Arts & Entertainment

Actors Joel McHale, Lauren Graham Visit Norcross for Holiday Movie

Also starring Robin Williams and Candice Bergen, "A Friggin' Christmas Miracle" was filmed at the Norcross Station Cafe all day Wednesday.

Historic Downtown Norcross was filled with film crews working and passersby snapping photos Wednesday as production went on for the holiday movie "A Friggin' Christmas Miracle."

Click here for a photo gallery of the filming in Norcross.

Crews set up late Tuesday for filming, which started early Wednesday (April 24) at the Norcross Station Cafe on the corner of Jones Street and South Peachtree Street.

Find out what's happening in Norcrosswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I think it's fantastic," said owner Ken Weatherford about the movie being filmed at his restaurant, despite the cafe being closed for the day. He added that the Depot has not been used for a movie or TV show in the nearly 20 years he's owned the restaurant.

By 9:10 a.m., downtowners were able to catch a glimpse of Joel McHale, one of the stars of the film. Shortly after, actress Lauren Graham made her appearance in Norcross, and the two started filming for the day.

Find out what's happening in Norcrosswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Filming wrapped around 4:30 p.m., and the Norcross Station Cafe has the go-ahead to re-open Thursday.

According to FirstShowing.net, McHale (known for NBC's "Community," E!'s "The Soup") plays a family man named Boyd in "A Friggin' Christmas Miracle." The comedy is about Boyd taking his wife, played by Graham ("Gilmore Girls," "Parenthood") and son (Pierce Gagnon of "Looper") to visit his family for the holiday.

McHale's character realizes that he leaves his son's presents at home, so he, his brother and his father, played by Robin Williams, drive around on Christmas Eve looking for replacement gifts.

At Wednesday's shoot, McHale and Graham acted for the film's opening scene where they visits Santa. For the shots, the actors walked along the sidewalk in front of the cafe and talked outside the main entrance, with extras on set. A man dressed as Santa and actors depicting elves were seen inside the deck portion of the restaurant.

There were a projected 140 people involved in today's shoot, as seen in the photo gallery on Norcross Patch. The parking spaces along the Depot side on South Peachtree Street and the gravel lot across The Shops of Antique Traditions were blocked off for trailers and for filming. Both lanes of traffic were were open to vehicles unless the cameras were rolling, and people lined up along the shops side of South Peachtree to capture a little bit of Hollywood via cameras and cell phones.

"I think that it's an amazing thing to have people here who are shooting the film ... and to see people in old town Norcross walking up and down the street, mesmerized for hours at a time at what they're doing," said Shelly Dollar, assistant manager of Vargas & Harbin Studio Gallery in downtown. "I'm really hoping that talking with these people that they'll come back to old town Norcross for other events."

Other notable actors and actresses in "A Friggin' Christmas Miracle" include Wendi McLonden-Covey of "Bridesmaids," who will play Boyd's sister; Tim Heidecker of "Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie"; Amara Miller of "The Descendants"; Ryan Lee of "Super 8" and "This is 40"; and Bebe Wood of "The New Normal." See the whole cast on IMDB.

Under the production company Sycamore Pictures, the movie was penned by Phil Johnston, who also wrote the animated film "Wreck-It Ralph." "A Friggin' Christmas Miracle" is directed by Tristram Shapeero, who's directed shows such as "Community," "Parks and Recreation," "New Girl" and "Veep."

See also:

  • Photo Gallery: Production Company Films "A Friggin' Christmas Miracle" in Norcross
  • Filming for Christmas Movie Begins Today in Norcross
  • Christmas Movie to Be Filmed in Norcross

Don’t miss any Norcross news. Subscribe to Norcross Patch’s free newsletterlike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here