Taja Simpson and B.J. Britt play Harmony Davis and Billy Turner in former Ohio State football player Maurice Hall’s new holiday film, “#WorstChristmasEver.” Credit: Courtesy of Lorenda Nelson
Families near and far come together for the holidays, celebrating and spending cherished time with their loved ones — but these gatherings aren’t always as magical as they appear.
In November, former Ohio State football player Maurice Hall released his second Christmas movie, “#WorstChristmasEver.”
The story follows Billy Turner, played by B.J. Britt, as he is forced to celebrate Christmas with his ex-wife Alica Turner, played by Shanti Lowry, and her new fiance Chris Grandberry, played by Hall, according to the film’s IMDb.
Hall, a former Ohio State running back, played for the Buckeyes from 2001-2004, and helped the team win a national championship in 2002, according to the Dispatch. Hall was then signed on to the San Diego Chargers, but was cut in 2005.
He then began his pursuit of working in the arts, making his first television debut in Mindy Kaling’s romantic comedy “The Mindy Project” in 2012, continuing to play small parts in shows such as “Young Sheldon” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” according to his IMDb.
“#WorstChristmasEver,” a comedic-drama, is set in Atlanta and loosely based on a real-life situation the film’s producer, Tony Patterson, found himself in on Christmas day in 2022. Patterson said he wished to spend the holiday with his children, who were set to visit their mother in Atlanta. However, on Christmas day, Patterson awoke to a house filled only by his former wife and her husband.
“I woke up to the horrible sound of ‘Happy Birthday,’ because my ex-wife’s birthday is on Christmas, and my damn kids are not there,” Patterson said. “I spent Christmas day with my ex-wife and her husband, alone — hashtag worst Christmas ever.”
After Patterson told Hall about his experience, Hall said he immediately saw the film potential in the situation.
“Once [Patterson] told me that [story], I said ‘That’s a movie,’” Hall said.
Hall is credited as a producer on 20 films, according to IMDb. This experience led to a great on-set environment, according to several of the actors.
Mo Ashley, who plays Haley Turner, enamored Hall, Patterson and fellow cast member Taja Simpson with her audition, prompting them to retroactively write in a role for her. She said Hall’s character, along with the story of how he got into acting, motivated her.
“When I met him in person, he was so humble, so sweet, so easy going off-set and it just made talking with him so easy,” Ashley said. “A guy from Columbus, Ohio, who already had a career, and then to venture out to something new — it was just inspiring to see someone taking that leap of faith.”
Patterson said he wanted to emphasize how the holidays aren’t perfect, and oftentimes issues arise, which is what the film looks to display.
“We wanted to pinpoint the fact that Christmas is not just rainbows and fruitloops, it’s not,” Patterson said. “You have family drama, whether it’s the Black community or any community, it’s not Hallmark all the time.”
When casting, Hall said he looked for actors who could balance the serious issues in the film with the lighter tone of a Christmas film.
“We wanted to get people who understood that we are dealing with difficult circumstances, but at the same time, this is still a holiday film,” Hall said. “We’re not looking to be a super dark, rated R film. This is still something that we want people to walk away inspired by understanding the meaning of forgiveness and the meaning of family.”
While “#WorstChristmasEver” is not targeted solely at a Black audience, it does feature a primarily Black cast. Simpson, who plays Harmony Davis, said the film was turned down several times, but she said she felt the story had an important message to share.
“We had submitted the film to a couple different networks that were very similar in that nature, but we weren’t their demographic,” Simpson said. “All stories matter, period. I think Christmas, especially. Christmas and the holidays can be a really hard time for a lot of people, and I think it’s important to showcase regular real-life situations that happen in families.”
Tamala Jones, who plays Cynthia in the film, said she hopes for more Black representation in holiday films in the future.
“[It’s important] for me to see more Black people in holiday movies, we’ve been asking for it for so long that we need to see more of us there,” Jones said.
Directors also play a pivotal role in creating and telling stories that represent their communities, Patterson said.
“Directors need to take those chances, they need to direct films that matter to them,” Patterson said. “We have to start telling our stories honestly.”
Simpson said though the film wishes to portray a realistic family during the holidays, it also has light-hearted moments to maintain its comedic aspect.
“We had a really good time during filming,” Simpson said. “I think our chemistry really showed [and] I think our chemistry was really palpable. That’s what you want, you want a good moment on screen where it’s believable. You don’t want to be in something and have people think ‘Eh, I didn’t really believe [them], but all right.’”
Britt said the chemistry on set made filming the entire movie in just 14 days a much simpler task.
“When we said cut, everybody was like ‘So what’s up?’ … we all fell in love with each other in such a short amount of time,” Britt said. “The callsheet was really tight, and the fact that everybody came prepped and prepared, it just made the pacing go and kept the energy up.”
Jones said the production of “#WorstChristmasEver” was one of the best she has ever had.
“I cannot say it enough, it was really one of the best experiences, and as far as family goes, the energy allowed you to melt into the set,” Jones said.
#WorstChristmasEver is available to stream now on Tubi, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Fandango.
