Did Cameron Diaz Really Beat Ed Burns On Vacation? He Reveals The Truth (Exclusive)

Ed Burns has played many roles throughout his 30-year career as an actor, writer and director.

But one role stands out this time of year: His turn as Cameron Diaz’s jerk boyfriend Ethan in The holiday.

“I always know when it gets close to Christmas because people will start saying, ‘Hey, The holiday!’ “Burns, 56, tells PEOPLE about the beloved film that plays on repeat every December.

In the film, Burns’ character, a slick Hollywood film composer, admits to cheating on Diaz’s character Amanda due to her emotional unavailability. Diaz, in turn, socks him in the face.

“People always ask me,” she did really hit you?’ ” he says with a laugh. The answer? “She didn’t. It was a bit of movie magic.”

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Of course, had it not been for Ethan’s cheating, a heartbroken Amanda might never have booked an idyllic little cottage in the English countryside and fallen in love with the super charming Graham (Jude Law) – and Kate Winslet’s character Iris would never have come to LA for to meet and fall for Miles (Jack Black), so really, who can be mad at Ethan.

Burns most recently wrote and directed the film Møller in Marriagee, a witty drama about three siblings in their early 50s going through family and marital changes. Burns’ character is divorced and trying to date again, while his sister (Gretchen Mol) is falling in love with her husband. His other sister (Julianna Margulies) navigates a sad marriage as a new empty nester.

Burns says the conversations in the film were based on real conversations he and his wife Christy Turlington have had with other couple friends.

“One of the things that I first started to explore in the script was the idea of, ‘How do you define yourself when you’re no longer a parent in the same way, when it’s all about the kids 24/7?’ ” he says. (He and Turlington are parents to Grace, 21, and Finn, 18. Both are in college, and he says they’re “thriving.”)

“Then I thought, ‘How does a couple look at their marriage and redefine their marriage after the big job is lifted?’ It’s like a shark, if it doesn’t move forward, it dies. So how do you replace raising children in your marriage to make sure it continues to grow. So those were all really fun things to explore as a writer .”

He also enjoyed writing the role of Benjamin Bratt’s character, Johnny, a rock journalist who feels that he is aging out of his lifestyle and career and that New York City is only a city for the young.

“He was fun to write because there were a lot of those things that just went through my larger group of peers, especially my friends in the arts. Being in my mid-50s and even approaching 60 and wondering, ‘do I have to work again Do I even have anything to say?’ ”

Of course, Burns has a lot left to say. He is currently writing the sequel to the romantic comedy The McMullen Brothers30 years after the original came out and made him a sensation at just 27 years old. He is excited to get to visit the family of Irish Catholic brothers from Long Island, who at that time found out about life and love.

“We start shooting in April!” he says of the sequel. He still doesn’t know exactly who will reprise their roles.- the film also starred Connie Britton and Mike McGlone. “We haven’t started casting yet. That will be the next news to come. Although of course. I want to be in.”