Michelle Pfeiffer Leads Star-Studded Cast In Heartfelt Ode To Moms In Oh. What. Fun.

How Michelle Pfeiffer's Star-Studded Christmas Comedy Is A "Love Letter To Mothers" Around The World Michelle Pfeiffer as Claire looking frustrated while in the kitchen in Oh What Fun By  Tatiana Hullender  &  Grant Hermanns Published 1 minute ago Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Michelle Pfeiffer is a mother overworked to the point of leaving her family behind in Oh. What. Fun., which has an emotional message at its dysfunctional core. Based on Chandler Baker's short story of the same name, Pfeiffer leads the cast as Claire Clauster, the matriarch of a large family who always goes all out for them come Christmas season, though decides to set off on a road trip of her own after an extra explosive year.

Finally recognizing her absence, Claire's family begin trying to determine where she's gone to, all while coming to terms with their own chaotic nature and underappreciative behavior. Oh. What. Fun.'s ensemble cast fleshes out the Clauster family with Train Dreams' Felicity Jones, The Peripheral's Chloë Grace Moretz, Now You See Me: Now You Don't's Dominic Sessa, Going Dutch's Denis Leary, Euphoria's Maude Apatow, Reservation Dogs' Devery Jacobs and Mountainhead's Jason Schwartzman.

Ahead of the movie's premiere on Prime Video, ScreenRant's Tatiana Hullender interviewed stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Felicity Jones and co-writer/director/producer Michael Showalter to discuss Oh. What. Fun. In looking at the dynamic between Pfeiffer's Claire and Jones' Channing, the three-time Oscar nominee began by expressing that both characters are "feeling unseen and underappreciated by each other," with the former stemming from "an inability in general to allow things to evolve and to grow and to become something new":

Michelle Pfeiffer: She's holding onto the past, and I think that's where the power struggle comes between these two characters, and where Channing feels like she is not really being allowed to evolve and have her own choice in the matter. There's growth on both parts, I think.

Michelle Pfeiffer's Claire looking mischievous while squatting to unplug Christmas trees in Oh. What. Fun.

Reflecting on building this dynamic with Jones and Pfeiffer — who described Oh. What. Fun. as being a "love letter to mothers" — Showalter found that while the movie is certainly about moms, "it's also about generations of children" who go on to find themselves "become our own parents" in their lives. Whether it's when they begin building a family of their own, or even are living on their own note, the co-writer/director explained that "we replace the parent at a certain point" as "we take what we've learned from them."

Showalter goes on to describe this personal evolution as being "a bittersweet transition" as a child "wants to become the adult and have their own Christmas traditions." With Oh. What. Fun. tackling this theme through said December holiday, the filmmaker hinted that "the surprise of the movie is that you realize Claire isn't always right," teasing there being an element of Pfeiffer's character that "she needs to work on":

Michael Showalter: Hopefully, children will see this movie, and they'll think, "I've got to call my mom." But maybe moms will see the movie and feel like, "I've got to call my kids," too!

Oh. What. Fun.'s Confrontation Of Dysfunctional Families Comes With A "Genuine" Message Of Truth

ScreenRant: Felicity, one of the dynamics that's really funny to me is between your sibling and husband in the film. What is Channing's take on their squabbles? Because she can't really pick a side.

Felicity Jones: Oh, yeah. That's what's so lovely about the film. There are all these subplots going on, and there are all these little conversations happening over Christmas that are really sweet, actually. And you can feel that there's so much tenderness between everyone, but they're in a condensed space, so you feel that everyone is also starting to get on each other's nerves. What's great is that, at the beginning, they're all pretending and being really sweet and faking it. And then by the end, the gloves are just off, and everyone's saying exactly how they feel. And then obviously, by being truthful with each other, they're able to actually get to a more genuine place in those relationships.

ScreenRant: Oh. What. Fun. is a charming ode to moms everywhere, and it certainly had me wanting to call my own mother after. What was the genesis of the idea?

Michael Showalter: I was sent a short story that Chandler Baker, a wonderful author and screenwriter, had written. It couldn't have been more than 20 or 30 pages long, but very much the story of an underappreciated, overworked matriarch. As someone who loves Christmas movies and wanted to make one myself, I felt this was such an incredible opportunity to make a Christmas movie and tell a story that hasn't been told yet. It's giving credit to the true unsung hero of the holidays, which is the mom who's doing all of the behind-the-scenes work and getting no credit.

ScreenRant: Was there a specific holiday memory or tradition that really opened up the story for you, or that you really wanted to include?

