He may be best known to the world as Superman, but Dean Cain has also earned another title over the course of his career through his choice of projects: the king of Christmas movies.
While the man dressed in red with the long white beard might give Cain a run for his money, the “Lois & Clark” actor has made a total of 19 Christmas-themed films.
Some actors might consider 19 movies an entire career. To Cain, it’s just one of his many accomplishments in Hollywood.
Cain’s connection with the Christmas film genre has become a bit of a pop culture phenomenon. Sites have put up lists of his holiday adventures, while social media users have begun noticing the unusual amount of films starring the ex-Superman, mostly from Hallmark and Lifetime, that take place around the holiday.
He’s even hosted holiday-themed specials in recent years, counting down the best Christmas movies.
Last year, the actor hosted “9 Days to Christmas” for the Hallmark Channel — and his love of the holiday was on full display.
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“Everybody has their own Christmas traditions in people’s families. I have a ranch in Colorado, so we get white Christmases every year. We get to do a lot of those snow activities: building snowmen, having snowball fights, ripping off icicles, and chewing on those things,” said Cain during the special. “I love having a white Christmas. It’s so ideal and idealistic.”
This year Cain was back at it again, hosting a special for the CW, “The Top 12 Greatest Christmas Movies of All Time.”
“One of my favorite movies of all time, bar none, is ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,'” said Cain in the special. “It just gets me. It may be the greatest Christmastime film I’ve ever seen … and it has nothing to do with Christmas but everything to do with that time of the year. It’s not a Christmas story but it is, and I just adore it.”
Cain also hosted the Hollywood Christmas Parade for CW, along with Montel Williams and Erik Estrada, this year.
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For specific Dean Cain/Christmas movie recommendations, there’s plenty to choose from.
“Broadcasting Christmas” was the most recent for the actor; it co-starred “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” actress Melissa Joan Hart.
Cain and Hart play two newscasters vying for the same morning show position. The hiccup, of course, is that the two were previously in a relationship. It doesn’t conquer much new territory, but it’s the kind of fun Christmas movie beaming with hope and positivity that’s called for at this time of year.
There’s also “Breakaway,” an action film set at the time of Christmas, which is typically a winning formula for the genre — see “Die Hard” and “Lethal Weapon.”
The film stars Cain as a disgraced cop forced to go up against a hostage-taker. It’s Dean Cain vs. Eric Roberts, so you pretty much can’t go too wrong there.
Plenty of other holiday fun can be had with Cain’s Christmas filmography. Santa Claus goes on trial in not one but two pictures — “Defending Santa” and “The Case for Christmas.”
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“Merry Ex-Mas” finds Cain in great chemistry with “Big Daddy” actress and outspoken conservative Kristy Swanson. Cain stars as a man who becomes snowbound with his ex-wife (Swanson), her new suitor, his ex-mother-in-law, and his daughter.
Clearly Cain is the king of the Christmas movie. It’s not an official title — but he’s cornered the market. Sure, Jimmy Stewart can bring us to tears year after year in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and we’ll never forget lines like, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid” from “A Christmas Story” — but no artist has shown a greater love for the holidays through his work than Dean Cain.
PopZette editor Zachary Leeman can be reached at [email protected].
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