Two months ago, legendary hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons was one of the first high-profile public supporters to come to the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan.

On Thursday's day of action, he was there again to speak to Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman. "We don't want Wall Street to control our future, and that's why we're on Wall Street. And what we'd like is for the people to control their future," Simmons said, describing the constitutional amendment he is supporting that would ban private donations for U.S. politicians running for federal office.

"We want to believe that the politicians are making decisions on the part of the people who elected them. And that's what's the flaw, fundamental flaw, in our democracy."

Click here to read the complete transcript.

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Christopher Walken says he just doesn't know why cops have reopened the Natalie Wood case ... but judging by his response, it seems like he's not saying what he REALLY thinks.

Despite busting out of her tiny tube top, we think this is the most covered up we’ve ever seen Courtney Stodden!

Seeking to quell growing criticism and public attention, "Late Night" host Jimmy Fallon has apologized for his house band's understated musical attack on Rep. Michele Bachmann on Monday night.

"I'm honored that @michelebachmann was on our show yesterday and I'm so sorry about the intro mess. I really hope she comes back," Fallon wrote on Twitter Tuesday night.

When Bachmann, who appeared as a guest on Fallon's show, walked across the stage to take her seat next to the host's desk, The Roots played the opening of a song by Fishbone called "Lyin' Ass Bitch."

While the audience only heard a "la la" refrain, the message was sent. Before the show, the band's drummer, Questlove tweeted, "aight late night walkon song devotees: you love it when we snark: this next one takes the cake. ask around cause i aint tweeting title."

Earlier on Tuesday, Fallon tweeted, "@questlove is grounded."

Without question, Kermit and his felt friends are the true stars of "The Muppets," and the world is super geared up to see all their singing, dancing and laugh-a-minute antics when the film hits theaters this week. But human celebrities have always been an important part of the Muppets' performances, from the first episode of "The Muppet Show" up through all of their previous films, and this new flick is no different.

This time around, Jason Segel, who co-wrote the film, and Amy Adams will be the featured human stars, but there are plenty of more big Hollywood names that will grace the screen in smaller roles. Rashida Jones plays a begrudging TV network executive, while Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman and many others have cameos.

Just like all of us, they couldn't help but get swept up in the Muppet madness, and this musical montage is great, fun proof.

Mahna mahna!

WATCH:

In a serendipitous publicity coup for CBS -- and a seriously tough coincidence for the star -- Robert Wagner will guest star Tuesday night on the crime drama "NCIS," playing, of all things, a murder suspect.

Wagner, though he's been demure on the subject, has been the center of attention the last week as the LASO reopened the investigation into the 1981 drowning death of his wife, Natalie Wood. The captain of the boat on which Wagner, Wood and Christopher Walken spent the evening on before her death recently came forward with new testimony, thrusting her mysterious death back into the spotlight.

The LASO has said that Wagner is not a suspect in the reopened investigation.

According to E! Online, Wagner will take on the role of Anthony DiNozzo Sr., father of Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo Jr., who gets suspected of murdering a naval officer found in his car's trunk. He has no memories of the events of the night before.

Why is Joan Rivers shopping for a wedding dress? Settle down, Joan won't be taking a trip down the aisle anytime soon. The comedian accompanied her sister's engaged daughter, Caroline, to Kleinfeld to find the perfect dress -- and Ms. "Fashion Police" herself invited us along for the day of comedy-tinged taffeta.

"That looks like a drunk ballerina," the fashion snob said as she marched around the store. "This, to me, is very exciting as I plan to upstage Caroline. I'd like the bridesmaids to look ugly. I don't want her to be a puffball, I want her to be the prettiest bride in the world. The most beautiful, fantasy, amazing gown -- that's why we are here and that's what we are going to come out with."

After surveying all of the ruffles and lace the store had to offer, Joan did some styling of her own.

"You have got to feel like you are the most magical creature alive that day, because then the reality will hit. We can give you the Snooki look," Joan says, puffing up Caroline's hair into a little bump. "And if we put a hole here [pointing to Caroline's privates], we can give her the Kardashian look."

So what type of man could get Joan into another wedding dress? "An old Jewish man with a cough!"

Sophia Grace Brownlee, along with her sidekick and cousin Rosie, captured everyone's attention with her amazing rendition of Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" on YouTube, and they both had everyone in stitches over their recent appearances on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

Now, the bubbly Brits are back on "Ellen" after taking over the red carpet at the American Music Awards Sunday and the always-chatty Sophia Grace, with a little help from Rosie, talked up stars before the show, including Taio Cruz, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas and -- with explosive excitement from Sophia Grace -- the one and only Katy Perry.

