Red One's Cast & Character Guide

Red One has quite the star-studded cast sliding onto Santa’s sleigh this November. Like many Christmas comedies before it, Santa is a central character in Red One. This time, he’s kidnapped right before his one big job of delivering presents around the world. It’s up to some major action stars, Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, to save Santa and, ultimately, Christmas.

The cast is quite a good one, with resident movie and TV mom and dad Bonnie Hunt and J.K. Simmons taking on the titular roles of Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Kiernan Shipka has a more magical role as an evil snow witch who preys on naughty children, while Lucy Liu keeps Johnson and Evan’s characters in line as they race against the clock to rescue Jolly St. Nick.

Dwayne Johnson as Callum Drift

Born: May 2, 1972

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was born in Hayward, California. At the height of his successful career with professional wrestling for WWE, he segued into acting with his first role in The Mummy. His breakout role wasn’t until two years later, as the lead in The Scorpion King. Over the last 25 years, he has become one of the biggest action stars in the world, from Hercules, Jumanji, Central Intelligence, San Andreas, and Red Notice to the Fast Five franchise, He’s also popular with children for his iconic role as trickster demigod Maui in Moana.

Who better to be Santa’s personal bodyguard than The Scorpion King himself? Johnson plays yet another tough guy as Callum Drift, head of security for the North Pole. Drift is disillusioned with the merriment of Christmas after the naughty list has grown drastically. He hopes to retire after helping Santa with this trip around the world on Christmas Eve night. But when St. Nicholas is kidnapped, it’s up to Drift to try and get him back home in time to save Christmas.

Chris Evans as Jack O’Malley

Born: June 13, 1981

Chris Evans was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and got his start in acting with the low-budget nature film Biodiversity: Wild About Life. He’d have to wait another four years until his breakout role in Not Another Teen Movie, smartly playing a caricature of all the hot jocks in the teen movies that came before it. He followed that up with a real teen movie, The Perfect Score in 2004. From there, he was cast as Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four (2005) and its sequel. But Evans’s legacy is his performance as Steve Rogers / Captain America in the Marvel movies.

Chris Evans is going from The Gray Man to Red One. He plays Jack O’Malley, a hacker and bounty hunter who is forced to team up with Johnson’s more serious Callum Drift to rescue good old St. Nick. They are playing the iconic straight man and funny man duo to entice audiences into watching. O’Malley is street smart and handy, and most definitely on the naughty list. But if he helps save Santa, he just might make it onto the nice list.

J. K. Simmons as Santa Claus

Born: January 9, 1955

J.K. Simmons was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan,​​​​​​ and started making some minor movie and TV appearances in 1986, but his breakout role wasn’t until he landed Vernon Schillinger in HBO’s prison drama Oz in 1997. Following his successful six-season run on the show, he started appearing more regularly in movies, often playing a father figure or mentor-type character with some kind of grumpy grit. Some of his most notable performances are in American Beauty, Juno, Whiplash, and the Spider-Man movies.

J.K. Simmons has just the right grumpy demeanor to put a bit of spunk into Santa. In a scene from the trailer, Johnson as Drift helps him with some weights at the gym, and it is clear that Santa has some major muscles. It’s almost like he’s been wrapping presents himself all year long instead of his worker elves. Funnily enough, this isn’t Simmons’s first time playing Santa, voicing him in Netflix’s 2019 animated film Klaus. This time, though, he gets to actually put on the titular red suit.

Lucy Liu as Zoe Harlow

Born: December 2, 1968

Lucy Liu was born in Queens, New York City, and made her film screen debut in Rhythm of Destiny. Her breakout role was as the sinister Ling Woo in Ally McBeal, which ran for four seasons on Fox from 1997 to 2002. Liu has also been cast for her athletic skills, showing off her physical prowess in both Charlie’s Angels and its sequel, not to mention Kill Bill: Volumes 1 & 2. Liu has continued a steady career in movies and television over the last 30 years and is one of the most well-respected actresses in the industry.

Lucy Liu is no stranger to snowy sets, from her bloody battle against Uma Thurman in Kill Bill: Volume 1 to her icy dalliance with death in the ice-capped mountains of Mongolia in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. In Red One, she plays Zoe Harlow, the straight-laced leader of the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority, aka M.O.R.A. Her team helps monitor the world’s magical creatures and when St. Nick is kidnapped, she pairs up Drift and O’Malley to save him.

