Local cast and crew hail ‘Santa’s Cousin’ opening

I play a lot of psychopaths. I wanted to do something my grandchildren can see,” actor Eric Roberts said about playing Santa Claus in the feature film “Santa’s Cousin,” which filmed in Las Cruces in 2023 and had its world premiere Dec.  4 at the Cineport 10 cinema in the Mesilla Valley Mall.

“The whole place (Las Cruces) is like a neighborhood. It’s a nice place,” said Roberts, who has grandchildren ages 5, 3 and 2. He spent three days in Las Cruces filming “Santa’s Cousin,” attended the 2024 Las Cruces International Film Festival and shot the movie “3” here last year as well.

Joining him at the premiere were other “Santa’s Cousin” cast and crew members, including New Mexico State University Creative Media Institute professor Ross Marks, who directed the film, and local actors Knut Brekke, Jessica Jimenez and Nick Check, along with Allen Theatres President Russell Allen.

“It’s a great opportunity to do this,” said Allen, who opened Cineport 10 (the home of LCIFF) in 2009. “The most amazing thing about (hosting) movie premieres” is that famous actors like Roberts who come to Las Cruces to make movies are “just like you and me,” Allen said. “They’re regular people. They’ll sit down and talk.”

Before attending the movie screening, Roberts spent more than an hour in the cafe on the second floor of Cineport 10 talking to the Las Cruces Bulletin, Marks, Allen, other actors in the film and others attending the premiere.

“Eric is so gracious, so kind and patient, so giving. Not all actors are like that,” said Marks, who has directed 16 films and has worked with Oscar-winning actors including Al Pacino, Faye Dunaway and Brendan Fraser.

“I am more proud of ‘Santa’s Cousin’ than any movie I’ve ever made,” Marks said.

Including “Santa’s Cousin” and “3,” Roberts has appeared in more than 700 movies, filming in 108 countries around the world, he said. He was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in 1985’s “Runaway Train,” and is also a three-time Golden Globe nominee. Now 68, Roberts continues to receive 30-50 acting offers a day, he said.

“I’m an institution,” Roberts joked. “I’ve been lucky, lucky, lucky.”

“It was a dream come true to get a part in this movie,” said Brekke, who teaches theatre at Mayfield High School and has been acting in local films and live theatre for 20 years. Brekke, who played Mayor Benjamin Harper in “Santa’s Cousin,” got royal treatment when he recently visited Ruidoso, the setting for the movie. Brekke got to meet the real mayor of Ruidoso and even hosted the “Mondays with the Mayor” local radio show.

One of the highlights of being in the film was working with so many Las Cruces actors, and with more than 30 CMI students on the crew, said Jimenez, who also has performed in many local films and theatre productions. “They rocked it,” Jimenez said of the students who worked on “Santa’s Cousin.” “They were on it every single second of every single day.”

Jimenez was the on-set costumer for Mel Gibson when he filmed “Hot Seat” in Las Cruces in 2021 and for Ryan Philippe, Kate Bosworth and Ving Rhames for “The Locksmith” when it filmed here that same year.

“In “Santa’s Cousin,” Jimenez played Morgan Welsh, a character very much like herself. “I got to play me,” she said.

Roberts also attended the Dec. 5 “Santa’s Cousin” premiere in Hobbs, where he received the key to the city and joined Brekke in a Toys for Tots parade.

“Santa’s Cousin,” which also had a premiere in Ruidoso, is available on DirecTV, Dish, Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, Vubiquity and Fandango.