"It’s surreal. It's surreal because what happens, at least for me, is as you're looking across from this person, you're supposed to lose yourself in your character, right? But I start seeing my face and I'm like, why is my face over there? And she's pulling some of my moves as well." Mark Duplass
Filmmaker and actor Mark Duplass knows a thing or two about working with family.
He and his brother, Jay Duplass, have produced as a duo under Duplass Brothers Productions since 1996, together turning out cult classic films like The Skeleton Twins (2014), The Puffy Chair (2006), and our favorites, Cyrus (2010) and Blue Jay (2016), TV shows like HBO’s Togetherness (2015 - 2016) and Room 104 (2017 - 2020), and even documentaries and docuseries like Netflix’s American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders (2024).
But Duplass — who most recently had us hooked on his arc as Charlie “Chip” Black on Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, on which he stars as the executive producer of a Good Morning America-esque program — wants to keep the family affair going. 
In his new short film Oh, Christmas Tree, which premiered this month at the Tribeca Film Festival, he acts alongside his daughter Ora Duplass and was directed by his wife of many years Katie Aselton.
And as they say, like recognizes like.
“This is so sweet,” Mark said when we first met him, Ora, and Katie at the short film’s premiere at the SVA Theater in New York City earlier this month. “You work with your family, we work with our family.”
Listen in as we catch up with the Duplass clan about the film, Mark’s classic “dad texts” to Ora while he’s on set, and the family’s Christmas traditions.
Hannah Loesch: Ora, you’re working with your dad; [Mark and Katie,] you’re working with your daughter. How did this all come to be, where you're on a project together?
Ora Duplass: This is the first thing we've worked on together. He came to me with the idea and just said, “How do you feel about this? Just a small really little production of this little short film.” And I was like, “This is great.” This is a great way to start my career just with my parents. And it felt really comfortable and I feel like I was able to really give myself to the film.
Cailin Loesch: So you all have a good relationship where you’re not like, “Ugh, I don’t wanna work with my dad!” [laughs]
Ora: Oh, no! I was like, I love that!
Hannah: We’ve seen a lot of father-daughter stories. What is it about father-daughter relationships that are so enduring to audiences? And how is this one unique to you?
Mark Duplass: Look, I hope the movie's special. We don't know. We'll show it to people and we'll let them decide. But all I can speak to is my own experience, which is, you know, as a dad you would like to be able to project strength and comfort for your children, but at the same time you also have to learn how to model vulnerability. And this film deals with a little bit of mental health stuff, which I am very public about and dealt with a lot of. So where is that balance between letting your children know they're safe and everything's okay, but also I'm a human being too and I'm frail. So we try to find that little line in there and not just the serious side of that, but the light and humorous side of it too.
Cailin [to Katie and Mark]: I see you looking at Ora and I see so much pride in all of you. Tell us about acting with your daughter.
Mark: It’s surreal. It's surreal because what happens, at least for me, is as you're looking across from this person, you're supposed to lose yourself in your character, right? But I start seeing my face and I'm like, why is my face over there? And she's pulling some of my moves as well.
Cailin: What are some of you guys' Christmas traditions or holiday traditions?
Mark: Drinking. We like to drink.
Cailin: What about when she was little? ?
Mark: Drinking. [all laugh]
Hannah: Yeah. Fair.
Ora: There's a very, very early Christmas tree, early, early, Christmas morning presents. Even still, they still get us up early.
Katie Aselton: Decorating. And lots of food!
Mark: We like to leave out treats for Santa and the reindeer. And we like to see what has been eaten and what has been not, i.e. Katie and I gnawing on shit at two in the morning, throwing it in the trash, and hoping, “Oh God, I hope they don't look in the trash and see that we threw this out, too.” [all laugh]
Katie: Santa always wrote a letter.
Mark: Katie always wrote a letter. Katie does it in her non-dominant handwriting so it doesn't look like hers.
Ora: Right. No suspicions. [all laugh]
Cailin: Ora, what's the best piece of advice your parents have given you?
Ora: Oh, that's a hard one. I think it would probably be, just don't worry about others' opinions. Only think about yourself and how you want yourself to be perceived by the world. And that is just truly you. You don't have to put on a face. You don't have to fake who you are for anybody 'cause that's just gonna get you lost. And they've shown that to me and modeled that to me my entire life.
Mark: We've shown how to not do that and she's gonna learn how to do it. [all laugh]
Cailin: How do you all stay in touch when you're off filming?
Mark: Well, I always stay back in LA when I'm working and Katie stays in LA as well.
Ora: But I do get texts throughout the entire day. Whenever he has a break, he'll text me. Just tell me he loves me.
Mark: “Sup boo boo.” Yep.
Ora: “Sup. Booboo, WhatsUp. Whatcha doing?”
Mark: “Whatcha doing? Whatcha doing?”
Mark: Just occasionally some dog videos.
Katie: Lots of communication.
Mark: You’re sisters, man. You get it! Family. It’s all about family.