Peter Billingsley Tells “A Christmas Story”

It was the little Christmas movie that could–and did.

In November of 1983 a modest film called A Christmas Story appeared in theaters, based on the alternately warm, nostalgic and wickedly funny 1940s-era memoirs within the popular humorist Jean Shepherd’s book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and helmed by director Bob Clark–then red-hot off the success of the sex-crazed teen comedy Porky’s, which he used as leverage to finally bring this, his dream project, to the screen. But despite–or perhaps because of–the movie’s not-so-warm-and-fuzzy portrayal of 10-year-old Ralphie Parker’s efforts to receive a coveted Ryder BB gun under the tree, A Christmas Story barely made a blip on the box office radar and was yanked from theaters even before the holiday season began.

Today, exactly 20 years later, thanks to repeated showings on cable channels and home video, entire new generations have not only discovered the once cast-off film, they have wholeheartedly embraced it. Indeed, A Christmas Story has become as intrinsic a part of many people’s holiday traditions as eggnog, mistletoe and It’s a Wonderful Life (another commercial flop-turned-classic).

At a celebration of the film’s 20th anniversary DVD release–a two-disc set packed with a Christmas stocking full of commentary, cut-scenes and other extras–we caught up with the film’s all-grown-up star, Peter Billingsley. Billingsley, who was 12 when he made the film (and is also remembered as “Messy Marvin” from a long-running series of chocolate syrup commercials) is now an accomplished 32-year-old Hollywood producer known for collaborating behind the scenes with his friends Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn on Made and on Favreau‘s Independent Film Channel series Dinner for Five. This year also marked Billingsley’s return in front of the camera, cameoing in Favreau‘s hit holiday comedy Elf, starring Will Farrell.

And no, even after all these years, he hasn’t shot his eye out.

Hollywood.com: When did you first start noticing that a cultural phenomenon was building behind A Christmas Story?

Peter Billingsley: This one was still early in video and cable, so you figure they’ll have a little life and then they kind of go away, you see ’em at four in the morning or something. This one just kept coming around, and then it’s on more video and on here and there. It was such a slow build.

And now it’s this huge thing we all know and love.

Billingsley: It’s unbelievable. Really amazing. And it’s really, really cool to be a part of.

Did doing the DVD commentary bring back memories that you had completely forgotten?

Billingsley: Oh, yeah. In sitting with Bob and watching the film and doing the interviews, people remind you of things you didn’t know and things you forgot over 20 years…we were talking and talking.

Any favorite memories in particular?

Billingsley: I had forgotten they had a shot a lot of additional scenes that didn’t make it into the film. And you sort of forget about those because they’re not in the film. There was a Flash Gordon sequence that we shot, another fantasy scene of mine of shooting aliens when Flash Gordon was in trouble on a planet. And they built this huge, elaborate set for it, and I guess when they tested the movie they realized it didn’t work. And asked if they were going to put this footage on the disc, but I guess MGM has lost the footage forever, which is too bad.

I actually remember seeing A Christmas Story in the theater as a teenager when it first came out. I remember loving it then but it didn’t stick around very long.

Billingsley: On a per screen average it was doing very well, but they didn’t really widen it. It took 12 years [to make]. It was pulled from theaters and didn’t even make it until Christmas. So it just came and went. We thought it was a good little movie. It’s too bad.

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I recently talked to the Lord of the Rings cast about how in 30, 40, 50 years people will still be watching those movies, sharing them with new generations. They know now, of course, but you didn’t know then.

Billingsley: You really didn’t know then, because cable–a few people had it–and video was still VHS and Beta, so you couldn’t foresee that down the road.

And now that it’s happened, what’s that like to realize that your film has that kind of staying power?

Billingsley: It’s pretty amazing. The coolest thing about it is that it just affects people. People really genuinely love the movie. They have their own thing that they like about it, and everyone has a different thing that they like. But when someone realizes who I am, it’s not just “Hey, what a neat movie. You were really funny.” It’s more like “No, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND! No, REALLY, it’s the BEST movie.” And it’s so serious and genuine, how can that not make you feel great?

Do people think they know you, from A Christmas Story?

Billingsley: Yeah, yeah. I think so. But sometimes they still can’t place me. It was just so weird: a stewardess came up recently and said, “You look like the guy in this Christmas movie.” And you don’t want to be like, “Well, as a matter of fact…” So I’m like, “Oh, okay, well, yeah….” And then she said, “But no, you can’t be, because that film was shot in the ’40s.” She was totally convinced by the time period. And I think now it’s been around long enough that people are discovering it for the first time who might not know where it came from or how the whole thing started.

You got to be part of another soon-to-be-classic holiday movie this year.

Billingsley: Yeah–Elf!

Seriously, how hard was it for Favreau to talk you into getting into an elf suit for that?

Billingsley: [Laughs] It was a pretty easy thing to do. He was like “C’mon, man, I’m doing a Christmas movie. I need a little of that Christmas magic in there.” So I just flew up for about a week and did a little scene with Will [Farrell] which was actually really fun. It was the first acting I’d done in a really long time, too.

How long had it been?

Billingsley: About seven years or so. I just don’t really pursue it any more. It was great and I loved it, but producing–I’m just having a lot more fun doing that right now.

So what are you working on now?

Billingsley: A lot of Dinner for Five and then just doing a lot of film producing stuff with both Vince and Jon. We just have a lot of films in various stages that’ll be hopefully going this year. And Dinner for Five is keeping me pretty busy, actually.

Have you ever thought about having an A Christmas Story panel do the show?

Billingsley: No–not until tonight. Because it’s really the first time I’ve seen these guys in a long time. It would actually be something that would be fun to do, but the DVD gives you a lot of that.

Last question: Aside from A Christmas Story, what’s your own favorite holiday film?