‘A Christmas Story’ turned 40 years old this holiday season, and star Peter Billingsley had plenty to share about it.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Billingsley recalled how director Bob Clark worked to encourage friendships between most of the children in the classic film, but not the bullies.
He said, “He encouraged us to build a friendship and to play together and to hang out. So, we felt like friends.”
“But he didn’t want us playing or hanging out with the bullies, Zack [Ward] and Yano [Anaya], because he wanted that genuine fear on camera.”
Billingsley also detailed how the iconic flagpole scene had a rocky start.
“When we shot the original flagpole scene, the film negative got damaged and we had to reshoot the entire scene,” he noted.
He also admitted that “A Christmas Story” was “a small movie that really nobody wanted to make and took filmmakers close to 12 years to get made.”
Billingsley described how it was “just an afterthought for the studio at the time” and the director had to really fight to get it made.
“It was really a labor of love,” he went on.
Then he explained, “It’s been very cool to see where it’s come to — somewhat similar to ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’”
“That movie really bombed when it came out. I know it was sort of heartbreaking for [director Frank] Capra at the time,” he added.
“And because somebody forgot to re-up the copyright, the movie fell into the public domain and television stations started to broadcast it and suddenly it found this incredible life and found its audience,” he concluded.
Billingsley is well-versed in Christmas movie information. He hosts a Christmas movie podcast called “A Cinematic Christmas Journey.”
The very first episode centered around the story of “A Christmas Story” and Billingsley has been very open about how the film slowly gained popularity over time.
He told the Hollywood Reporter, “When it came out in ’83, it was a modest success, not a massive hit.”
“I remember I was in a video store in Phoenix, I think this was in the ’90s, and there was a cardboard cutout of me in the cowboy suit. I was like, ‘What?’” he went on.
“I asked the clerk and he said, ‘Yeah, people keep asking for this movie,’” he added.
Billingsley also admitted that when the 24-hour marathons started playing the film over and over again, he began apologizing to people, but now that it’s a Christmas staple that everyone expects he’s gotten used to it.