Every family has its own unique holiday traditions. Mad Men alum Jon Hamm’s festive tradition involves rewatching the “worst movie” he’s ever seen.
In a new interview with Empire magazine, Hamm, 54, said he has an “unfathomable” love-hate relationship with The Family Stone.
When asked which movies he has seen most, Hamm said the holiday classic ranks among the highest.
“Mostly because these are ‘required viewing’ for the holidays,” Hamm said, “it would be either Die Hard, or—and this is a weird choice, but we watch it almost every season—The Family Stone."
Hamm said that he finds the Diane Keaton-led film “fascinating.”
“I think it’s an inexplicably weird movie,” the Landman star added.
The 2005 Christmas movie centers on Sarah Jessica Parker, as her boyfriend, played by Dermot Mulroney, introduces her to his ruthlessly mocking family, who seize every opportunity to undermine her.
“It’s got a rock-solid, jam-packed, stacked cast, but every time I watch it, I think, ‘This might be the worst movie I’ve ever seen in my life,” Hamm concluded.
The Family Stone‘s call sheet would rival the latest Marvel blockbuster. Alongside Parker and Mulroney, the film features performances from the late Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Luke Wilson, Craig T. Wilson, and Clare Danes.
Parker earned a Golden Globe nomination for her efforts, while McAdams earned a Teen Choice award for the early-career role.
Between snipping at Parker, the family reckons with the decidedly unfestive news that their matriarch, Sybil (Keaton), is dying of cancer. The film is at times awkward, cringey, and stilted, but it is ultimately rewatchable for its heartwarming undercurrent.
“By the end of it, I kind of like it,” the Emmy winner concluded. “It’s unfathomable. I guess that’s what makes art, that you keep going back to it.”
Luckily for the Mad Men star, there’s more Family Stone to add to his holiday festivities.
In November, following the untimely death of Keaton, 79, The Family Stone director Thomas Bezucha announced that he had already begun working on a follow-up to his beloved holiday classic. The director said his work took on new meaning after his lead actress passed away.
“I’ve been haunted by the loss of Sybil for months now while I worked on it, and so this was a blow on a tender bruise already,” Bezucha, 61, told CNN. “Mentally, I’ve been spending time in that house where I’ve been missing her for a while already.”
The director noted that he would only continue working on a sequel if all of the film’s costars signed on, likening it to a Brady Bunch reunion without its star actress.
“I’m not interested in the Brady family reunion without the original Jan,” he said.
Hamm himself is no stranger to odd Holiday flicks.
In 2014, the Your Friends and Neighbors star headlined a Christmas episode of Black Mirror, the dark British comedy-drama series. “White Christmas” features Hamm as a narrator trapped in a snowy cabin, telling three holiday-themed stories that twist in the show’s trademark style.
Like The Family Stone, the episode is revered despite its psychological and often difficult-to-watch sequences. It is the highest-rated episode in the whole series.
Perhaps Hamm should add his own work to his yearly holiday watchlist. It’s at least as festive as Die Hard.
