Christmas time is also TV time! When else do you have so much time to watch your favorite films? Of course, a few classics should not be missing. For some it is the “Sissi” series with Romy Schneider or “Die Hard” with Bruce Willis, others don’t want to miss the fairy tale film “Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella”.

It doesn’t matter which Christmas strip has conquered your heart, most of the classics are a few years old – and over time, of course, their main characters have also changed. Below you can see who is hardly recognizable and who still looks the same as they did twenty or thirty years ago.

But first we want to know from you:

John Hughes’ charming comedy has achieved cult status. Especially because Macaulay Culkin, aka eight-year-old Kevin, who is forgotten by his family at Christmas at Christmas, defends himself quite funny against two stupid burglars. To this day, the two films in the “Kevin – Alone” series are among the child star’s greatest successes, which he was unable to build on.

Culkin was ten years old during the shooting of the first film, the actor and singer is now 42 years old – and has lost a bit of his boyish image. Today, Culkin hosts a few web shows and regularly posts self-deprecating references to his Kevin role on social media. Most recently, he was seen as Mickey in the tenth season of the series “American Horror Story” by director Ryan Murphy.

The British television adaptation of Jack Gold’s Burnett novel of the same name is as much a part of Christmas in this country as potato salad with bockwurst. Since 1982, ARD has been broadcasting the strip on the holidays. This film also focuses on an eight-year-old boy: in 1872, little Cedric Errol from the USA is suddenly confronted with his British title of nobility. The US actor Ricky Schroder, who was ten years old at the time, played the blue-eyed, blond, bobbed Prince Eisenherz.

He later became known to many as Detective Danny Sorenson from the series “NYPD Blue”, which was shown on US television until 2005. In addition to his work as a producer, screenwriter and actor, the 52-year-old also makes headlines as a gun enthusiast. He is a member of the National Rifle Association, the powerful US gun lobby organization. In 2020, he shared $2 million bail to spare Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two people during protests in Kenosha.

The British rom-com tells different love stories at Christmas time in several episodes. Many viewers remember the sweet romance between little Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and his classmate Joana (Olivia Olson), an American exchange student.

Brodie-Sangster was thirteen when the film was filmed. Even today, the 32-year-old Brit is still on the road as an actor – and very successfully. He was part of the cast of the hit Netflix mini-series The Queen’s Gambit. There he plays chess player Benny Watts alongside Anya Taylor-Joy. In “Game of Thrones” he was seen as Jojen Reed.

Well, what is Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, Sheldon’s roommate from The Big Bang Theory, in this listicle? He’s almost unrecognizable, but he actually starred in the Christmas comedy, Happy Birthday, opposite Chevy Chase. Back then as the son of Russel of the chaotic Griswold family, who distributed well-intentioned advice there.

But he is known to most as Leonard at Sheldon Cooper’s side – for a total of 279 episodes. Forbes magazine estimated his annual income at the time at $25 million. After the cult sitcom ended in 2019, he briefly landed a role in the Roseanne spin-off The Conners.

Another detour to what is probably the funniest and at the same time weirdest Christmas strip ever: Cornelius Crane “Chevy” Chase, the actor’s full name, was 46 years old when the film was shot and became world-famous as the father of the family, Clark W. Griswold. It’s just too wonderful how the Griswold family is celebrating their Christmas celebrations. The now 79-year-old actor is a little grey, but otherwise he hasn’t changed much. And he is still in front of the camera: for example for the Amazon production “The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee”.

The children’s book by British author Roald Dahl, published in 1964, has already been filmed twice: in 1971 as a musical directed by Mel Stuart, in 2005 by cult director Tim Burton. Since then, the film has been shown again and again at Christmas time. Everyone knows Johnny Depp as the chocolate factory owner Willy Wonka. His heir to the empire, Charlie, was played by Freddie Highmore, then 13 years old.

He is no stranger to film and television: since 2017 he has been seen as autistic doctor Shaun Murphy in the ABC series “The Good Doctor”. In 2018, Highmore even garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Outstanding Actor in a TV Drama for the role. By the way: The streaming service Netflix wants to flicker a series about the young years of Willy Wonka on the screens soon. Not with Freddie Highmore, but with Timothée Chalamet in the leading role.

Another children’s book, the film adaptation of which became a box-office hit. Jim Carrey hates Christmas as the Grinch. Little Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) tries to convince him otherwise. Momsen was seven when the film was made. A lot has happened since then: she became a fashion icon in the role of Jenny Humphrey in the TV series “Gossip Girl”. She is also the lead singer of the rock band The Pretty Reckless.

In the film, based on Dickens’ “Christmas Carol”, Carol Kane, as the very freaky spirit of the present Christmas, wants to purify the unscrupulous television producer Francis Xavier Cross (Bill Murray) and convert him to a better person. Kane, then 36 years old, hasn’t changed much. The curious roles are still her thing: In the Netflix series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, for example, she embodies a crazy New York hippie landlady.

We all know Arnie’s world career from Austrian bodybuilder to Hollywood star and subsequent political career as Californian governor and it is ready for film. His co-star in the Christmas comedy A Promise is a Promise, son of the film Jamie played by Jake Lloyd, may not be on the radar of some. As a child, he skimmed off one role after the other. In 1999 he was allowed to play the young Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars: Episode 1”.

But then the crash followed: In June 2015, the now 31-year-old was arrested for reckless driving, driving without a license and resisting arrest after he had previously been in a chase with the police. This ended when Lloyd was thrown off the road through a fence and came to rest in a clump of trees; Lloyd has been incarcerated since that incident. He suffers from schizophrenia and is now in inpatient psychiatric treatment.

In the Disney Christmas film, Krumholtz played the eager and nerdy elf Bernard – as a teenager at 16. The New Yorker’s career was not affected: he played in numerous other films and series, including the leading role in “Numbers – the logic of crime” until 2010. On May 22, 2010, David Krumholtz married actress Vanessa Britting. Their daughter was born in April 2014, followed by their son two years later.

Are you missing the brilliant idea? Right this way…

This article was first published in 2020.