Christina Milian and Devale Ellis brought some serious fun to Meet Me Next Christmas, especially when they took part in an epic lip sync battle. Ellis, 40, shared with Us Weekly that the energy during the scene was amazing. “The whole room was cheering for us—it was so exciting!” he said.
In the movie, Layla (Milian, 43) rushes around New York City during Christmas to get a ticket to a sold-out Pentatonix concert, hoping to meet her dream man (played by Kofi Siriboe). Ellis plays Teddy, a concierge Layla hires to help with her mission.
The duo ends up in a drag queen lip sync battle in Brooklyn, competing for concert tickets. They perform to “Santa Baby” under the guidance of Teddy’s cousin, Kalen Allen. Sadly, their performance lands them in second place, so no tickets for them.
Ellis said the rehearsal for this scene was his favorite part of the whole movie. “It was so funny learning the dance with Kalen,” he recalled. “Then it turned into a romantic moment with us cooking in the kitchen together. That whole scene just tied everything together.”
While Milian’s long-time musical skills were on display, Ellis was stepping into new territory. He didn’t have any formal singing or dancing experience but admitted he loved singing in the shower. “Michael Jackson’s one of my favorite artists, so I grew up mimicking him,” he joked. “I threw in a few of his moves to make sure I didn’t look too bad.”
For Milian, one of her favorite scenes was when Teddy went with Layla to buy tickets from a scalper. “I made fun of his outfit, and then it turns out the guy was selling tickets from last year’s show!” she laughed. “It was one of the first things we filmed, and it was a great moment to see our characters come alive in a funny way.”
Meet Me Next Christmas kicked off Netflix’s holiday movie season and quickly shot to the top of the streaming service’s weekly Top 10 list. Milian couldn’t have been happier. “It feels great to start the season off with such a hit. People love Christmas, joy, and love, and we gave them all that,” she said.
Ellis agreed, adding that it’s “awesome” to see viewers enjoying the film.
You can catch Meet Me Next Christmas now streaming on Netflix!
