THEN AND NOW: Kid stars of archetype holiday movies

Left: Macaulay Culkin in "Home Alone." Right: Macaulay Culkin as an adult.

Macaulay Culkin, then and now.
20th Century Fox ; Kimberly White/Getty Images for Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Centre
  • Some kid actors from famous holiday movies took a suspension from Hollywood.
  • Others, like Thomas Brodie-Sangster of "Dear Actually," accept connected to land starring roles.
  • Peter Billingsley from "A Christmas Story" now works behind the scenes equally a producer.

Macaulay Culkin is all-time known as the mischief-making protagonist in the "Home Solitary" movies.

Macaulay Culkin in "Dwelling Alone."
20th Century Trick

The "Dwelling Lone" movies, which came out in the 1990s, are holiday classics. Culkin was 10 when the showtime picture show premiered.

He starred in other '90s movies, such as "My Daughter" and "Richie Rich."

He took a break from acting in 1994, but he returned to the screen sporadically from 2003. This year, he appeared in "American Horror Story" and became a dad.

Macaulay Culkin today.
Kimberly White/Getty Images for Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center

Macaulay also wrote an autobiography, co-founded a pizza-themed Velvet Underground tribute band called The Pizza Underground with which he toured before they dissever upwardly in 2018, and hosted a podcast called Bunny Ears.

He has connected acting equally well — among his roles, he played Michael Alig in "Party Monster" in 2003, and he did voiceover work for "Robot Craven." He as well appeared in "American Horror Story" in August.

He welcomed a son, Dakota Song Culkin, in April with Brenda Song. In November, Culkin made a surprise catwalk appearance at the Gucci Love Parade prove on Hollywood Boulevard.

Mara Wilson starred in the 1994 remake of the holiday classic "Phenomenon on 34th Street."

Mara Wilson in "Miracle on 34th Street."
20th Century Studios

Wilson was merely 6 years old when she fabricated her on-screen debut in "Mrs. Doubtfire" in 1993. She went on to play the titular character in "Matilda" in 1996.

Wilson took a break from acting to focus on a career as an author and journalist, but she continues to do voiceover work and brand small cameos.

Mara Wilson in 2017.
Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Shorty Awards

Wilson published a memoir called "Where Am I Now?: Truthful Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame," wrote a play chosen "Sheeple," and has had bylines in various publications.

Earlier this year, she wrote an essay for The New York Times near the dangers of existence a kid star. As Insider's Zac Ntim reported, she wrote about her experiences of being sexualized by the media as a child, and she voiced her support for Britney Spears following FX's popular "Framing Britney Spears" documentary.

She has besides lent her vocalization to characters in "BoJack Horseman" and "Big Hero half dozen: The Serial."

Peter Billingsley played Ralphie Parker in the holiday classic "A Christmas Story" in 1983.

Peter Billingsley sits on Santa's lap in a scene from "A Christmas Story."
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images

Young Ralphie asked Santa for an "official Red Ryder carbine activeness, 200-shot, range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells fourth dimension." Billingsley was but 12 years old when he played the part.

In "Beloved Actually," Thomas Brodie-Sangster played Liam Neeson's young stepson, Sam, who was madly in love with a daughter at school.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster in "Love Really."
Universal Pictures

Brodie-Sangster reprised the office for charity in the mini-sequel "Ruby Olfactory organ Day Actually" in 2017.

Fans may recognize him now from "Game of Thrones," the "Maze Runner" movies, or "The Queen'south Gambit."

Thomas Brodie-Sangster in 2020.
Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Brodie-Sangster voiced Ferb Fletcher in Disney's "Phineas and Ferb," played Jojen Reed in seasons iii and four of "Game of Thrones," and played Newt in the "Maze Runner" movies.

He near recently starred every bit chess prodigy Benny Watts in "The Queen'due south Gambit" miniseries on Netflix, and he is slated to announced in the sound series "Unsinkable" alongside John Malkovich and Brian Cox.

Taylor Momsen played Cindy Lou Who in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Taylor Momsen in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
Universal Pictures

Momsen was 7 years old when she held the role. She went on to star in "Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams," "Hansel & Gretel," and "Saving Shiloh."

Later rising to fame as Jenny Humphrey in "Gossip Girl," she pivoted to focus on music with her rock band, The Pretty Reckless.

Taylor Momsen in The Pretty Reckless.
Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

The Pretty Reckless has released iii studio albums, and Momsen hasn't acted since "Gossip Girl" ended in 2012.

Johnny Galecki starred in "National Lampoon's Christmas Holiday" in 1989.

Johnny Galecki in "National Lampoon'southward Christmas Vacation."
Warner Bros.

When he was 14, he starred in the moving picture as Rusty, the son of Clark and Ellen Griswold, played by Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo.

A few years later on, Galecki became known as David Healy on "Roseanne," a role he held from 1992 to 1997.

He has since enjoyed a successful TV career.

Johnny Galecki.
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

He reprised his "Roseanne" office in the series reboot and eventual spinoff "The Conners."

He also starred equally Leonard Hofstadter in "The Big Bang Theory" from 2006 to 2019. For his work on the show, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2011 and a Golden Globe in 2012, among other awards.

He played Henry in the 2019 movie "A Dog'southward Journeying."

Karolyn Grimes played Zuzu Bailey in the holiday archetype "It's A Wonderful Life" in 1946.

A scene from "It's A Wonderful Life."
Silver Screen Drove/Getty Images

Grimes played actor James Stewart's daughter. She was 6 years onetime when she held the role.

Daniel Tay starred aslope Will Ferrell in the 2003 holiday classic "Elf."

Daniel Tay as Michael in "Elf."
New Line Cinema

Tay played Buddy the Elf's brother, Michael. He was 12 years sometime when he starred in the flick.

Subsequently a few other picture roles and some voiceover work, Tay left interim and earned a degree in economic science from Yale.

Daniel Tay in 2009.
WILL RAGOZZINO/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

According to his LinkedIn page, Tay at present works as a tutor and a research associate at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. His final acting job was voiceover work for an episode of the spider web series "AniMat's Archetype Reviews" in 2017.

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