Girls, we just adore you -- especially your unenthusiastic one-liners, Rosie. Can you two please get your own show ASAP? Oh wait, you already have one.

Get ready for lots of laughs and little girl squeals, but if there is one video you are going to watch today, it's this one. Trust us.

Although some claim she hasn't let go of her wild way, Angelina Jolie insists she's calmed down.

In an interview with "60 Minutes" airing Nov. 27th, Jolie reveals that she's lucky she survived her wild past.

"I went though heavy darker times and I survived them. I didn't die young, so I'm very lucky. There are other artists and people who didn't survive certain things," she told correspondent Bob Simon.

The Oscar-winning actress didn't want to get into the details of what those "darker times" entailed, but said, "I think people can imagine that I did the most dangerous and I did the worst -- and for many reasons I shouldn't be here."

In 1998, Jolie played supermodel and heroin addict Gia Carangi, in a breakout role that mirrored aspects of her own life. In those days the actress would openly speak about her love of knives, blood play and wore a vile of ex-husband, Billy Bob Thornton's blood around her neck.

In July 2010, Franklin Meyer, who claimed to be Jolie's ex-drug dealer, sold Star magazine photos of the actress posing in S&M-type shots, wearing electrical tape over her nipples with a dog collar around her neck. Meyer told the magazine, he first met the actress in February 1997, and bought cocaine and heroin from him.

"She would snort the cocaine and the heroin in front of me. It didn't seem to matter to her who else was there," he claimed.

More than a decade later Jolie is living a very different life, despite naysayers. A former employee recently alleged the 36-year-old actress and mother of six is still fascinated by blood:

"When Angelina's kids get cuts and scrapes, she saves their discarded bandages in a jar. She thinks she's being edgy and artistic, but to others, she just seems weird," the ex-employee told In Touch magazine.

So what has become of her wild side? Jolie admits in her interview with "60 Minutes", "I'm still a bad girl. I still have that side of me ... it's just in its place now. It belongs to Brad. Or our adventures."

WATCH:

Check out photos of the Jolie-Pitt family in Tokyo:

It takes more than a boycott threat to scare Rob Kardashian.

Yes, Internet users are still adding their signatures to an online petition, vowing to swear off all things Kardashian in retaliation for Kim's decision to divorce Kris Humphries after just 72 days. But Rob's friends say he isn't worried that his infamous last name will deter voters from dialing in their support during Tuesday night's "Dancing With the Stars" finals.

"This has not been an easy few weeks for the family, but you have to remember that on 'Dancing with the Stars' you are voting for someone to win, not against anyone," a friend of the family tells me. "And with over 11 million Twitter followers for Kim alone, five million for Khloe, four million for Kourtney, 1.5 million for mom Kris Jenner and over 2.4 million followers himself, Rob's army of fans will mobilize to vote, dwarfing any grassroots support Ricki Lake and J.R. Martinez have. Plus, if Rob was concerned about 'the negative Kim effect,' he wouldn't have brought her out to sit front row at the finale."

Since Kim's dramatic split from Humphries, members of reality TV's first family have found themselves on countless magazine covers -- one headline calling them "the fakest family in America." Even Tyler Perry, who cast Kim in his forthcoming film "The Marriage Counselor," has been forced to defend his decision after public protest. And although the spokeswoman for Rob's dancing partner, Cheryl Burke, tells me the dancing duo is not worried about the anti-Kardashian sentiment, other TV insiders think Kim will hurt her brother's chances of winning.

"It is a dancing competition, but you are being naive not to admit that it's also a popularity contest," one TV executive tells me. "The public has turned on Kim and her entire family after feeling tricked by her fairytale wedding. That has to have an impact on her brother."

We'll see if the 'anti-Kardashian effect' has any weight in the ballroom Tuesday night.

Check out all of the season 13 contenders below:

San Francisco hearts Portland.

Our crunchy neighbor to the north has all the hallmarks of what San Franciscans love: a thriving independent music scene, insufferable hipsters, an eco-conscious citizenry, etc. Riding the bus is even free inside the city center--unlike some other public transit systems that shall remain nameless.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO)

Much like San Francisco, the only thing Portlanders love more than loving the things that they love, is gently mocking those very same things. When "Saturday Night Live" comedian Fred Armisen and former Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein decided to take that gentle mocking to basic cable with IFC's "Portlandia," it instantly became a cult sensation not only in Oregon but in all the trendy, blue-state meccas prone to becoming enamored with cult sensations.