Michael Showalter: I think I liked the idea of the dysfunctional family stuck in the house. That is something that really resonates for me, having spent many Thanksgivings and Christmases with my family and my in-laws all smooshed in a house together, and all of the comedy and weirdness of that; the humor and the warmth of that. I really loved that this was an opportunity to do that, and to have an ensemble of great actors all competing in a space together, trying to work through their own little mini-dramas. That was kind of the beginning of it.

Felicity Jones, Jason Schwartzman and a couple of kids smiling and standing in a foyer in Oh. What. Fun

ScreenRant: You mentioned the excellent ensemble cast, and they have all these different conversations and dynamics playing out within the same scene. Did you talk with the actors about what was happening in the background, or did you know all their backstories, whether or not they were highlighted onscreen?

Michael Showalter: Not to that extent, but they were great, and everyone seemed really connected to the idea of creating that feeling that I'm talking about. The actors were really great about always feeling very alive, and there was this feeling of overlapping. It was very important to me that this environment was a real environment, so that you can actually open the front door to their house, walk across the street, and see that the Wang-Wasserman family lives across the street. It was a real block, so it was like we really were living it in real life. You could walk from one room into the other and put the camera anywhere, so there would always be something real happening. We would always have something going on in the background and, if anything, it would be like, "Hey, can you guys keep it down back there? There's a scene happening in here." It was probably a big task for the sound department, but for me and the actors? It was great.

ScreenRant: Speaking of the Wang-Wassermans, I love the dynamic between Michelle and Joan Chen's characters. That felt like it could be its own movie, with the moms trying to one-up each other. Can you talk about giving us a taste of that perfect family across the street, and what that means for Claire?

Michael Showalter: She has this neighbor, Jean Wang-Wasserman, who lives across the street from her and has a bunch of children. They are all young adults, the same as her kids, and they're that perfect family. It's like "keeping up with the Joneses," where they seem to do everything a little bit better than you. They have better lights, and they have a nicer house. All the kids are gorgeous and successful, whereas her kids are all screwed up and trying to figure their lives out. But you find out that they're also flawed. Nobody's perfect, and that includes Jean Wang! Jean is played by the great Joan Chen, an actress whose career I've followed and who is brilliant in the film. She's an incredible comedian, and she has a great love-hate relationship with Michelle's Claire. They pretend not to like each other, but they actually would really miss each other if one of them were to ever move. The stuff with them is some of my favorite stuff in the film.

ScreenRant: The casting is impeccable overall, and there's a great combination of really established actors and up-and-coming young talent. Were there people that you had in mind from the start, or were there actors who most surprised you in the casting process?

Michael Showalter: There was no one who we were literally writing towards, but there were certain actors that I started thinking about at a certain point in the process. Early on, I thought that Eva Longoria needed to play Zazzy Tims. But like you said, the whole cast has so many young, up-and-coming actors like Dominic Sessa, Havana Rose Liu, and Chloë Grace Moretz. But then there's also Denis Leary, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joan Chen, and other established actors. Felicity Jones is incredible, and Jason Schwartzman is someone I've known for a while. Devery Jacobs, who plays Chloë Grace Moretz's girlfriend, is phenomenal. They all just blended really well together and had fun. I can't say that I was surprised by anyone because I knew going in how wonderful they were going to be, but I loved that it was that blend of old and new actors. It's younger actors and older actors, all playing with comedic and dramatic moments. That, to me, is the fun of casting; switching it up and getting all those different, interesting qualities that you can get out of an actor. And I do think that works for the holidays too, where everyone's having a different experience. You have Dominic Sessa's character, Sammy, who is a young guy coming back home, but he just wants to get out of the house and go to the bar and let off some steam. You've got Felicity and Jason Schwartzman, who are trying to start their own lives and feel like they've outgrown these traditions, but they're stuck in Felicity's childhood bed. I think one of the fun things about an ensemble project like this is all the different energies and all the different tones, and I'm so excited about this cast.

Oh. What. Fun. begins streaming on Prime Video on December 3!

Oh. What. Fun.

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed PG-13 Comedy Release Date December 2, 2025 Director Michael Showalter Writers Chandler Baker, Michael Showalter

Cast

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• Michelle Pfeiffer Claire Clauster
• Felicity Jones Channing
• Chloe Grace Moretz Taylor
• Denis Leary Nick

Producers Jane Rosenthal, Kate Churchill, Jordana Mollick, Michael Showalter, Berry Welsh Main Genre Comedy Genres Comedy Powered by Expand Collapse

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