'A Christmas Story' cast then and now: What they look like today

"A Christmas Story" will always be one of the most nostalgic holiday movies that you can watch on Christmas.

In fact, the 1983 movie, which centers around Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wanting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, has easily become one of the most popular holiday movies of all time. It grew such a massive fan base online that a sequel to the holiday flick was released in 2022 to rave reviews.

The sequel, titled “A Christmas Story Christmas” currently has a Tomatometer of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a pretty decent rating for a follow-up film.

Billingsley, who starred in the sequel with original cast members: Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Zach Ward and Ian Petrella, told TODAY what it was like to reunite with his co-stars after three decades.

“I think it’s easy to do something like this when you have the pieces around you and you’re looking at each other’s faces,” he said in a November 2022 interview. “It’s all the same actors.”

As Christmas quickly approaches, see how much the cast of “A Christmas Story” has transformed over the years.

Peter Billingsley

After appearing in "A Christmas Story," Billingsley took on more roles in the '80s and '90s, such as Richmond Matzie in "Punky Brewster" and Micky Spiegel in "The Wonder Years."

Billingsley is now a frequent collaborator of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau's. He and Vaughn run the production company Wild West Films, which was behind “Four Christmases" and "The Break-Up." In 2009, Billingsley made his directorial debut with “Couples Retreat," where both Vaughn and Favreau played the leads.

He made a cameo appearance in "Elf," another famous Christmas movie, playing an elf named Bing Bing.

Scott Schwartz

If you saw "A Christmas Story," then you'll undoubtedly remember Scott Schwartz. His character, Flick, gets his tongue stuck to a frozen flagpole after accepting a triple dog dare from his friend Schwartz.

After appearing in "A Christmas Story," Schwartz went on to play Adam Weisman in 1985's "A Time to Live" and Jordan Simms in the 1987 TV series "21 Jump Street."

In the '90s, Schwartz starred in adult films.

R.D. Robb

R.D. Robb's character, Schwartz, dares Flick to stick his tongue on the flagpole.

Since "A Christmas Story," Robb appeared in TV shows and movies, such as 1995's "The Brady Bunch Movie" and 1996's "Matilda." More recently, he appeared in "The Goldbergs."

Zach Ward

Although fans rooted for Ralphie in "A Christmas Story," it was hard not to like his bully Scut Farkus, played by Zach Ward, in the film.

Since "A Christmas Story," Ward acted in films such as 2003's "Freddy vs. Jason," 2004's "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" and 2007's "Transformers." Continuing the genre theme, Ward was also in Ryan Murphy's show "American Horror Story."

In 2017, Ward also helped launch the Global Sports Financial Exchange, which allows people to invest in professional sports teams.

Ward told TV Insider that filming the sequel was like reuniting with "brothers."

“We (had) long nights just sitting around talking about life, which was great. Should have filmed that part of it!” he said.

Ian Petrella

Ralphie's family wasn't complete without his little brother Randy, played by Ian Petrella, goofing off at home.

After making his acting debut on "A Christmas Story," Petrella went on to play Alex in 1986's "Diff’rent Strokes," Biff in 1987's "Who's the Boss?" and he also made an appearance in the 1991 TV series "Beverly Hills, 90210."

Petrella now works in animation and puppetry.

Darren McGavin

In "A Christmas Story," McGavin played Ralphie's lovable, but tough, father who has endless wells of admiration for his leg lamp.

After McGavin took on the role of Old Man Parker in the holiday flick, he continued his acting career in 1986's "Raw Deal," 1990's "Captain America," 1995's "Billy Madison," where he played the lead alongside Adam Sandler, 1998's "The X-Files" and more.

In 1990, McGavin received an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance on "Murphy Brown."

He died in 2006 at the age of 83. Speaking to People, Billingsley called the movie sequel "love letter" to his on-screen dad.

“It very much is, in many ways, a love letter to the Old Man character and to Darren himself,” he said. “Darren was the best. He was such a gifted actor and a great person and such a mentor to me in the shooting of the first film and was kind of like having (another) dad.”

Melinda Dillon

Melinda Dillon's role in "A Christmas Story" was just as iconic as her acting career.

As Ralphie and Randy's mother, she always wanted to keep her kids safe, whether that meant wrapping Randy up in full Christmas attire so he won't be cold outside or telling Ralphie that he shouldn't want a BB gun for Christmas because he'd shoot his eye out.

When "A Christmas Story" premiered, Dillon was already an accomplished actor who already had two Oscar nominations.

But after "A Christmas Story," Dillon did more movies like 1987's "Harry and the Hendersons," 1990's "Captain America," 1991's "The Prince of Tides" and 1999's "Magnolia."

In 2005, she also guest-starred on an episode of "Law & Order: SVU" before she made her last on-screen appearances in 2007.

In January 2023, Dillon's family announced in a public obituary that she died in Los Angeles.

Tedde Moore

In "A Christmas Story," Tedde Moore played Ralphie's school teacher, Miss Shields. Moore later reprised her role in "A Christmas Story" for the movie's 1994 sequel, "My Summer Story," released in theaters as "It Runs in the Family."

Moore also has acting credits in 2001's "RoboCop: Prime Directives," 2011's "Mistletoe Over Manhattan," and the 2017 Hallmark film "Magical Christmas Ornaments."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com