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NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Dwayne Johnson says "heart" is the secret ingredient to his holiday-themed, action-comedy, Red One. Directed by Jake Kasdan and opening in theaters Friday, the film follows Callum Drift (Johnson) as the head of North Pole security and Jack O'Malley (Chris Evans) as a hacker-bounty hunter, who team up to savea kidnapped Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons). Lucy Liu and Bonnie Hunt co-star.
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"The material lent itself to big-action scale, which you typically don't see in Christmas movies," Johnson, 52, told reporters in a recent virtual press conference.
"All of these actors, who obviously are incredibly talented, came in loving Christmas. But, actually, everyone was the perfect actor for that particular role," he added.
"And then, on top of all that, I think you sprinkle in something that Jake inherently does in his films. I've had the privilege of working with him now three times -- in the first two Jumanji movies and now Red One. It is heart. There's so much heart in this movie."
Johnson said that while a lot of Hollywood storytelling is marketed as genuine, feel-good entertainment, it is actually true in this case.
"One of my favorite parts of the movie is where J.K. as Santa Claus reminds me that it's our job to see the best in people, and look at that child, look beyond if they are on the 'naughty list,' look beyond it and look at the kid inside," Johnson added.
Captain America alum Evans said he likes that his character gets a shot at redemption by way of inclusion on Santa's "nice" list.
"This movie does a great job of tapping into the heart and humanity that you're supposed to feel during the holidays," he said.
"It is 'goodwill toward man.' It is about remembering priorities and certainly, for the folks who are looking for forgiveness, offering them the second chance."
Kasdan said one of the most appealing aspects of the movie was finding a fresh angle on the well-worn Santa story.
"You've seen him in a certain way your whole life, and we always thought that the great, exciting idea for this was, 'What if you could sort of pull back the curtain and see what he's really like?'" Kasdan asked rhetorically.
Producer Hiram Garcia came up with the original story and Chris Morgan penned the screenplay.
"Our hope was to tell a story that inspired people, turned Christmas and its mythology on its head and also created the definitive Santa Claus," Garcia said.
"There's been so many good Santa Clauses, but [we wanted] to find one that really took a connection with the audience to the next level and brought a coolness to Santa -- I say this as a big Christmas fan.
"I feel like we did that with J.K and especially the way Jake envisioned it onscreen," he added. "J.K.'s performance as Santa is everything we dreamed and more."
Another memorable character in the film is Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), a yuletide figure who traditionally rewards or punishes children based on their behavior.
"He really does such a spectacular job as Krampus in our story of mythology as the brother of Santa, " Johnson said.
"There has to be so much life going on in his eyes because everything else is just incredible prosthetics," he added. "He's such a superior actor. You feel that in the movie."
Johnson -- a real-life married father of three -- said he still appreciates the magic of spending the holidays with loved ones.
"Getting family together would be our No. 1 greatest family tradition," he said.
"I know it's simplistic, but a lot of times when I was growing up, my dad was always on the road and wasn't always home for Christmas and, in the business that we're in, sometimes it requires us to work over the holidays. For me just to have the entire family together is the most important thing."
