RadioTimes.com<\/a>, the film\u2019s director Tommy Wirkola outlined why Harbour was the first choice for the role, explaining that he was \u201cperfect\u201d for the part.<\/p> \u201cWell, it sounds like I\u2019m making this up but really I\u2019m not,\u201d he said. \u201cDavid was the first actor we went to because we had one of those meetings really early on after I came on board as director, and we were kind of sitting there talking about names. And somebody mentioned, \u2018what about David Harbour?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s like, we all just looked at each other. It\u2019s like, yeah, he is so perfect for the role. And to me, like obviously he\u2019s a great actor, but he\u2019s also got a great physical presence. We wanted somebody who can come in a room and you can feel like they can just take you apart with their fists.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cHe\u2019s got a great sense of humour too. And he\u2019s got that heart that is so key to this role, like, despite all that violence and all this grumpiness and what he\u2019s going through at the beginning of the film, Santa\u2019s still got a big beating heart inside of him. And obviously, David has all those things.\u201d<\/p>\n