Of this year’s Christmas Day releases, there’s only one film that actually features a Christmas scene: the PG-13 family comedy Daddy’s Home. So, it seemed like the perfect excuse to talk to the film’s lead actress, Linda Cardellini, about her favorite Christmas movies and traditions. Her costar Mark Wahlberg kicked off the conversation!

“My favorite holiday movie is Elf because Will Ferrell is in it,” says Wahlberg, who stars opposite Ferrell for the second time in Daddy’s Home, following their successful outing in 2010’s The Other Guys.

“Elf, of course, is one of the great ones!” says Cardellini, who adds that her childhood favorite was a black-and-white classic. “When I was a kid, my mom always sat me down and watched It’s a Wonderful Life. My mom was big on having us watch old movies, she thought they were so good. It really informed me as an actor too, seeing the old films and performances. I remember growing up, being a Bette Davis fan!”

There’s another holiday classic that also holds dear for Cardellini, the Peanuts TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It gives me a place in my heart for a funky little tree. We had one like that last year!”

In Daddy’s Home, Cardellini plays the mother stuck in between her ex-husband and new husband, who are passive-aggressively fighting for the affections of the children. “She’s in between these two guys who do crazy things; for instance, make Christmas in April. She’s keeping her head straight. The men are acting all crazy and hysterical, and the woman in the middle is the sanest person.”

Of course, part of being a mother is always trying to keep your sanity. Cardellini is the mom of three-year-old Lilah Rose, whose precociousness just might have put her into a pickle. “Last year, when she was two, she walked up and gave Santa her Christmas list,” recalls Cardellini. “He said it was the most concise list he’d ever received from anybody – and it was from a two year old! She was very specific, she knows exactly what she wants.

“This year, she wants a purple reindeer. That flies around. And is real. I don’t know Santa is going to manage that one!”