What is a traditional Christmas for you? Maybe it's wrapping gifts, decorating the house, caroling, or maybe even stressing over Christmas dinner. These are aspects of Christmas many of us grew up with, and primarily what movies teach us about the holiday. However, Christmas is celebrated slightly differently in other cultures, yet the majority of the time, Hollywood doesn't care. Well, that's where Angel Gracia's new film, How the Gringo Stole Christmas, comes in, celebrating Hispanic holiday traditions.

How the Gringo Stole Christmas is a wholesome Christmas comedy. It's got a great cast led by George Lopez in his absolute element, lots of endearing relationships, a solid representation of Hispanic culture, and sports some pretty engaging humor. Director Angel Gracia, perhaps best known for the movie From Prada to Nada, recently sat down with MovieWeb to talk about his film, Hispanic representation in Hollywood, and working with the great George Lopez.

Why How the Gringo Stole Christmas?

The plot of How the Gringo Stole Christmas follows Bennie (George Lopez), who's hoping to have a traditional Latino Christmas with his family. However, his plans are about to be ruined when his daughter brings home a Gringo boyfriend, one of the many reasons this script resonated so much with Gracia. "I had a younger daughter then," said Gracia, "and now she's 25, so I identify even more with the situation that's happening." He added:

And when Lopez signed on, he was like, 'Well, I have a similar experience'. He told me his own daughter introduced him to [her] white American boyfriend.

The script for How the Gringo Stole Christmas had been in the works for a long time, with Angel Gracia befriending the film's writer, Ezequiel Martinez Jr., "about a decade" ago, while working on his previous film From Prada to Nada. Gracia mentioned, "Lisa Ellzey, the executive producer at Lionsgate, said, 'You have to read this crazy thing.' And I read it and was like, 'This is crazy.' And so we became friends."

Gracia went on to mention that, "A typical Latin themed Christmas movie is really hard to put together" from a production standpoint, mainly because of how less it conforms to Hollywood's specific idea of Christmas compared to the usual Lifetime holiday fare or Hallmark Christmas flicks. Add to this the added niche of centering itself around an unwelcoming Latino father, and it suddenly became "even harder to get financing and all that stuff."

"But I always liked it," exclaimed Gracia, expanding on his personal connection with the film, "because [Bennie] kind of resonates with [me], as an immigrant having lived in different parts of this country and other countries, and a Latino in America. And so I identify with a lot of what's happening."

Related: 10 Must-Watch Movies from Hispanic Directors

Gracia's Take on Cultural Prejudice

How the Gringo Stole Christmas is a silly movie, but in a good way. With George Lopez's deadpan, sarcastic humor and the absurd moments that happen in the film, How the Gringo Stole Christmas is a joyfully frivolous flick. A lot of its silliness serves a bigger purpose, though. Gracia comments on this, explaining, "I hope [audiences] see the silliness of prejudice." The director added:

Because when you have lived around the world, you see that it's the same issues, whether it's tradition that brings it together or separates you. Where is that person from, that sounds different, looks different? We are very quick at finding ways to reject each other. I think it's silly [...] I wanted to highlight the absurdity of not having an open mind toward all people.

Related: Best Movies to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Working with George Lopez and the 15-Day Shoot Schedule

The role of Bennie wasn't originally written for George Lopez. But after he signed on, Gracia said that, "It may as well have been, right?" The director went on to commend Lopez's talents, saying, "He's drawing from personal experiences, and being a very professional, television-trained actor, plus a comedian with the capacity of improvising and writing his own stuff. I cannot think of a better actor to do this, because he demonstrated it every day."

While speaking on working with Lopez, Gracia mentioned that he had "to shoot the whole thing in 15 days," but despite the compressed production, he still wanted "to allow for it to be wild and free, to go and improvise." Gracia elaborated:

Every day, you're making these compromises, but you want to make sure they're funny. Somehow, [you've got to] find the humor in the mystery of the limitations. And I'm proud to say that that's probably my best talent under pressure. Although I am dying inside, no one needs to know it. You have to put on a good face and make quick decisions and move on.

Hollywood's Representation of Hispanic Culture

Recently, we've seen a huge rise in Latino and Hispanic representation in big budget movies. Take the Hispanic cast of this year's Blue Beetle (which also starred George Lopez), and the MCU's first Hispanic superhero, Namor, in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The director states that we have "a long way to go," adding:

[When] I look around, just in the Hispanic community in this country, there's so much talent that just goes unnoticed. I lived in Los Angeles, I lived in New York, I lived in Miami, and [there's unnoticed] talent everywhere. Just to get the opportunities is quite difficult. So in this film, I made sure I did what I could in that respect.

Gracia explained how he hired content creators and influencers in order to give them opportunities many wouldn't. "My guys playing the vatos are content creators and influencers that have not acted in a movie before," stated Gracia. "But through a casting process, I realized hat was the right idea. Let's get these guys. Let's give them a break. Let's let them do this. Anthony Zuniga, who plays Javier, is also a content creator and influencer, and [it's his] first time acting; he knocked it out of the park. I want someone who represents his community to play that role, specifically, rather than someone pretending to be that [character]," Gracia concluded.

From Lionsgate, How the Gringo Stole Christmas is currently in theaters and available to rent or buy on digital platforms like Prime Video, Google Play, and Vudu.

Watch on Vudu