Interview with James Buckley (Nick)

Why did you want to be involved in Finding Father Christmas?

Loads of reasons. I really liked the story and thought it was really sweet. I do like Christmas, I've got two boys and Christmas is a big deal in our house so to make something that my children can actually watch is very appealing to me. My friend Spencer Millman was also producing it, and when I heard that Lenny was in it as well, I really wanted to work with him. 

How would you describe Nick?

A guy who's a bit down on his life, I suppose. There's been some tragedy and sadness in the family. He's looking at his life, professionally and romantically, and thinking that everything seems to have gone a bit wrong for him. Christmas magic is at the very bottom of his To Do List, and now it's just him and his son Chris (Lenny Rush), who’s at an age now where Nick feels they should have a talk about Father Christmas. Nick’s at a point where everything's gone wrong for him, and he's probably the least Christmassy person on the planet. But it's fine, because his son is probably the most Christmassy person on the planet. And I would genuinely say, if Christmas was a person, it would be Lenny Rush. He's the happiest fellow I've ever met in my life, and brilliant at what he does.

Could you relate to that father-son relationship?

I suppose so, yeah. I've got two young boys – two young men, really – and trying to help them navigate that transition from childhood to getting older can be very complicated between a dad and a son. Me and my wife do feel it's our responsibility to make sure these two boys grow up to be kind gentlemen, which they are, and I'm very proud of them. But it is about constant communication, talking to them and sometimes having discussions about the crushing inevitability of life! Sometimes you do have to crush a bit of hope in them and that can be difficult. So I definitely had some something to draw upon when I was doing the show,

Are your kids still firm believers in Father Christmas?

No, last year was the last year. They got older – they’re 12 and 14 now – but we’ll still have fun!

Have you always been a Christmassy person? 

I was when I was a kid, definitely, then there was a window in my life where I was growing up and didn't have kids and didn't really care about Christmas for a couple of years. I don't think I decorated my flat or anything. Then it becomes fun again once you've got your own little family.

Do you have festive family traditions?

Mainly around the movies we watch. We've got a list of films we watch every year: we do Home Alone on Christmas Eve and Home Alone 2 on Christmas Day. They're the important ones, then in and around those days, we'll watch The Santa Clause and a few others. 

Finding Father Christmas also reflects the fact that Christmas can be a sad, poignant time as well.

Yeah, and I'm quite miserable naturally. It's my default mode. Ironically, I'm happiest when I'm whinging about something, which is quite weird. I did have loads of fun with Lenny though, I felt like I had a partner in crime there and thoroughly enjoyed working with him.

Are you as obsessed with Stephen Fry as Nick is?

I definitely had to play it cool in our scene with him. Lenny was the same because we're both British comedy nerds and Stephen Fry is one of the pillars, one of the giants whose shoulders we stand on, whether it’s Jeeves and Wooster or Blackadder or Fry and Laurie. It was really surreal, but he was just as brilliant as you'd hope him to be. They always say you should never meet your heroes, but most of the time, that doesn't really apply to comedy. Most people that work in comedy are very self-aware and have an understanding of the world.

Was it strange to be recreating Christmas out of season?

Yeah, it was as weird as you would think it would be. You feel like you've had Christmas twice in a year. There was tinsel and Christmas trees and scarves and it ruined the end of summer, to be honest. We had about a week left of summer, and it was like we rushed past it so we could get to Christmas. It was a bit annoying.

Was anything particularly challenging about making Finding Father Christmas?

No, it was great! Everyone was there to enjoy themselves and just make a TV show, which is the best environment in my experience. It's always nice not to take anything too seriously, because it's easy to get swept away with the madness of being on TV when we're all just glorified court jesters at the end of the day. All we’re trying to do is entertain people, and that was everyone's goal in Finding Father Christmas.

What do you hope people take away from watching the show? 

I don't do underlying messages – I don't want anyone to learn anything! I just want people to be present in the moment and forget about all the nonsense because, as amazing as Christmas is, it’s an  incredibly stressful time of year. So I just want people to be able to switch off from all that for a little while and enjoy a fun little TV show. I've only ever wanted to put a smile on people's faces. I'm in the laughter business, not in the “we should think about this a bit more” business. I think lots of people are in that business, and it's over saturated as far as I’m concerned!

What’s coming up next for you?

I've got a film coming out in the spring called Mother's Pride, which I'm really excited about. It's got me and Martin Clunes and it's a really sweet story, shot in the West Country. I loved working on it and I can't wait to see it.

Any New Year's Resolutions?

No, I've never set a goal in my life. Because I've never set a goal, I have overachieved. I could drop dead tomorrow, and I'd be all right. I'd feel like I’d done okay with life.