In preparation for the premiere of the series' second season on January 2, Armisen and Brownstein are taking their show on the road for a tour filled with musical performances, video clips and chats illuminating how the show's stars were able to skewer their targets with such deft precision.

Portlandia's second season features appearances by a whole host of big name guest starts, including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, The Sex Pistols' Steve Jones, Modest Mouse's Issac Brock, The Smiths' Johnny Marr, Tim Robbins, Kristin Wiig and Andy Samberg.

The live show hits the Mezzanine in San Francisco on December 30th.

Check out these clips of some of the best moments from Portlandia's first season and a preview of what's in store for season two:

LOS ANGELES — Actor J. R. Martinez scored a come-from-behind victory over Rob Kardashian Tuesday to win the 13th edition of ABC's hit competition "Dancing With the Stars."

The Iraq war veteran hoisted the mirrorball trophy with his professional partner, Karina Smirnoff.

Host Tom Bergeron called Martinez an inspiration to the audience.

The all-male finale was set up halfway through the final show when talk show host Ricki Lake was voted off, finishing third. Judges' scores combined with viewer votes determined the winner.

Judges didn't provide much extra guidance during the final competition, a samba that the dancers had to perform with little preparation time. The three judges gave both teams perfect 30 scores for their final dances.

"For one of you, that was your victory dance, but I think both of you are winners," judge Carrie Ann Inaba said. "That was a great way to end this season."

Martinez came into Tuesday's episode tied with Lake for second place. He reprised his jive routine from week two, and though he made a few mistakes, judge Len Goodman said, "You've got such a sparkling personality, you just light up this room."

Their victory brings Smirnoff her first mirrorball in 10 seasons. On Monday, she said winning would be ""a perfect ending to a perfect story."

"With everything we went through ... it's like this mirrorball would justify everything," she said. "No matter what happens, I feel like it has been such a fulfilling experience overall. But the mirrorball trophy would make it that much better. It's the truth."

Tuesday's two-hour finale also included music from Lady Antebellum and appearances by this season's former contestants: TV personalities Nancy Grace and Carson Kressley, reality star Kristin Cavallari, actors David Arquette and Elisabetta Canalis, singer Chynna Phillips, activist Chaz Bono, basketball player Metta World Peace and soccer star Hope Solo.

Kressley performed a cheeky routine to Madonna's "Vogue" that included him taking a spin with one male dancer and being dipped by another. The openly gay contestant, paired with pro dancer Ana Trebunskaya, was a fan favorite this season and has returned several times since he was eliminated from the competition to consult on fashion and bring his sense of silliness to the show.

Phillips took advantage of a second opportunity to try a "Mission Impossible" routine that she had muffed the first time around, resulting in her elimination.

After being voted off partway through Tuesday's show, Lake said she loved every minute of her experience.

"I've done something I really didn't think I could do," said the talk show host, who lost a significant amount of weight during the competition. "For someone who's a middle aged mom, I hope I made my children proud, my fiance and my family."

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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen can be reached at . http://www.twitter.com/APsandy

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Online:

http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars

Holiday movies and whimsy go hand in hand (unless they don't), and frankly this year Arthur Christmas knocks my stockings off. It is most gratifying to witness tried-and-true formulae (Santa, reindeer, elves, prezzies) brilliantly blended with high-tech upgrades (Web-savvy toddlers, spaceship-like "sleigh," tracking systems literally straight out of NASA) -- but here it's the whimsy, lovingly folded with wit and warmth, that brings it all home for audiences of all ages. Leave it to England's audacious Aardman studios (Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run), now in cahoots with the digital deities of Sony Animation, to drop a treat this huge, homey and hilarious down our "chimbleys."

Arthur Christmas is the sort of movie for which I could gush with all sorts of phrases never used in ad copy, such as "Insightful yet peculiar!" and "Zaniest slippers ever!" and "You'll believe a curmudgeon can fly!" But instead let me slather the production with conveniently reprintable raves, such as "A magnificent ride!" and "Wondrous, witty and wise!" and "If you don't HO-HO-HO throughout, please check your pulse!" I love this movie, so I sat down with its director and co-writer Sarah Smith to discuss what she's too modest to call "A New Holiday Classic!" (so I will). Was it difficult, straddling "the Pond" to satisfy senses of humo(u)r both British and American?

