All grown up: What the child stars of your favourite Christmas movies are up to now

It's that time of year again, when most of us are craving one thing and one thing only – a nostalgic Christmas flick.

From Love Actually's Sam and Joanna to Home Alone's Kevin and Buzz, let's see what became of the child actors in our most beloved Christmas movies. 

Read on to see what the pint-sized stars of It's A Wonderful Life, The Santa Clause, Christmas Vacation and dozens more look like now.

A Christmas Story's Ralphie

Peter Billingsley starred as Ralphie "You'll shoot your eye out!" Parker in 1983's A Christmas Story.

Now 54, Peter now mainly directs (Couples Retreat, Term Life), and produces (Four Christmases). He's also good friends with Vince Vaughn.

In 2022, he played Ralphie for the first time in almost 40 years when he reprised the role in A Christmas Story Christmas.

The decision was inspired by the two children he shares with his wife of nine years Elizabeth.

"A lot of people have said, 'Why now?' for this movie, and definitely being a father in real life [paralleled] being able to channel being a father in A Christmas Story Christmas," he said of the project.

He portrayed a grown-up, married with kids, who had returned to his hometown for the holidays.

His most recent project was as a producer for a 2025 drama titled Broke and a podcast series called A Cinematic Journey which ran from 2022 to 2023 and spanned 12 episodes.

Love Actually's Joanna

Olivia Olson played the love interest of Love Actually schoolboy Sam, and memorably nailed Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You at the talent show.

In fact, the producers had to edit her voice to make it sound less perfect and more realistic for her role. 

Olivia, 33, has been the voice of Marceline on Adventure Time since 2010 and voiced Vanessa on Phineas and Ferb until 2015.

She's also built a big Instagram profile, which currently boasts more than 100,000 followers. 

The Santa Clause's Charlie

In 1994, Eric Lloyd played Tim Allen's son Charlie in The Santa Clause.

Well, little Charlie Calvin is now 39 years old.

He lives in Los Angeles, where he is the co-owner of a recording studio for bands and YouTube artists. He also sings and plays guitar for the band Radiomason.

In 2022, Lloyd collaborated with Allen for an episode of The Santa Clauses.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas' Cindy Lou Who

Taylor Momsen starred as the littlest Who in Whoville in Ron Howard's 2000 adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Momsen, 32, went on to play Jenny Humphrey (aka Little J) on Gossip Girl and is now the lead singer in the rock band The Pretty Reckless.

The singer and actress has recently returned to her Grinch roots, releasing a new holiday album with her band that pays homage to her role as Cindy Lou Who.

The album, released in October 2025, includes her classic song from the 2000 film Where Are You Christmas?

Home Alone's Kevin

Macaulay Culkin is arguably one of the most famous child actors ever, thanks to his starring role as Kevin McAllister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Culkin fronted the comedy rock band Pizza Underground for several years.

The now 45-year-old has two children with partner Brenda Song and is the godfather to Michael Jackson's daughter Paris.

In 2023, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The actor revealed he is open to returning to the franchise that brought him fame.

During a stop on his A Nostalgic Night with Macauley Culkin tour, he said he "wouldn't be completely allergic" to returning as Kevin in a Home Alone sequel, per Variety.

But, the actor said: "It would have to be just right."

The Holiday's Sophie

Miffy Englefield played Sophie, the elder of Jude Law's two precocious daughters in 2006's The Holiday when she was just six years old.

Englefield grew up and went on to study performing arts at college.

The now 26-year-old shaved her head back in 2023 to raise money for kids with cancer and has recently grown a following on TikTok

On her Instagram account, she shares insight

She also has a daughter who features heavily on her TikTok account.

Bad Santa's "The Kid"

Brett Kelly was eight when he starred opposite Billy Bob Thornton in 2003's Bad Santa.

The Canadian actor went on to reprise his role as an adult in Bad Santa 2.

Now 33, Kelly is a recurring cast member of the Canadian television series Family Law.

He has also appeared on The Sandlot 2, Supernatural and was a contestant on a 2024 episode of Jeopardy!

Die Hard's Lucy McClane

While Die Hard's relevance as a Christmas movie is still debatable, we'll throw in little Lucy McClane just because.

Taylor Fry played Lucy in the original 1988 film but was replaced by Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the sequels.

Fry went on to have a role in 1994's A Little Princess as Lavinia, then disappeared from the spotlight.

She's now 40 and some reports claim she is big on the collegiate Ultimate Frisbee scene.

The internet shockingly doesn't seem to know what she looks like now.

Love Actually's Sam

Thomas Brodie-Sangster played Liam Neeson's lovesick and motherless son Sam in 2003's Love Actually.

Thomas went on to play Jojen Reed on Game of Thrones and starred in all three Maze Runner films – The Maze Runner (2014), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)).

The now 35-year-old continues to take on a number of acting roles. He starred in The Queen's Gambit in 2020 and The Artful Dodger in 2023.

His most recent role was a voice acting role in the 2025 animation Grand Prix of Europe.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation's Audrey and Rusty

Audrey and Rusty sulked their way through 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation as Chevy Chase's angsty kids.

Now 52, Juliette Lewis, who played Lewis, is a successful actress and musician.

She starred as Natali in the TV series Yellowjackets between 2021 and 2023.

Her most recent roles were as Clara Armstrong in the 2025 film Opus and Camille in the 2025 film By Design.

Johnny Galecki, who starred as Rusty, went on to star as Leonard on The Big Bang Theory.

The actor, now 50, welcomed his son Avery with his ex-girlfriend Alaina Meyer in 2019.

He later went on to marry Morgan Galecki, with whom he welcomed a daughter named Oona Evelena in 2024.

Miracle on 34th Street's Susan

Prolific child actress Mara Wilson played Susan in 1994's Miracle on 34th Street, one year after her star-making turn in Mrs. Doubtfire and two years before she embodied the title role in Matilda.

Wilson went on to write a book about her time in the spotlight called Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame.

The 38-year-old also voices Jill Pill on BoJack Horseman and had a guest role on Broad City.

Wilson was nominated for three Audible's Best of 2023 awards as a voice narrator. 

Elf's Michael

In 2003's Elf, Daniel Tay played Buddy the elf's human half-brother Michael.

Now 33, Daniel doesn't do much acting.

After Elf, he voiced several projects, including Bill Blue in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV and Pedro in the video game Bully.

He studied medicine at Cornell University.

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Title: All grown up: What the child stars of your favourite Christmas movies are up to now
Sourced From: celebrity.nine.com.au/movies/child-christmas-movie-stars-cast-where-are-they-now/7b97dc23-fbf9-4997-ac0a-dfa5704a445e
Published Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2025 20:12:00 GMT