Karolyn Grimes (Zuzu Bailey, It’s A Wonderful Life)
Karolyn Grimes was just 6 years old when she played Zuzu in It’s a Wonderful Life and delivered that famous line, “every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.” She walked away from acting at 14 after going through some really tough times in her personal life. When the film had its big comeback in 1973, she leaned back into her connection to it and has since written a children’s book and a cookbook, both based on her character.
Macaulay Culkin (Kevin McCallister, Home Alone)
Culkin became a household name in the ’90s thanks to roles like Kevin McCallister, but he stepped away from acting for a long time after getting his finances out of his parents’ hands. During that stretch he played in a pizza-themed cover band called the Pizza Underground. He made his comeback in 2019 and now has a son named Dakota with actress Brenda Song, and plenty more has happened with him and the rest of the Home Alone cast since then.
Kieran Culkin (Fuller McCallister, Home Alone)
Kieran Culkin got his start playing Kevin’s bedwetting cousin in Home Alone, but unlike his brother Macaulay, he stuck with acting and kept at it for decades. That paid off big when he landed a role in HBO’s hit show Succession, playing Roman Roy, the rebellious youngest son of the Roy family.
Hillary Wolf (Megan McCallister, Home Alone)
After her role as the sister who wouldn’t help Kevin pack, Wolf quit acting at 15 and switched to Judo. She went on to compete for the United States in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, and later in life started a family and wrote a book called The Not So Zen Mom.
Michael C. Maronna (Jeff McCallister, Home Alone)
Though a lot of people know him for calling Kevin a “disease,” Maronna first got big from co-starring in The Adventures of Pete & Pete. He’s done some acting here and there since then, but his career mostly moved behind the camera, and these days he works as a lighting specialist for film and TV.
Josh Peck (Wayne Alworth, Snow Day)
After getting his start in this forgotten film, Peck went on to become a household name thanks to Drake & Josh. A reunion with his old co-star doesn’t look like it’s happening anytime soon, but Peck has kept busy with steady acting work, including a starring role in the Disney+ remake of Turner & Hooch.
Zena Grey (Natalie Brandston, Snow Day)
Grey’s fight against her snow-plowing nemesis was only her second acting role, but she kept showing up in movies and TV throughout the 2000s and 2010s. That run eventually led to a recurring role on House, and since 2018 she’s shifted from acting to editing TV projects.
Corey Feldman (Pete Fountaine, Gremlins)
Feldman landed so many big roles as a kid in the ’80s that it’s easy to forget he got his start in the Christmas horror-comedy Gremlins. Since then he’s kept busy with movies, reality TV, and even a music career. But if you prefer your Christmas stuff on the wholesome side, the next one’s for you.
Daniel Tay (Michael Hobbs, Elf)
After playing opposite Will Ferrell in Elf, Tay kept acting through the rest of the 2000s and did voice work for Rockstar Games’ Bully and Grand Theft Auto IV. Since 2010 though, he’s shifted gears completely, teaching and privately tutoring after earning a BA in economics from Yale.
Dylan Blue (Carter Finch, Deck the Halls)
Blue got one of his first roles in the 2006 family comedy Deck the Halls and spent the next decade doing similar comedic stuff, like the Will Ferrell-produced series Big Lake and the short-lived Michael J. Fox Show. More recently though, he’s been producing and directing his own short films.
Taylor Momsen (Cindy Lou Who, How The Grinch Stole Christmas)
Momsen was adorable as Cindy Lou Who at age seven, then went on to play Jenny Humphrey on the CW’s Gossip Girl as a teenager. She started the rock band Pretty Reckless in 2009 while still on the show, and by two years later she had walked away from acting for good to focus on the band.
Alia Shawkat (Madison Finch, Deck the Halls)
By the time she showed up in that family comedy, Shawkat seemed to be wrapping up her breakout role as Maeby in the cult hit Arrested Development. In the fifteen or so years since, she’s stayed busy and done solid work in both film and TV, especially in the well-regarded shows Transparent and Severance.
Brett Kelly, (Thurman Merman, Bad Santa)
Kelly kept things going through the 2000s, bringing some real warmth to that dark Christmas comedy. He got a big boost when Bad Santa 2 finally came out in 2016. These days he plays paralegal Cecil Patterson on the Canadian legal drama Family Law, which is shot in his home country. If Bad Santa was before your time, the next one might be more familiar.
Eric Lloyd (Charlie Calvin, The Santa Clause)
After playing Charlie Calvin again in The Santa Clause 2 and 3, Lloyd kept acting when the right roles came along. Mostly though, he’s been running a film and music production studio and playing in his band RadioMason. That said, a good opportunity clearly came up because he’s back as Charlie in The Santa Clauses on Disney+.
