The leg lamp. The pink bunny suit. The tongue on the flagpole. There are many memorable moments from 1983's A Christmas Story that fans relive every holiday season, especially thanks to the 24-hour marathon of the movie every Christmas Day on TBS and TNT. But have you ever wondered what Peter Billingsley, who played the main character Ralphie in A Christmas Story, is up to now? Or what the bespectacled little kid grew up to look like? Well, look no further.
Billingsley is still acting, and if you're a Marvel movie fan, you've probably come across him without even realizing it. Read on to find out what the actor is up to today. And to see where the kid actors from another classic holiday movie are these days, check out What All the "Home Alone" Kids Look Like Now.
Read the original article on Best Life.
He continued to act, but also moved to the other side of the camera.
Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Alamy Live NewsBillingsley continued to act following A Christmas Story. As a teen, he appeared in episodes of Who's the Boss and Punky Brewster. As an adult, he's done more producing than acting, but was on the '90s series Sherman Oaks, and appeared in Elf, and two of the films he produced, The Break-Up and Four Christmases, both of which star his frequent collaborator, Vince Vaughn.
And for more '80s stars all grown up, check out The Biggest '80s Teen Idols, Then and Now.
He shaved his head for a Marvel role.
Sony Pictures ReleasingBillingsley also played Stark Industries scientist William Ginter Riva in Iron Man and Spider-Man: Far From Home. But you may have struggled to recognize him. In a show of solidarity with co-star Jeff Bridges, who had to be bald for the film, Billingsley shaved his head. "So the way I came up with my look was, I was like, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll do this role, and I’ll shave a trench in my head as a sign of solidarity,'" Billingsley told Vulture in 2019. "And then I just wanted to explore the look of the character. So I went with the solo mustache and glasses, which is definitely not the way I look in my normal life, and nobody recognized me at all."
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Bonding with the director of A Christmas Story changed his career.
s_bukley / Shutterstock.comBillingsley has A Christmas Story director Bob Clark to thank for helping him transition to producing and directing. In a 2018 Variety interview, he explained that he and Clark became friends and remained so until Clark's death in 2007. "Because I wanted to transition from the front of the camera to behind, he was the single greatest mentor I ever had," Billingsley said. "He was absolutely encouraging and supportive. I would visit him on sets. We would talk and play golf together."
Billingsley's producing credits include Iron Man, The Break-up, Four Christmases, and the series Sullivan & Son, four episodes of which he also directed. He also directed the film Couple's Retreat, which starred Vaughn.
And for another beloved Christmas movie star all grown up, check out This Is What the Actor Who Played Cindy Lou Who Looks Like Now.
A Christmas Story became a part of his life in a new way.
Debby Wong / Shutterstock.comIn 2012, A Christmas Story: The Musical opened on Broadway with Billingsley as one of the producers. "The idea of a musical was very, very inspiring to me because it's really an extension of the story," he told Playbill at the time. "I don't think you want to remake the story. They did a pretty good job the first go-round. But Ralphie was very much a dreamer in the film. So many of those fantasy sequences lend themselves so well to the big Broadway song-and-dance pieces. And that's really what it is. When the dad wins the leg lamp, it turns into a leg-lamp kick line."
For more on child actors and where they are now, check out The Biggest '90s Child Actors, Then and Now.
