Facts you didn’t know about Christmas film The Holiday – including fake houses

The Holiday is a classic and a must-watch for many of us during the festive season.

Many of us have already watched it again this year but if you haven’t, what better time than the last few days before Christmas?

The must-see features a string of Hollywood stars, including Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black.

It’s a feel good rom-com that has us all laughing, crying and dancing around our living rooms as Aretha Franklin’s You Send Me plays and the credits roll.

So, before you grab the popcorn and indulge in one of the greatest films there is, here are some fun facts about the classic…

The festive must-see The Holiday features a string of Hollywood stars
(Image: Columbia Pictures)

The house swap homes aren’t real

Sorry to do this, but we have to tell you that the swapped houses in the film aren’t actually real. Eek!

The website Amanda and Iris swap houses on is real, but the abodes in the film come from the crew’s design team.

The interior of Amanda’s home was constructed in a studio, and the team also created everything in Iris’s cottage. It was built on a hill overlooking the town of Shere in Surrey.

While it only took four days to build the house, set designers took two weeks to make the house look old and authentic.

Speaking to ComingSoon, director Nancy Meyers said: “It was really an amazing process to build a cottage because the people that lived there couldn’t believe that people from Hollywood were coming and building this cottage, but they did a magnificent job. We built the road, the wall around it, put in the trees.”

Elsewhere, the garden outside of the cottage reportedly took the longest to create, in a bid to give it an old and wild look.

While you can’t see the house, as it has been destroyed, you can still visit Shere and grab a drink at The White Horse. Who knows, maybe you’ll bump into Jude Law.

The swapped houses in the film aren’t actually real
(Image: Columbia Pictures)

Jude Law’s daughters

In the film, we meet the adorable Sophie (Miffy Englefield) and Olivia (Emma Pritchard). They’re so cute!

And it turns out Jude enjoyed working with them the most, admitting they were his favourite part of filming.

In real life, Jude has daughters named Sophia and Iris, much like names found in the film! Now, quite a few years on, Miffy is 24 and has given up acting, she’s now working as a barista.

Meanwhile, Emma, now 21, has shunned the spotlight and doesn’t even have any public social media profiles.

Miffy Englefield played Jude Law’s daughter Sophie
(Image: Universal)

Now, quite a few years on, Miffy is 24 and has given up acting, she’s now working as a barista
(Image: Instagram)

Improvised scenes

A lot of the scenes in the film were improvised, including Kate Winslet’s simply fantastic dance as she arrived at the LA home.

Another improvised clip is that of Dustin Hoffman popping up in the movie store. Apparently, the star was filming nearby and decided to join due to his friendship with Nancy Meyers.

Alongside improvised scenes, the actors also had to do lots of takes because of Nancy’s attention to detail.

One of these scenes was at the newspaper’s Christmas party, which was done so much that Kate reportedly dropped to her knees to jokingly pray she wouldn’t have to do it again.

A lot of the scenes in the film were improvised
(Image: Columbia Pictures)

Kate Winslet and Rufus Sewell are exes in real life

Did you know that Kate and Rufus actually dated, according to The Telegraph.

The pair were romantically linked for a brief three month stint.

Kate Winslet and Rufus Sewell were once romantically linked in real life
(Image: Columbia Pictures)

Cameron Diaz and Jude Law didn’t really interact with Kate Winslet and Jack Black

The two couples didn’t cross paths much while filming because they only had one scene together. But Kate said the times she did work with Cameron were “really fun”.

She told Collider: “But our paths would cross, you know, sometimes we’d be shooting, for example, the scene with Jack and I in the video store.

“Cameron sort of happened to be around in the area and she came by, and she was there for sort of, half of the shooting day.

“And she was just giving support and making us all feel that we were a part of the same thing together, you know, she was very aware of that. And she’s a truly fantastic person.”

The two couples didn’t cross paths much while filming because they only had one scene together
(Image: Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal)

Jude and Cameron’s filming was largely separate from Kate and Jack’s
(Image: Splash News)

The snow was real

The snow definitely makes the film, and makes the sleepy English town look so beautiful, and apparently it actually did snow.

According to IndieLondon it snowed three times while filming which came as a surprise to the crew, who were planning on creating a winter wonderland with snow machines.

Speaking to Vulture, Cameron Diaz revealed that the snow used was all “totally biodegradable.”

Cameron Diaz’s most physical film

Cameron Diaz cited it as her most physical film
(Image: Columbia Pictures)

It’s also been revealed that the snow running scene took a week to film and was lots of fun
(Image: Columbia Pictures)

Movie star Cameron has been a whole host of well-known flicks, but it turns out The Holiday was her most physical.

The blonde beauty revealed in the DVD bonus that her role of Amanda Woods was by far her most physical, with the running in the snow, the jumping, even the punching!

It’s also been revealed that the snow running scene took a week to film and was lots of fun. Cameron told Vulture: “That whole scene took a week to shoot. That wasn’t even in the script.

“They only used two shots, but we shot like ten shots of me running across ten different fields. And I’m wearing that Valentino cashmere, wool trench coat, a turtleneck cashmere sweater.

“Literally, I was so fit by the end of that week. I ran probably seven miles a day in those heels. Through mud and hills. It was so hilarious.”

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