Freddie Prinze Jr. has the best Christmas when there’s nothing for him underneath the tree.
“I don’t ever want anything,” Prinze Jr., 47, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month while promoting his partnership with Libby’s Vegetables. “I like the things that [my kids] make me, but I talk to Sarah [Michelle Gellar] every year and I say, ‘Don’t give me anything,’ and she’ll just give me a little something that she knows that I like, but it’s always a little thing. I have the stuff I want.”
Prinze Jr. recalled a conversation he had with Gellar, 46, about his disdain for receiving holiday presents.
“I remember telling her one year, I go, ‘If I want something, I’ll buy it,’” he told Us. “And she goes, ‘Oh, there’s the Christmas spirit.’ I was like, ‘Well, no, I just mean I don’t want you to waste your money on me.’ And she goes, “Then say that! What you said was horrible, it sounded like Scrooge.’”
The actor admitted he ultimately apologized to his wife for his lack of Christmas spirit. While Prinze Jr. doesn’t like receiving gifts for himself, he does enjoy spending quality time with Gellar and their children. The couple, who have been married since 2002, share daughter Charlotte, 14, and son Rocky, 11.
“We’ve been smart and the last few years we’ve gone on vacation for Christmas, so when Christmas morning [comes], we’re not there, so there will be no mess to pick up,” Prinze Jr. told Us. “We’ll be somewhere that the kids love, that we love. It’s warm and a place where my daughter and I can go surfing and things like that.”
While the Gellar-Prinze Jr. family spends Christmas somewhere warm and sunny, the parents make sure they still do a “smaller” holiday celebration where the kids can open their gifts before they depart.
“There’s a trash bag in the corner and there’s wrapping paper everywhere, and the kids help for the first five minutes,” Prinze Jr. teased. “And then they take off with their toys and the parents do the rest.”
Despite Prinze Jr. not being super enthusiastic about Christmas, he does have a soft spot for Thanksgiving. Ahead of the holiday, he shared that he plans on whipping up a turkey and all the standard sides that accompany the traditional meal. In addition to cooking for his family, Prinze Jr. teamed up with Libby Vegetables to share his special recipes for its “Thanks & Giving” program.
“They came to me and asked me for some recipes that would be easy side dishes, something super simple, healthy things like that, and cost-effective with canned vegetables because not everyone can go to the farmer’s market, especially when winter comes,” he shared. “They had this partnership with Meals on Wheels of America, and they said every single person who shares, ‘likes,’ comments and uses the hashtag ‘Libby’s Gives Thanks’ on your Instagram page or on theirs … they’ll donate one coupon, which is redeemable for one can of food, up to 500,000 cans or coupons.”
The campaign will continue through the end of December.
“If I can be a part of them [giving out] 500,000 cans of food, then that would be awesome,” Prinze Jr. gushed. “I don’t know how to dance a jig, but I’ll dance one [if the goal is reached].”
