‘Don’t destroy this’

Meet me next Christmas is the first of Netflix’s holiday film series. The film stars Christina Milian as a hopeless romantic named Layla, who meets a man named James (Kofi Siriboe) at an airport.

She is in a relationship, but she agrees that if she is single next Christmas, they will meet at a Pentatonix concert in New York City. When the next holiday season arrives, she is deceived and enlists the help of a concierge named Teddy (Devale Ellis) to help her get tickets to the sold-out concert so she can meet James.

While Layla and Teddy go on crazy errands together, she naturally starts to wonder which man she really clicks with.

Milan spoke to Yahoo Entertainment about becoming one of Netflix’s favorite rom-com stars, the film’s dazzling lip-syncing performance and how this new holiday movie takes a turn that others don’t.

Warning: This article contains a Meet me next Christmas spoiler.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I know it’s not Thanksgiving yet, but are you in the holiday spirit?

Christina Milian: Certainly. The only thing is that my family is so far away. My husband and my children are in Paris [where they all moved last year]. But I’m going to finish a project I’m filming right now called Dexter: Original Sin, then I fly back home. But I bring all my goodies – things I can’t find in Paris – whether it’s cheese I need for my macaroni and cheese or stuffing. They don’t know anything about stuffing.

So we get a fun lineup of holiday movies every year from places like Hallmark, Netflix, and Lifetime. Why do you think people are attracted to them?

Milian: People just like to feel good, even if it’s lame and even if you know what’s going to happen. People love the holidays! It’s getting cold. You want to be pleasant. You want to sweat and eat all the food. It just feels good to laugh and be happy. Seasons change, so summer can naturally make you feel ‘hot girl’ and happy. The sun provides all this vitamin D. Then when winter comes and it’s gray, you have to find a way to fight that feeling. Christmas movies do that. And it is passed on through life – we pass it on to our family and children… and inside we are all little children.

You have a system. So Meet me next Christmas is your third romantic comedy with Netflix. What a nice niche! How did you get into that?

Milian: One of my first romantic comedies, Love costs nothing with Nick Cannon, really set the tone for the rest of the films I’ve made in this area. It is now a classic. You really feel for those characters. It was a remake of Can’t buy me love, that’s also a classic. People used to say to me, “You could be really great in romantic comedies!” I thought: that sounds really nice, but I don’t throw all my eggs in one basket. I just let it flow. When I got the opportunity to work with Netflix, I couldn’t wait. Ever since Netflix came out, I wanted to make a movie with them. We always travel somewhere: New Zealand, Mauritius and now Toronto. They all have magic – every movie individually – and this time we added some Christmas magic. This one is also probably one of the most successful by far.

I love the scene where you do a lip sync performance. How did you prepare for that?

Milian: We actually only rehearsed it four times. Devale [Ellis] I picked it up very quickly, which was embarrassing for me because I had to catch up. But I learn something one day, then I sleep on it, and the next day I just destroy it. That’s what I had to do to show him that I could dance too… it’s fun to see this big, muscular man in front of an audience like he doesn’t care. I love it when a man is so confident that he can be like that. That’s what’s special about it [his character] Teddy – I think we need more of that. A [love interest] who is a true friend.

Pentatonix appears throughout the film and plays a major role in one of the final scenes. What was it like working with them?

Milian: Oh, they’re great. I’ve gotten to know them a little better over time because a lot of my scenes weren’t with them. When we went to the screening, it was just fun… hearing them laugh and seeing them portray their characters, and we had a good giggle. Yesterday I sent them all separately from the Pentatonix account and said, “Hi, I’m going to be your friend.”

I’m obsessed with the dress that you wear during the concert at the end of the movie. Were you allowed to find out?

Milian: We made that dress ourselves. It was really hard to find… but I ended up going on Pinterest and finding a bunch of stuff that was similar to what I actually wanted. Then we had to find the right material – not too red, not too shiny. But we finally figured it out, because that scene means so much. It’s the ultimate rom-com scene. Don’t screw this up: it can’t be a bad dress! When we were editing the film, I thought, whatever you do, make sure we see that dress.

It’s so fun to see Teddy and Layla get together, but the film also refutes a popular rom-com trope. The love interest Layla doesn’t end up with, James, still has a happy ending.

Milian: James deserves a happy ending! He seems – well, he’s a smooth operator. But I honestly think James and Layla had a beautiful bond at the beginning of the movie, kind of like reading a novel in two minutes. All we want is a little love. You hear him on the phone talking to his cousin at the beginning, and he says, “Uncle James will be there, I’m coming!” So he’s a good guy too. We like him.

Meet me next Christmas is now streaming on Netflix.