‘Mad Men’ Actress Christina Hendricks Joins the Cast of ‘Bad Santa 2’

Billy Bob Thornton’s Bad Santa character may not be the best at spreading the Christmas spirit, but he may have a foil in Christina Hendricks. THR adds a little more detail: Diane is an Ivy League-educated, upper-crust lady who apparently “has a thing for shady lowlifes in a Santa costume”. Tony Cox (Marcus) and Brett Kelly (The Kid) will also reprise their roles from the original Bad Santa, but it isn’t known if others such as Lauren Graham or Lauren Tom will be back for this follow-up. It is unclear at this time if she turns out to be in cahoots with Thornton, or if she is simply trying to make the world a better place and becomes the unsuspecting victim of his schemes. Her organization becomes the target of the latest scam perpetrated by Willie and his foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails mother Sunny, played by Kathy Bates.

In you needed some post-Christmas cheer, we can reveal that Bad Santa 2 is firmly in pre-production and the cast is taking shape.

Hendricks, repped by ICM Partners, is now filming the indie Pottersville with Michael Shannon.

Johnny Rosenthal, Doug Ellin and Shauna Cross wrote the screenplay for the project.

The original Bad Santa earned $76.4 million at the box office from a $23 million production budget.

Mark Waters (Mean Girls) is directing the movie, which is being produced by Andrew Gunn and Geyer Kosinski. Broad Green’s Gabriel and Daniel Hammond, Waters, Ellin and JessicaTuchinsky and Miramax’s Zanne Devine and David Thwaites will serve as executive producers on the film.