Diego Luna’s father hated Christmas: We always crashed someone else’s

"La Belle Epoque" Red Carpet - The 72nd Annual Cannes Film Festival
Diego Luna has a new spooky movie out tomorrow called Wander Darkly. His character is married to Sienna Miller, but their marriage is in trouble after they have their baby. Then there’s a car crash that may or may not have killed Sienna and the undead come for her. Super Christmassy, right? Actually, it looks pretty good. And, given Diego’s upbringing, it sounds right about in line with Christmases of his youth. Diego called in to Jimmy Kimmel from London, where he is filming the Rogue One prequel. It’s the middle of the night for Diego and the poor lamb looks so tired. He needs a hot toddy and Hecate’s bosom to rest on, clearly. Jimmy asked Diego about his Christmas plans, and Diego said he tends to go all out for his kids because his father wasn’t a big fan of the holiday, which usually meant Diego was dragged to someone else’s house and got whatever gifts they didn’t want. Merry Flipping Christmas, Kid. Diego told Jimmy he’s returning to Mexico soon to celebrate Christmas with his two children, son Jerónimo, 12, and daughter Fiona, 10.

On how his father hated Christmas
He just didn’t care. We always end up crashing someone else’s Christmas dinner and it was always him and I just there like hugging people we actually didn’t know and getting leftovers as presents – the VHS of a cheesy film or whatever. I was born also on 29th of December you know so for me the whole Christmas is it’s just not in the right time of the year, you know?

On if his dad ever got the Christmas spirit like in a Rankin/Bass Christmas special
No, never. I had to understand that there was another boy that was born like kind of like the same week I was and that was more important and it was, even to my father. So I played it for my kids many years and now we have fun.

On if he overcompensates with his kids for Christmas
Right, yeah. And they’re getting everything I didn’t get. The problem is that it’s all vintage toys, you know, that I wanted. And they go like that and no one wants that anymore, just give me a screen

[From Jimmy Kimmel on YouTube]

Diego was an only child and his mother was killed in a car accident when he was two years old, so it doesn’t shock me that the holidays weren’t his father’s favorite time of year. As Diego mentioned, he was born right after Christmas as well, December 29th. That also happens to be my dad’s birthday and he’d agree, it’s not ideal (although they get to be Capricorns so let’s face it, it’s still a win). I find the whole concept of Diego’s father crashing someone else’s dinner amusing. Just showing up with this poor little kid in tow and the host is looking around for something to give the doe-eyed Diego, “Merry Christmas, here’s the… coffee mug I got you! Used? No, it’s vintage. That coffee stain was left by Anthony Quinn.” And Jimmy’s Rankin/Bass analogy is pretty spot on. Somebody needs to write that special. Don’t worry, Jimmy promised to send Diego a Stretch Armstrong doll in the end and Diego seemed genuinely excited by it.

Jimmy also showed a clip of Home Movie: The Princess Bride. Not having Quibi, I had no idea this series existed. Just in case anyone else had their head in the sand, a group of actors remade The Princess Bride filmed on their phones, separately, all to benefit Chef José Andrés World Central Kitchen. Diego, as will surprise absolutely no one, played Inigo Montoya to Jack Black’s Westley/The Dread Pirate Roberts. It’s adorable. You can watch the full episode here. The only thing I don’t understand is in his interview with Jimmy, Diego mentioned something about his girlfriend’s son being one of those filming him. But I just asked my son, and he doesn’t remember filming Diego doing anything like that so…

Here’s the trailer for Wander Darkly. It’s getting okay reviews:

Here’s Diego’s interview!

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photos credit: Avalon.red, Getty and via YouTube

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17 Responses to “Diego Luna’s father hated Christmas: We always crashed someone else’s”

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  1. Celeste says:

    This looks good, I wanna watch it. And I like Diego and Gael, they are like a much cooler interesting version of Ben and Matt.

  2. Digital Unicorn says:

    I did not know there was a Rouge One prequel – doesn’t surprise me though that they are milking the best of all the recent SW movies. Sadly Felicity Jones isn’t returning for it – she was the best part of that movie.