"Uh, we didn't try -- at all," responds Smith, laughing freely. "I mean, being that I wrote completely from the point of view of what we (with co-writer Peter Baynham) thought was funny, and made us laugh, you know? Because I think if you don't do that you're patronising your audience, you're going, 'Well, they'll like this. We don't, but they will.' And at that point you're removing yourself from your audience. And I think you have to try and be honest and put up what you love, and hope that your taste somehow strikes a chord with your audience."

Great success there. Arthur Christmas focuses on the bickering brood of Santa, concealed at the North Pole, featuring what Smith calls the "royal family" of British talent including Jim Broadbent voicing the oblivious, teetering-on-retirement Santa, Imelda Staunton as the primly resourceful Mrs. Santa, House's Hugh Laurie as Santa's overly-ambitious "alpha" son Steve, and Mr. Tumnus himself, James McAvoy, as the eponymous "beta" son, Arthur. It's nerdy Arthur's sincere dedication to the holiday spirit that forces him, the crotchety elder Grandsanta (Pirates of the Caribbean's Bill Nighy; cacklingly outrageous) and rockin' "Wrap Star" elf Bryony (Extras' Ashley Jensen; fabulously funny) to undertake a perilous, globe-swooping, moonlit mission to ensure that not one child misses the Christmas magic.

Having met Jensen at Sony's (Arthur) Christmas-in-October sneak-peek party (with real snow in SoCal!), I ask director Smith about working with her. "I love Ashley. I've always loved the comedy stuff she does. And she's just a brilliant mixture of fiesty and cheery and perky and lovable and all the things that we wanted that character to be, and she throws herself into it! Massively! If you see the videos of her doing the voice, I mean, the physicality of what she's doing -- when she screams! -- and I think she really puts a lot of physical energy in, and you can hear that in the voice, you can hear that she's absolutely going for it!"

Addressing us at the preview party, Jensen relates of the project's humble beginnings, "When I first started, all it was, was a few wee pencil drawings! And every time I went in and did another session, the animation got richer and more vibrant and more elaborate." Brandishing her own rave, she calls Arthur Christmas, "a wonderful family film with a fair bit of adult humo(u)r sprinkled in as well." (Two words: Lead paint.)

As for Mr. Nighy, Smith reflects: "Initially I thought of going to the comedy heroes of my youth, who are now in their 'Grandsanta' years -- which Bill isn't, I hasten to add -- but on the other hand I knew that I wanted someone with great energy, and someone wicked and fun who you want to spend a movie with, and Bill Nighy is one of those people. He's a got a sort of spirited naughtiness to him.

"I was due to meet him," Lady Smith continues, "and then actually I was pregnant and I was rushing to the hospital, and we cancelled the meeting and then I was confined to Bristol -- so, bless him, he got on a train and came down to Bristol, because he really loved the script, and he really wanted to be part of the movie. And so I lay on a bed, while he stood by a microphone, trying out voices. And he was just looking for something original, something that he hadn't heard before. And he tried voice after voice after voice, and I would go, 'That one! That one! That one!' -- and we kind of worked toward a style, and then, of all of the stuff he'd done, I picked four of five lines that felt to me the most promising, and we animated them." Smith chuckles at the memory: "But then when we first came in to record Grandsanta, he had really come up with an original voice for him, so it wasn't second nature. So I would have to keep replaying him the animation test over and over again, going, 'No, not that one! This one!' Until eventually he completely inhabited that character."

Smith lights up at how much fun it is to work with Nighy, due to his flexibility, and I recall a commentary track concerning Max von Sydow in What Dreams May Come, sternly telling the director that he was pleased with his take, he wouldn't be changing it, but if they'd like him to do it again exactly the same way, he would dutifully oblige. Not so, Nighy. "He's brilliant!" enthuses Smith of her Grandsanta. "He kind of cuts through all actorishness!"

