weren’t talking anymore. Things like, ‘Hey, why does Uli have a bigger trailer than me?’ “

Stiller gives his long-haired co-star a hard look. “Uli, man, I feel like success has touched you.”

But Uli is too busy laughing to respond.