    I’ll wait for this movie to go onto Netflix.

    • Courtney B says:

      It’s a Disney + show. There was some mystery surrounding his character and how he ended up the way he did so they’re making a series. I loved felicity Jones and her character but we knew what had happened there. Imo Rogue one was the best prequel and standalone movie and better than a couple of the sequels as well.

  3. Mia4s says:

    “ But I just asked my son, and he doesn’t remember filming Diego”

    Hahahaha!! I’m sure he’s just forgotten, it was a busy day. 😏 I’m intrigued though, is he still with Marina de Tavira (the mom from Roma?) I didn’t know she had any kids. I hope he is, that’s a cool couple.

    This movie got some pretty good reviews out of Sundance, sounds like a good on demand movie. I’ll check it out. And LOVE that they’re doing a Star Wars spy show! We should get the title today on the Disney Investors call too.

  4. Lauren says:

    Being latina,I have never really cared for Christmas day either. We used to celebrate with my mum’s family on Christmas Eve with lots of food, music dancing and drinking. Even after moving to Italy we celebrate with the local latin expats on the 24th. Christmas lunch (which is the big thing in Italy) has always been an annoyance because I’m usually too tired or hung over from the night before, and we would always pass it with our italian friends, always at their house. Fun story, a dear friend of mine went to school with Diego Luna (high school), he has told me several times that Diego was an Ahole and used to smell bad because of poor personal hygiene.

    • GuestwithCat says:

      Lol, Lauren I think most boys go through that stinky a-hole phase. It sounds like Diego didn’t have a mom to nag him out of his phase soon enough.

      • Lauren says:

        Yeah knowing that he grew up without a mum was probably a cause of both. My friend knows another mexican actor (can’t quite remember the name now), who I thought was hot too and once again my friend said the guy was a dck in high school. I stopped mentioning mexican actors in front of him just in case, don’t want to be disappointed anymore.

  5. Esmom says:

    Ooh, Hecate’s got a boyfriend, lol.

    His Christmas story breaks my heart, imagining his dad and small son headed out to try to find some Christmas cheer because it was too much work to try to do it at home.

  6. Tiffany says:

    This man is so damn handsome.

    Hecate, I understand.

    I.

    Understand.

  7. ItReallyIsYou,NotMe k8 says:

    My mom also overcompensated at Christmas because her Christmas was always very small, because her family didn’t have money for a lot of presents. It was usually 2 or 3 expensive gifts and a lot of smaller stuff that she picked up throughout the year and stored in her “Christmas closet.” I remember the year that my now-husband visited for the first time and he was horrified that the presents filled half of the living room and took 5 hours to open. We started scaling it back after we got married, but between the aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents my kids always end up with more than we expect. Today would have been my mom’s 64th birthday and I was doing okay until I just typed that out. She would have retired this coming year.

    • GuestwithCat says:

      Oh hugs to you. I’m so sorry for your loss. We lost my mother-in-law last year and she had a special touch to making Christmas a huge event like your mother did, for similar reasons. Lol it could get a bit over the top with moms like that. I know there’s a void, but try to fill it with your best memories of her. That will help you feel she’s right there with you.

      Peace and blessings to you this Christmas.

      • ItReallyIsYou,NotMe k8 says:

        Thank you. I filled the void by online shopping today for a family in a medical home whose kids need clothes for Christmas. I think I overbought, but my mom would have approved!

  8. Zaya says:

    My birthday is like a week before Xmas and I hated it growing up because people would combine my presents.

  9. Det20! says:

    Agreed, cool couple (@Mia4S). I have come across a couple of Mexican websites and as far as my understanding goes – unfortunately my Spanish is rather poor – she has a son. So that would match with what he says. I am looking forward to Wander Darkly and so much to the Rogue One tv show (I love love love the film). Just wish they had kept his looks a bit more in line with the beard style he had in the film, or the IMDb interview or the top red carpet image here. Not that I am picky when it comes to Diego though… basically any look is fine!