Ed Burns Video Interview On ‘Fitzgerald Family Christmas,’ Family Traditions

The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, the latest offering from actor/writer/director Edward Burns, 44, explores themes of forgiveness and redemption in a large family. “I set the film at Christmas because when I sat down to write the screenplay, I only knew that I wanted to tell the story of a big family,” Burns told Uinterview exclusively. “But I didn’t know what my device would be to get seven adult siblings all under one roof. I thought, ‘Maybe it’s a Fourth of July party, maybe it’s Thanksgiving.’ And then, when I sort of stumbled on Christmas, immediately that just made a lot more sense given that the themes I knew I wanted to play with was the importance of family, the importance of forgiveness, redemption.”

Born in Queens, N.Y., and raised on Long Island, Burns first broke onto the scene with the 1995 film The Brothers McMullen which he wrote, acted in and directed. He followed that up with the romantic comedy She’s The One in 1996. He’s also had roles in Saving Private Ryan, Confidence and 27 Dresses. He’s married to supermodel Christy Turlington, 43, with whom he has two children.

Burns’ latest film is the first project he’s worked on in which he drew experiences from his own life. “There’s a scene in the film where I take Tom Guiry, my youngest brother, into Manhattan to sort of look at where my father grew up in Hell’s Kitchen,” Burns told Uinterview. “And that, while I was writing the screenplay, had that exact same conversation with my mother. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a great thing to pull into this screenplay, to get a sense of a family’s history.’ ”

Fitzgerald Family Christmas is available On Demand now.