Tim Allen details working with daughter Elizabeth Allen-Dick, 13, on Disney+’s The Santa Clauses

Tim Allen is candid about working with his daughter Elizabeth Allen-Dick on the Disney+ miniseries The Santa Clauses.

The 69-year-old actor, in conversation with Weekly entertainment Sunday talked about working with Elizabeth as she makes her acting debut playing one of Santa’s children with Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Mitchell) alongside Austin Kane.

Allen opened up about the natural chemistry in the collaboration, saying, “My daughter plays my daughter in the movie.

“The line kept coming back to me, ‘Has she ever done this before?'” he said. ‘And I said, ‘No.’ But she reads scripts with me all the time. We have to play comedians all the time. I’ll be right through the house. She can draw a line, make her own, add value and be honest about it. And it was a great experience.’

Allen said his daughter made a positive impression on casting directors and got a bigger role in the film.

“It’s hard to believe, but it had little to do with me,” Allen said. “I wanted to portray my youngest daughter as an elf so she could see herself in a movie. But while she was reading before that, she read so well that they said, “We’d like to read her for a greater part.” I said, ‘Whatever you want to do. I don’t want anything to do with it.’

He continued: “I don’t want to pitch my daughter for a part in the movie. But she eventually ended up in the higher ranks. They loved how she read, they loved it so much because she plays a 13-year-old girl and she’s 13. They ended up casting her as Santa’s daughter. It was a surprise, but it turned out to be the most amazing experience.’

Allen, who played the role of Santa Claus/Scott Calvin in three films from 1994-2006, described the mystique that came into the famous character.

“When I first walked on set in full uniform, everyone went very quiet, adults and children alike,” Allen told the outlet. “When I arrive in the full suit and everything else, there’s a big smile on people’s faces. Small children are quiet. I had completely forgotten that. It really does feel like Santa Claus is in the room.”

The upcoming miniseries will feature Scott and his family moving from the North Pole to Chicago.

“I don’t want to give too much away, but she doesn’t want to go,” he said. “So I tell her, ‘It’s okay to be scared, as long as we can be scared together.’ Even if I say the line, I get a little choked up. I looked straight at her.

“One of my photo buddies was shooting and said it was shocking to watch. I said, “Well, I’m looking at my child.” And she literally showed what I learned from Pat Richardson about Home Improvement: Real actors can really evoke real emotions. She did it there with me, and I reacted to it, and it was a great moment. I will never forget it.’

The Santa Clauses debuts on November 16 with a few new episodes on Disney+.