Margaret O’Brien (Tootie Smith, Meet Me in St. Louis)
Margaret O’Brien starred in the 1944 Christmas classic that gave us “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and that same year the Academy recognized her work with a special award. She never quite landed the big leading roles as an adult, but she kept busy on stage and screen and is still working today.
Mara Wilson (Susan Walker, Miracle on 34th Street)
Mara Wilson is way more famous for Matilda, but her role in this Christmas remake was another solid credit before she stepped away from acting in the early 2000s. Since then she’s moved into writing, becoming an author and playwright, and has done voice work for things like Bojack Horseman and Welcome to Nightvale.
Johnny Galecki (Russ Griswold, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation)
Johnny Galecki got a solid break playing Rusty Griswold, though plenty of people probably don’t even realize that was him. He went on to become a household name through Roseanne, The Conners, and The Big Bang Theory, but these days he’s mostly focused on producing. And he’s not the only cast member from the Griswold family who became better known for something else later on.
Juliette Lewis (Audrey Griswold, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation)
After Christmas Vacation gave Lewis her big break, she kept the momentum going with Natural Born Killers and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Now it feels like she’s having a full-on comeback, especially since Yellowjackets took off and reminded everyone how good she is.
Thomas Brodie Sangster (Sam, Love Actually)
Sangster is still recognized as lovesick little Sam, but that hasn’t held him back at all. He landed a role in Game of Thrones, co-starred in the Maze Runner series, and then got another big boost alongside chess itself when The Queen’s Gambit took off.
Peter Billingsley (Ralphie Parker, A Christmas Story)
Billingsley has kept busy acting since A Christmas Story blew up into the cultural phenomenon it is today, but he’s also spent the last few decades building a solid career as a producer and director. His latest project, A Christmas Story Christmas, had him doing both at once, producing it alongside his childhood best friend Vince Vaughn while stepping back into the role of Ralphie for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Miffy Englefield (Sophie, The Holiday)
After The Holiday, Englefield kept acting for around five years, but she noticed the roles started drying up once she got into punk style. That didn’t stop her though. She’s now signed with Valkyrie Models and became a mom on April 23, 2020.
Zack Ward (Scut Farkus, A Christmas Story)
Ward’s role as Scut Farkus was just the beginning of a solid career in film and TV, but the character has never really left his life. He brought Scut back in A Christmas Story Christmas in 2022, and for over a decade he’s been using the character to raise money for bullying prevention programs.
Ian Petrella (Randy Parker, A Christmas Story)
After playing Ralphie’s little brother, Petrella was pretty busy as a child actor, but he mostly stepped back from acting when the ’90s hit. During that gap before his return in A Christmas Story Christmas, he spent over ten years working as an independent puppeteer.
Scott Schwartz (Flick, A Christmas Story)
Scott Schwartz got famous as the kid whose tongue got stuck to a pole in A Christmas Story, then spent the rest of the ’80s playing various childhood roles before moving into more adult projects in the ’90s. He stepped away from acting for a while but came back in 2014, took on the role of president at the child actor advocacy group A Minor Consideration, and eventually reprised his role as Flick in A Christmas Story Christmas.
Jake Lloyd (Jamie Langston, Jingle All The Way)
Jake Lloyd played the kid chasing after the Turbo Man doll in the Schwarzenegger comedy Jingle All The Way before landing his role in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. He eventually quit acting, though he still showed up at conventions to meet fans for a while, before personal struggles pushed him out of the public eye.
Erik Per Sullivan (Spike Frohmeyer, Christmas With the Kranks)
Sullivan played the enemy-turned-ally in Christmas with the Kranks while he was also playing Dewey on Malcolm in the Middle. That role got him two Young Artist Award nominations, but it didn’t make him want to stick with acting. He hasn’t taken any roles since 2011 and mostly stays out of the spotlight these days.
Noelle Parker (Harmony, Ernest Saves Christmas)
Since co-starring in one of the most memorable Ernest movies, Parker has built a solid career as a veteran actor, even picking up a daytime Emmy along the way. Now she’s taken all that experience and turned it into a teaching and coaching career, helping other actors sharpen their skills.
Joseph Cross (Charlie Frost, Jack Frost)
If you don’t remember the animatronic snowman thing, you’ve still almost certainly seen David Cross in something. His career really picked up in the late 2000s and he’s appeared in several Oscar-nominated films including Milk, Lincoln, Mank, and Licorice Pizza.
Taylor Handley (Rory Buck, Jack Frost)
Taylor Handley got his start playing Charlie Frost’s bully-turned-friend and has been working steadily in TV ever since. He’s probably best known for co-starring in the period drama Vegas and the crime series Mayor of Kingstown.
Alex D. Linz (Alex Pruitt, Home Alone 3)
Alex Linz had the tough job of stepping in for Kevin McCallister, and he also starred in Max Keeble’s Big Move a few years after that. He kept acting until 2007, then shifted his focus to school. These days he works in government, mostly in regional planning and public policy.