Rita Wilson says 'Jingle All the Way' haunts her because her character was 'just a little too stupid'
- Rita Wilson told Insider the 1996 holiday comedy "Jingle All the Way" haunts her because her character, Liz, is "just a little too stupid" to realize Turbo Man, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is her husband.
- "Let's see: He has an accent, he looks exactly like him, he's wearing a half mask," she said, "but my character does not know."
- While the high-grossing movie streams every Christmas, another holiday film Wilson starred in and liked, "Mixed Nuts," bombed.
- "I recommend 'Mixed Nuts,'" Wilson added.
Don't ask Rita Wilson about her fondest memories of filming the 1996 holiday comedy "Jingle All the Way." Insider made that mistake, and Wilson hung her head and sighed.
"This is the movie that haunts me," she admitted of the 1996 film.
In the movie, Wilson plays Liz Langston, a Minneapolis mom whose workaholic husband, Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) promises to make things up to their son Jamie (Jake Lloyd) by getting him the season's hottest toy, Turbo Man.
But Howard doesn't begin his search until Christmas Eve, when the toy is sold out, and he winds up in a desperate chase against another dad, Myron (Sinbad) to find, win, or even steal any remaining Turbo Man dolls before Christmas Day.
Eventually, Howard finds himself in a Turbo Man costume, and uses the character's powers to rescue his son from a fall. Neither Liz nor Jamie know that Turbo Man is indeed Howard.
At the end, Howard reveals himself and apologizes to them, and Jamie declares his dad is the real hero and he doesn't need a Turbo Man toy after all.
"I know a lot of people love this movie," Wilson told Insider, largely because of her "incredible" costars. But Wilson said she just didn't believe her character's ignorance.
"Why did my character not know that her husband Howard, who talks like [Arnold Schwarzenegger] and is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, was Turbo Man. How did she not know that?" Wilson asked, incredulously.
"Let's see: He has an accent. he looks exactly like him. He's wearing a half mask," she continued, "but my character does not know. And it made me just feel like, that's just a little too stupid."
Meanwhile, Wilson said, the 1994 Christmas film "Mixed Nuts" is an overlooked gem.
The film directed by Nora Ephron - which also has an "incredible cast," Wilson said, including Steve Martin, Liev Schreiber, and Juliette Lewis - centers around a group of suicide-prevention hotline employees who learn they may be evicted on Christmas Eve.
"It does have a cult following now and people really like it," Wilson said, "so I recommend 'Mixed Nuts.'"
But the movie bombed when it released, grossing less than $7 million by the end of its run and even landing on some "worst movies of the year" lists.
"Jingle All the Way," by comparison, made $12.1 million in its first weekend alone and went on to gross $129 million worldwide.