I ask Smith -- Oxford, comedy, BBC and even Michael Moore veteran that she is (also citing The Jungle Book and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang amongst her fave films) -- about coming on board with Aardman (founded in 1972 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, joined by Nick Park), and how things evolved from there to directing their first co-production with Sony. "I joined Aardman about five or six years ago, really just for a six-month stint, because they were looking to develop a new slate of films." (Next up: Aardman/Sony's The Pirates! Band of Misfits.) "And that's not really exactly what I've done (before), but I loved Aardman, and I thought that was a fantastically interesting time in the company, and it was a great hono(u)r to be allowed to be a part of that process. One of the films that I picked up in that time was Arthur Christmas, and I just fell in love with it, and it became my joint baby and I couldn't let go of it."

Bob Osher, President of Sony Pictures Digital Productions, warmed us up to the genesis of Arthur Christmas thusly: "Sarah called her very good friend Pete Baynham, who's a writer (Borat, Bruno), and said, 'Pete, what have you got for me?' And Pete said, 'I have the world's greatest idea about Christmas.'" Once Aardman hooked up with Sony in 2007, Sony's digital artists worked with Aardman in England, then "Aardman West" was set up at Sony.

American visual effects supervisor Doug Ikeler speaks with me as well, relating stories of the year and a half spent developing Arthur Christmas in Bristol, and then the wild ride of production that followed. "It's all in a scale of 200% more than anything we've ever done before. So just doing that much, and doing it as fast as we were doing it, it was actually pure pleasure. Because we were relying more on the instincts that we had initially -- you know, sometimes something is so big that you have to think about it, and it gets slow. We were building so much so fast that we were really just relying on what we thought was cool at the time!" Ikeler discusses the "tactile" nature of Aardman's classic stop-motion work, but also that, with Arthur Christmas, it was agreed from Sarah through the crew to create a new look. He also fondly mentions a scene Smith directed which truly tugs the heartstrings (always a feat, in animation!) -- but as it's in the third act I won't spoil it here.

I'm curious about balancing the many demographics represented in Arthur Christmas (the movie does literally span the Earth), whereupon Smith affords appropriate props to the little people: "Well, we made sure that the elves were a multinational force -- and that was something that Sony suggested to us, which we thought was a good idea, because that is the children's world. I mean, children live in a completely multicultural society, and that's what it needs, to look like their world." (Indeed: Ikeler confirms that, from an initial six prototypes, the animation software called Massive enabled them to create the movie's million or so elves.)

Smith knows her business, and puts it all, challenges and triumphs, in perspective: "We did have the problem -- I mean, we had the sleigh and reindeer that could travel incredibly fast around the world, but the problem is: where don't you go? Usually on a road movie, you're restricted by the miles-per-hour of the car," she laughs. "With us, we could go anywhere, so in the end we tried to find a path around the world that touched as many contrasting worlds and places as possible."

Indeed, as Santa himself intones: "So many countries these days!"

Arthur Christmas opens this week across North America.

Two months after revealing her new, 100 lbs.-lighter figure, Kirstie Alley is looking svelte and fabulous as ever, despite the pitfalls that come after losing weight.

Click through to see Nicole Scherzinger's nude portrait for 'Culo.'

With acclaimed turns in Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine and Wendy and Lucy, actress Michelle Williams has earned what Marilyn Monroe always wanted: respect for her talent. And as more praise unfurls when My Week with Marilyn opens nationwide today, the film's director, Simon Curtis, believes it's Williams's ambition to get such a coveted role that just might be the key to her flawless portrayal of the iconic celluloid siren.

Both are flaxen-haired, beautiful, and have had their personal ups and downs dominate headlines. But what is the most striking similarity between Williams and Monroe? When I caught up with Curtis last week, I asked him what he thought.

"They are both supertalented women with a hunger to do interesting and challenging work," he said.

Monroe's sensational smile, figure and sexuality were the mainstays of a manufactured, salable package that she knew fueled her fame. And while her scene-stealing comedic skills were lauded frequently, in Marilyn, audiences witness that deep down, the girl born Norma Jean really wanted to be described by directors, peers and moviegoers the way Curtis described Williams while explaining to me that she was the perfect choice to play Monroe because of "her courage, her extraordinary talent, and her ability to inhabit and deliver complicated, psychological performances."

After films like The Seven Year Itch, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some Like It Hot, it was established the world over that everyone liked it hot, and Monroe's true acting gifts were oftentimes overlooked. Her uniqueness became the "prototype of celebrity," according to Curtis.

"Her performances were discussed as much as her private life and her marriages and her affairs," he said.

In Marilyn, 23-year-old Colin Clark's week in 1956 with Monroe, 30, on the British set of The Prince and the Showgirl is folded into 99 minutes of insight into what she was like away from Hollywood.

