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Diana Penty: Christmas has always been my most favourite time of the year
While posing for HT City exclusively, actor Diana Penty talks about her Christmas celebrations.
Festive season is here and for actor Diana Penty, Christmas is her “most favourite time of the year”. Born into a diverse family with a Christian mother and Parsi father, she understands the importance of celebrating the festival as a unit. “I have so many beautiful memories, especially as a child, when the whole family would get together for Christmas lunch - my uncles, aunts, grandparents from both sides, my cousins. It was always such a happy day!”
For Penty, “Christmas is this warm, fuzzy time of year that will always be special. a time for reconnection, forgiveness, and quality moments with loved ones.” She vividly recalls the joy of making Christmas sweets, especially Kulkuls, with her family. “We’d be laughing our way through most of the evening, competing with each other over who’s Kulkuls looked the worst!” While the family may not make sweets together anymore with the busy schedules, the 38-year-old has found solace in a more recent tradition—decorating her Christmas tree. “I find it very therapeutic! First, I pick a theme - usually a colour or aesthetic that I’m currently feeling for the season. Since I’m in love with metallic, especially silver, and I’m obsessed with bows at the moment, my tree has turned out to be an overkill of silver bows!!! But it’s allowed, because who said there are rules to decorating a Christmas tree?” she excitedly says.
When it comes to indulging her sweet tooth during the holidays, Penty confesses, “For me, it’s the Christmas sweets that I look forward to! I grew up eating at Christmas time - kulkuls, marzipans, milk cream, walnut fudge, coconut sweets,” the Cocktail actor shares, adding, “The goodies people eat during the holidays - gingerbread cookies, Yule log cake, pecan pie, but my favourite of all is the traditional Christmas fruit cake, soaked in rum for weeks before Christmas, topped with marzipan and sugar icing. That’s worth all the calories and more!”
A particularly special memory for her is going carol singing around the neighborhood with the local choir. “It brought so much joy to so many people!” she recalls with a fond smile and continues, “While growing up, because of my dad and mum, I listened to a lot of the original, old school Christmas carols. I remember in particular an album by Nat King Cole called The Magic of Christmas. It had all the old time carols like Silent Night, Away In The Manger, O Holy Night. My favourite was Mariah Carey, who debuted the hit single ‘All I want For Christmas Is You’. How I loved that song back then and continue to, even today!!”
Talking about her Christmas plans this year, she tells us, “No elaborate plans so far. It’ll probably be a quiet Christmas with family and close friends. But you never know, sometimes the last minute, spontaneous plans turn out to be the most fun! One thing’s for sure that I’m going to be indulging on Christmas cake and sweets the whole season!”
