Hollywood Actor Kirk Cameron's Message to Atheist Critics Who Bashed Him — and the Christmas Myths He's Trying to Dispel

Actor Kirk Cameron is hoping to spread some holiday cheer in the coming weeks with the release of his new feature film "Saving Christmas" — a movie that aims to be doing exactly what its title says.

Cameron, who dropped by TheBlaze's New York City offices Friday to speak with this author for an episode of the Freefall audio series, said that "Saving Christmas" takes on major myths about the holiday's origins and that people will likely go into theaters "not knowing what to expect."

Unlike his previous films — which have been documentaries that focus on American history and faith — "Saving Christmas" is a scripted comedy.

Through the film, Cameron is looking to dispel myths touted by believers and nonbelievers alike, while inspiring Christians who get too "legalistic" to take a second look at their holiday views.

"For those who have a legalistic wedgie … [it will] help them see that if your faith does not translate into joy and celebration over something as massive as God taking on flesh and splitting B.C. from A.D., then there's something wrong," Cameron told TheBlaze. "All of the things that are keeping you so locked up about Christmas — you can put them down and I'm going to show you how."

Listen to the interview below:

The movie is centered around a character named Christian White, a Bible-believing man who Cameron said has some serious qualms about Christmas celebrations — concerns that leave him unable to enjoy the joyous time of year.

"There's another way to ruin Christmas and it's to be so religiously uptight that you strangle out your ability to actually download your faith into stuff like fudge and decorations — and lights ... and stockings ... and music — and that's what he's doing," he said of White.

From the purportedly pagan roots of Christmas to celebrations surrounding Santa, no critique of the Christian holiday is left untouched, according to Cameron.

"I'm going to give you the background story to Santa that is just going to thrill you," he added.

Cameron also joked that atheists who spent time poking fun at the "Saving Christmas" movie poster back in August actually helped spread the word about the movie. Given a chance to respond to these critics, he was candid.

The "Saving Christmas" movie poster (Provident Films/Kirk Cameron)

"Thanks for helping us to spread the word … you mocked the poster that we were hoping people would laugh at," he said. "It was a take off on Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1993 summer movie 'Last Action Hero.'"

The actor and director, who also appears in "Saving Christmas," said he couldn't have predicted that the publicity from atheists criticizing the film would have been so good.

"Sometimes that's the best way to avoid criticism. To enjoy the fun," Cameron said. "This is a movie about joy and not being so serious about something that is beautiful and joyful."

Find out more about "Saving Christmas," which opened Friday in theaters nationwide, here.