David Krumholtz doesn’t have a jolly holiday season from his “The Santa Clause” residuals.
“They’re minimal because the movie plays so much,” he explained to Page Six at the press day for “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been” on May 26. “This is how residuals work: every time it plays, you make less. It’s a grade scale.”
The actor played Bernard the Head Elf in the hugely successful 1994 holiday movie and its 2002 sequel. While he didn’t return for the third film, which released in 2006, he did make an appearance in the 2022 Disney+ series.
Krumholtz, 48, recalled that when he first received residuals from the Tim Allen-starring Christmas movie “it was good,” but estimates that he now makes “$150 bucks a year” from the franchise.
The New York City-born star, who has had a long career in movies like “10 Things I Hate About You” and the “Harold & Kumar” franchise as well as shows like “Numb3rs,” estimates that right now he earns the most residuals from his recent appearance in the 2023 blockbuster “Oppenheimer.”
When Page Six cheekily asked for a number, Krumholtz jokingly replied, “That’s none of your business! What kind of question is that?” He then admitted, “It’s $12.73. It’s enough to buy a hot dog in New York.”
Krumholtz will soon be seen in “Supergirl” and in the New York City Center revival of “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been,” which uses original transcripts of famous faces forced to appear before the 1940s House Committee on Un-American Activities hearings.
During these hearings, artists were harangued and pressured to admit their affiliation with the Communist Party and name other party members.
Krumholtz plays comedy writer Abe Burrows, who wrote “Guys and Dolls” and was the father of famed TV director James Burrows. Abe died in 1985 at age 74.
Krumholtz said Abe named names “with great fervor,” noting that “these people were just trying to survive.”
“It’s essentially cancel culture in those times, and if someone was attempting to cancel me today for what I felt was an unjust reason, I suppose I’d do anything to get out of it,” he reasoned. “I love acting, and I love my career. I need it.”
Krumholtz said he “didn’t blame” Abe, but explained, “He didn’t do a very good job at being opaque about his desire to get the hell out of trouble. He was very transparently desperate, and he thought he was being funny.
He added that Abe “deflected everything with a laugh, but it wasn’t funny.”
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