Chatter

‘Tis the season to be jolly well thoughtful, so we asked some stars to recall memorable gifts of holidays past.

Jack Nicholson: I’m one of those kids who actually got coal for Christmas one year. I had sawed the leg off the dining room table. [My parents] went all the way down the line with me. I opened the present and there it was: coal. I cried so hard that they went in the closet and got the sled and the baseball. I had my way in the end.

Jon Bon Jovi: One Christmas my mom told me we couldn’t afford any great presents. On Christmas Day she told me to look under the couch, and there was this guitar. She had saved up a long time to buy that. That was the best Christmas of my life.

Rosie O’Donnell: My friends love to buy me the “As Seen on TV” stuff, like the BeDazzler and Flow-bee. There’s a new invention where you take ice cream, add some M&Ms and it makes a Dairy Queen thing. I want that this year.

Rupert Grint (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets): I got a unicycle one time. I liked it but I can’t do it. But no matter what I get, I always pretend that I like it.

Christine Baranski (Chicago): My husband bought me a vintage motorcycle—an R69S, which he said was the best motorcycle ever made. The thing is, I don’t ride motorcycles; my husband does. So the joke is that I’m going to buy him a $20,000 string of pearls, which I will wear until he develops a taste for fine jewelry.

Susan Sarandon: The best gifts were either something that Tim [Robbins] had written, like a poem, or something the kids made. You can’t get any better than that.

Joy Behar (The View): The most bizarre gift I’ve ever received had to be a set of hangers from my cousin Nina. She thought it was practical. They’re practical if you’re Joan Crawford.

Freddie Prinze Jr.: I got this giant Dr. Seuss oil painting from my girl [wife Sarah Michelle Gellar]. It’s not from any of his books. It’s one of the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen.

Dave Barry: A friend once gave me an industrial-size case of toilet paper, which doesn’t seem all that festive, but it was incredibly useful. In August, when everyone else’s gifts had become useless, I was going, “Hey, I’ve got toilet paper!”

William H. Macy: My wife [actress Felicity Huffman] gave me a Powermatic lathe. I’m a woodworker and I turn bowls. The lathe is as big as a Volkswagen—I could turn a small barn.

Jude Law: My wife gave me a fantastic gift last year. It was a T-shirt with the lyrics for “Hey Jude” written on it.