Keiran Shipka as Grýla

Born: November 10th, 1999

Keirnan Shipka was born in Chicago, Illinois, and got her breakout role in 2007 at only seven years old playing willful Sally Draper in Mad Men. Shipka was critically acclaimed for her role as Don Draper’s boundary-pushing daughter and made a name for herself as a great child actress. Her next biggest role would be staring as teenage witch Sabrina Spellman in Netflix’s dark drama The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018 to 2020). Even at 25, she’s continued on the teen movie trajectory with roles in Let It Snow, Wildflowers, and most recently, Totally Killer.

Shipka is taking on the mantle of the devious entity Grýla in Red One. Not much is known about her character in the movie, but she is based on Icelandic folklore that characterizes her as a greedy ogre who snatches up naughty children around Christmas. The movie’s makeup department decided to go a different route, instead accentuating Shipka’s natural beauty with black eyeshadow and dark red lips. But odds are, this version of Grýla is just a trick and hopefully, the audience will get the pleasure of seeing Shipka transform into her natural monster habitat.

Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. Claus

Born: September 22, 1961

Bonnie Hunt was also born in Chicago, Illinois, and while on a lunch break from her shift as a nurse, she won the role of waitress Sally Dibbs in Rain Man. Her breakout role wasn’t until she played Alice Newton in the family classic Beethoven in 1992, and its subsequent sequel the following year. Jumanji and Jerry Maguire are also notable films of hers.

Hunt is the perfect person to play sweet ole Mrs. Claus. She has a natural warm and cheery disposition. Similar to Simmons often playing father figures in film, Hunt has played some of the most endearing and loving movie and TV moms over the past several decades. Hunt doesn’t appear too much in the trailer, but given that her husband seems quite stoic, she’ll most likely be the disarming force to bring out his sweeter side. If she can handle 12 kids, surely she can manage 9 reindeer.

Red One Supporting Cast & Characters

The Supporting Actors List Sports Some Familiar Faces

Reinaldo Faberlle as the voice of Agent Garcia – Faberlle plays Agent Garcia, the anthropomorphic polar bear agent and bodyguard featured in all the trailers. Faberlle voiced the Behemoth in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and appeared in The Suicide Squad. The actor’s notable TV shows include Ozark, Ordinary Joe, Raising Dion, and Mayor of Kingstown.

Kristofer Hivju as Krampus – Hivju plays a strong supporting role as Krampus, Santa’s estranged brother, Krampus being the perverted inverse of Santa in European folklore. Hivju, of course, is best known for his work as Tormund Giantsbane in Game of Thrones. Other TV shows include Beck, Twin, and voicing Andvari in Twilight of the Gods. Hivju’s notable movie roles include The Thing 2011 remake, Cocaine Bear, The Fate of the Furious, and Force Majeure.

Nick Kroll as Ted – In Red One, Nick Kroll plays Ted, a mercenary possessed by Grýla. Kroll is known for his long comedy resume as the creator and head writer of, among others, the TV shows Big Mouth, Human Resources, and Kroll Show, as well as a long run playing Ruxin on The League. Recent projects include roles in What We Do in the Shadows and Our Flag Means Death, Don’t Worry Darling, and voicing Uncle Fester in the animated Addams Family movies.

Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Olivia – Mary Elizabeth Ellis plays Olivia in Red One, though it’s unclear who the character is. Ellis is a veteran character actress who has appeared in both movies and TV shows. Her notable movies include Masterminds, Free State of Jones, Godmothered, and Licorice Pizza. However, she’s better known for her TV work, which includes Ladder 49, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Santa Clarita Diet, New Girl, The Grinder, and Perfect Couples.

Marc Evan Jackson as Uncle Rick – Similar to Olivia, not much is known about Jackson’s Uncle Rick. Marc Evan Jackson, however, is a known entity, as he’s appeared in a plethora of projects. His biggest TV projects include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Baby-Sitter’s Club, Parks and Recreation, and especially The Good Place, where he played the immortal being Shawn. Movies include Kong: Skull Island, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and 22 Jump Street. He’s also been involved with the popular podcast The Thrilling Adventure Hour for a number of years.

Wesley Kimmel as Dylan – Wesley Kimmel plays Dylan, Jack’s wayward teenage son. Before Red One, Kimmel appeared in several projects under the Disney umbrella, including The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and WandaVision. He’s also appeared in a few episodes of Crank Yankers, and Good Girls, where he played Tim, and in several episodes of The Jimmy Kimmel Show, being the nephew of the titular late-night host.