As though bouncing about on springs, Clark (Eddie Redmayne) is A-OK with being a lowly assistant to the film's director, actor Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh); he just wants to break into show business. The set is tense, as cast and crew endure Monroe's excessive problems with the clock and numerous takes. Everyone placates her, including her furrowed brow-plagued business partner, Milton Greene (Dominic Cooper), and her coddling acting coach, Paula Strasberg (Zoë Wanamaker). Monroe's overwhelming neediness compels her husband, writer Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), to decamp, rendering her disabled with loneliness and insecurity.

When the mess becomes too much to tolerate for the repining Olivier and he bursts with frustration, veteran thespian Sybil Thorndike (Judi Dench) pops up like a daisy through mud to defend the woman with whom many have come to sympathize. And why is that? Why does everyone want Monroe to be and do well? It becomes clear that beyond her physical exquisiteness, she is achingly wounded and so very, very soft.

Clark, taken over by ruth and infatuation, rushes to her side when she asks for him and him only. The two steal away, but in the end, Monroe, ever the sad soul, must leave her dewy-eyed friend and return to being a movie star.

Williams manages to traverse through the part with such fluidity that at times, one might forget it's not really Monroe on screen, and this -- in addition to a marvelous soundtrack and Curtis's dedication to details of the era -- is what makes the film one of the most intriguing of 2011.

Williams is Monroe in childlike bewilderment, asking Clark why Olivier is "so mean" to her, and then Williams is Monroe flicking on her persona switch, va-va-vooming her chest and hips off a TWA jetliner and through a passel of fans. She is Monroe dégagé, frolicking in a meadow far away from responsibility, and finally, she is Monroe breathy and bubbly as Elsie in Showgirl.

When I asked Curtis about his leading lady's chances for a Best Actress Oscar, he was effusive.

"Nothing would thrill me more than if Michelle gets recognition for her bravery and her superb work," he said, also pointing out that the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony is during the 50th anniversary year of Monroe's death.

Perhaps Monroe will get her due after all.

My Week with Marilyn is based on two memoirs by Clark, a confessional by the same title as the film and The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me: Six Months on the Set With Marilyn and Olivier. Watch the trailer here.

Some might call it a financial smackdown.

Linda Bollea, 52, who divorced Hulk Hogan in 2009, received a little more than 70 percent of the couple's liquid assets in their divorce settlement, a recent court filing shows.

With Thanksgiving approaching, that means it's almost time for putting up the tree, stringing the lights and preparing for all things Christmas. But while you're getting wrapped up in tinsel, there are some very busy elves hard at work.

In Aardman's newest feature, "Arthur Christmas," Santa's oldest son Steve (voiced by Hugh Laurie) has convinced his dear old jolly dad (voiced by Jim Broadbent) to ditch the sleigh and the reindeer, and now operates Christmas like a reconnaissance mission. Santa is merely a figurehead, while Steve is the real brains behind the operation. Meanwhile, grumpy old Grand Santa (voiced by Bill Nighy) longs for the Christmas of yesteryear, when the sleigh was a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer and not a futuristic spaceship.

But with all of this new technology and bickering, where's the real joy of the season? The heart of Christmas?

That title belongs to Arthur (voiced by James McAvoy), the clumsy, yet well-meaning black sheep of the Santa family. There's no one who loves the holiday more than giddy Arthur, who represents the uninhibited joy of the season.

The Huffington Post recently sat down with "Arthur Christmas" star Bill Nighy to talk about the film, his wickedly fun character, Grand Santa, and some of his favorite Christmas memories, including leaving mince pies out for Santa.

I really enjoyed this film -- it got me very excited for Christmas. Did you feel the same way reading the script?

It was probably one of the best scripts that I had read in ages. I had to audition to be in it. They can't just give you the role in animation because they have to know that you've got a voice up your sleeve that will work, so I had to try out for it. I really keen on this one. There are certain jobs that you just want to be in. I mean, you want to be in a lot of jobs, but there's a shorter list of jobs that you really want to be in, and I really wanted to be in this one. I remember thinking at the time that if they did it even halfway decently, it will be one of those films that will linger and be a kind of perennial Christmas film. It's all the things I like: smart, funny and it's got a good heart.

How did you find the very unique voice for Grand Santa?

