Recently, I had the opportunity to interview the 10-year-old actress Madison Sky Validum. Valdum, a young and rising star, recently co-starred (and stole the show) in the Christmas-themed film Dashing Through the Snow (on Disney+ permanently and on Hulu through January 21st).
Dashing Through the Snow tells the story of a separated social worker named Eddie (Christopher “Ludicris” Bridges), and his daughter Charlotte (Validum). Eddie, who has lost his Christmas spirit, and Charlotte embark on an enchanting adventure with St. Nicholas (Lil Rey Howery), AKA Santa Claus. The movie has a unique take on the holiday season, blending humor, magic and a fun mythology. My wife and I really loved it.
Working alongside well-known actors like Ludacris and Lil Rey Howery was a remarkable experience for Madison. “They’re amazing actors and they have amazing personalities … it’s one of my best sets ever. It was so much fun to film” she said. She also confirmed that the interplay between them, which is hilarious on film, was hilarious on the set as well.
One of my favorite parts of the movie was the warehouse scene where some of the hard work of creating Christmas is done. I asked Madison about working in that set. “The warehouse was amazing, everybody had gorgeous outfits and the set was gorgeous.” She continued “when you film these movies it makes me feel like I’m in another dimension because of how beautiful they are.”
My favorite answer she gave was when I asked her if it was difficult working on a film with a lot of CGI. She responded, “No, actually it's not, because I have a cat, her name is Sasha, she is one of my favorite things in this world. She's so fluffy and so cute so when I had to pet these reindeers I thought in my head of petting my own cat so I was like ‘hi sweetie’ so that was pretty cute.”
I also asked her about working with the villain in the film, an alum from The Office, Oscar Nunez. She assured me he’s not a bad guy in real life, he’s very kind and her mom loved talking to him.
The last question I asked her is would she like to do a sequel to Dashing Through the Snow. Her answer was emphatic: “Of course! Absolutely! Seriously like that would be on my Christmas wish list right there because I loved filming this movie so to film it again and have a sequel – that would be so much fun.”
Madison was an absolute delight, every bit as endearing as she in the film. Find out for yourself by watching Dashing Through the Snow on Disney+ anytime and on Hulu through January 21st.