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MOVIES
Mekhi Phifer of 'ER' produces
a holiday film ByMrcnAEL Grrnz
! fyou're around this holiday season,
I you might want to join "ER" actor
I Mekhi Phifer md his family for their
I mual get-together.
I "l always go back to Newyork for
I the holidays," says Phifer, who was
bom and raised in Hrlem but lives in
LA.. where he tapes his leading role on
the longtime NBC hir. "My family and I
have a huge Christmas party, which is al-
ways fun- We give gifts, we have a pok-
er tomament, we sing Christmas carols
and we eat. We have 70 or 80 people there, r
with the family md fiends of famijy.
Phifer knows his poker: He beat out
Neil Patrick Haris to win a recent,,Celeb.
rity Poker ShowdoM" toumament. But
he doesn't play the card shark with his i
family, which just expanded with the btth
of a son for Phifer md h.is frmc6e.
"I lonlyl sponsor the pokertourna-
ment," says the 32-yetr-old. .tast yeil theThe Phifers get together from all over
the country for the holidays - and if
Mekhi has his way, one event other fami-
lies around the countrv might do is head
to the movies for "Thii Chrlstmas," a light
fuama he executive-produced about a hol-
iday get-togetierstarring Detroy Lindo,
Regina King,Inretta Devine, Idris Elba
('The Wire") and Phifer in a small role as
a frrefiBhter wooing one of the women of
the Whitfield family. It opens Wednesday.
Added pop comes from R&B phenome-
nonCtris BroM, who stas as the yomg-
est Whitfield, Michael, who hrbore a se-
cret dream to be a singer. (Needless to say,
Brown gets up on talent night at a local
bar md nails Otis Redding's .Try a Linle
Tendemess.") "He was obvious [casting.],,'
says Phifer. "He was just perfect for it."
In the filrn, siblings bicker md make
up, cheating spowes are exposed, secrets
spill out and even Silta stops by. And phi-
fer hopes his producing debut will become
a tradition, like his own holiday fave.
"My thing wtr 'A Christmas Story, with
the kid md how he wants t}le BB gun,.
says Phifer, who first came to attention in
Spike l€e's'Clockers" in 1995 mdwas
seen in "I Know What You Did Ist Sum-
me4" "O" and "8 Mile" before joining.ER"
nve years ago tr the principled, driven Dr.
Gregory Pratt
"Every yeil'A Christmas Stort' comes
on and I've g'ot to watch it," says Fhifer.grand prize was two tickets
totheBahamas Second
prize might be a tick-
ets to 'Color Pur-
ple,' md out to din-
ner. For the kids,
we have bingo and
grve away Game-
Boys- It gives peo-
ple a chance who
wouldn't normal-
ly be able to do that
to go to the Bahamas
and enjoy life.""Hopefully,'This Christmas' will
be one of those mainstays
I liked having a main-
ly African-Americm
cast, but not making a
quote-unquote AfTi-
can-American film.
"Breaking down
bariers -that's
also a part of my
job as a produc-
ex To make
interest-
ing stories,
change
people's
mind-sets,
or at leilt
point them in
a more positive
direction." a
J\
SARA DE SOER / RETNA
Mekhi Phifer of 'ER' produces
a holiday film ByMrcnAEL Grrnz
! fyou're around this holiday season,
I you might want to join "ER" actor
I Mekhi Phifer md his family for their
I mual get-together.
I "l always go back to Newyork for
I the holidays," says Phifer, who was
bom and raised in Hrlem but lives in
LA.. where he tapes his leading role on
the longtime NBC hir. "My family and I
have a huge Christmas party, which is al-
ways fun- We give gifts, we have a pok-
er tomament, we sing Christmas carols
and we eat. We have 70 or 80 people there, r
with the family md fiends of famijy.
Phifer knows his poker: He beat out
Neil Patrick Haris to win a recent,,Celeb.
rity Poker ShowdoM" toumament. But
he doesn't play the card shark with his i
family, which just expanded with the btth
of a son for Phifer md h.is frmc6e.
"I lonlyl sponsor the pokertourna-
ment," says the 32-yetr-old. .tast yeil theThe Phifers get together from all over
the country for the holidays - and if
Mekhi has his way, one event other fami-
lies around the countrv might do is head
to the movies for "Thii Chrlstmas," a light
fuama he executive-produced about a hol-
iday get-togetierstarring Detroy Lindo,
Regina King,Inretta Devine, Idris Elba
('The Wire") and Phifer in a small role as
a frrefiBhter wooing one of the women of
the Whitfield family. It opens Wednesday.
Added pop comes from R&B phenome-
nonCtris BroM, who stas as the yomg-
est Whitfield, Michael, who hrbore a se-
cret dream to be a singer. (Needless to say,
Brown gets up on talent night at a local
bar md nails Otis Redding's .Try a Linle
Tendemess.") "He was obvious [casting.],,'
says Phifer. "He was just perfect for it."
In the filrn, siblings bicker md make
up, cheating spowes are exposed, secrets
spill out and even Silta stops by. And phi-
fer hopes his producing debut will become
a tradition, like his own holiday fave.
"My thing wtr 'A Christmas Story, with
the kid md how he wants t}le BB gun,.
says Phifer, who first came to attention in
Spike l€e's'Clockers" in 1995 mdwas
seen in "I Know What You Did Ist Sum-
me4" "O" and "8 Mile" before joining.ER"
nve years ago tr the principled, driven Dr.
Gregory Pratt
"Every yeil'A Christmas Stort' comes
on and I've g'ot to watch it," says Fhifer.grand prize was two tickets
totheBahamas Second
prize might be a tick-
ets to 'Color Pur-
ple,' md out to din-
ner. For the kids,
we have bingo and
grve away Game-
Boys- It gives peo-
ple a chance who
wouldn't normal-
ly be able to do that
to go to the Bahamas
and enjoy life.""Hopefully,'This Christmas' will
be one of those mainstays
I liked having a main-
ly African-Americm
cast, but not making a
quote-unquote AfTi-
can-American film.
"Breaking down
bariers -that's
also a part of my
job as a produc-
ex To make
interest-
ing stories,
change
people's
mind-sets,
or at leilt
point them in
a more positive
direction." a
J\
SARA DE SOER / RETNA