There was this moment where Sarah Smith and I were left alone, and it was this terrible moment where I had to make some kind of noise. It took me a little while. You literally look at the picture and try and imagine in your mind what it might sound like, and then you attempt to make the sound. It's not any more sophisticated than that. I didn't have any references. I just kept going. The trouble with doing voices -- and it's the same with accents -- is that if you do one, it's very difficult to switch to another. So it was difficult for me to get out a voice once I tried. I kind of had to empty my mind before trying again. I tried out loads of stuff, walking up and down my apartment, making voices that I thought a 136-year-old man might sound like and trying to avoid anything I've ever heard in a movie. I wanted it to be original.

When you're doing voice work, most likely, you're doing your part by yourself and everyone else is doing their own parts by themselves, so when you saw the movie for the first time, what did you think of everyone else's performances?

Well, I did a little bit with James McAvoy because he and I do so much together, and he lives in England, so we were able to do a couple of scenes together on occasion. But it's a two-year process, and as you say, most of the time, you're on your own, but I saw it a few days ago in New York in a cinema full of kids, and it blew my mind. I knew it was going to be good because I knew all of the actors involved were great, but I wasn't quite prepared for how brilliant it was, and the kids just loved it. It was quite perfect that I saw it in a cinema full of children. It was incredible to see how much they all loved it.

Now, you're also in my other favorite Christmas movie, "Love Actually," so I have to ask: are you a big Christmas person?

I like Christmas. I think almost everybody does. Of course, every year it's like, it's coming, I better prepare, so there's a lot of work that goes into Christmas. But it always gets me. I just wish it would snow. We never get any snow in England.

Well it snowed quite a lot in the film! Now, a huge part of "Arthur Christmas" is showing the pure joy of the holiday and waking up on Christmas morning and running to the tree and opening presents. Do you have a favorite holiday memory?

Now, this is not me being cute because of the movie, but the Christmas that I got a bike will absolutely always stay in my mind. I can remember that my dad renovated a bike for me, and he didn't tell me. He had denied me a bike for a long time because of safety purposes, and I got to the top of our stairs on Christmas morning, we had frosted glass on our stair window, and I looked out into the yard, and you could just about make out the shape of a bike, and I could feel it. I can feel it now. I can sense it. It was almost like I could taste it. It was just immense at the time. It was like the biggest thing that had ever happened, and that bike was with me for years. It was like my constant companion. That was one of my fondest memories.

How old were you when that happened?

I was about 8 or 9 at the time. But I have to say that my real fondest memory, and I think it's the same for most people, came from my daughter and experiencing Christmas through her when she was littler. I remember the year that she got the hamster and the doll that she wanted with the real hair. I thought I had killed her. I thought she was going to die. She was about 7 at the time, and she couldn't speak she was so happy. It was like she was levitating with joy. She sat on my chest until 4:30 in the morning, and I became a camera, capturing every last moment, filming it in my mind, so that I could keep it forever. It was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.

Do you have any holiday traditions? In the film there were kids leaving out cookies and vegetables out for Santa, and I can still remember doing the same.

Oh yes! We used to leave a glass of milk out for Santa, and something for the reindeer, along with a mince pie. It's all very fun looking back how the myth was so great that you really did believe.

You also recorded a song for the film, as you did with "Love Actually." Is this going to be your new career, covering holiday classics?

Seems like it, yeah. We recorded a single for comedic relief in "Love Actually," but the song I recorded for "Arthur Christmas" is a charity single for Starlight. It's the English version of the Make A Wish Foundation. They honor the wishes of terminally ill children. For those of you who are old enough to remember, it's the Jimmy Durante song, "Make Someone Happy." But the groovy thing for me was that I got to record it in the Beatles room in Abbey Road studios, which was incredible. I started to go a bit funny. They don't even dust this Beatles room. It's exactly the same as it was when the Beatles recorded their albums. I'm not a singer. I've sung for certain jobs, but I'm not a professional.

But to sing that song in front of an orchestra, no pressure, in the Beatles room at Abbey Road studios was quite a big deal. If you would have told me that as a kid, listening to the Beatles, I would have laughed at you. It was quite a cool thing. I was mad about the Beatles, so I can't think of anything better than that.

Looks like your Christmas present came early this year thanks to Santa.

Yeah, it really did! I still can't believe it happened.

"Arthur Christmas," starring James McAvoy, Bill Nighy and Hugh Laurie, hit theaters Wed., Nov. 23. Watch the trailer below.

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