A Christmas Story is one of the most iconic holiday movies of all time as young Ralphie Parker's quest for a Red Ryder BB gun takes him in some pretty wild directions. The movie was adapted for the stage as a musical, and that musical will be coming to the small screen just in time for the holidays this year. A Christmas Story Live! will air on Fox in December, and the musical just found the boy who will play Ralphie Parker. Take a look!
Yes, 11-year-old Andy Walker of Seattle has won the coveted role of Ralphie Parker for A Christmas Story Live! The young actor is relatively new to showbiz, as his first credited TV role was in a 2015 episode of NCIS. Walken doesn't quite have a high-enough profile for any of us to gauge how well he'll do as Ralphie, but I think we can probably all agree that he certainly looks the part. The movie version of Ralphie that people everywhere know and love is recognizable for his blond hair and big blue eyes, and Andy Walker has both. I can practically already hear him saying "A crummy commercial?" in despair after a decoder ring adventure gone wrong.
Of course, it'll take more than a pair of baby blues for Andy Walker to hold his own in a role so famously played by Peter Billingsley in the 1983 original movie, but he went through a rigorous audition process to prove that he has what it takes to play Ralphie in the musical event. More than 350 young boys were considered to play Ralphie before Andy Walken discovered that he won the role. He was selected after a nationwide digital casting call that undoubtedly saw plenty of youngsters with the right Ralphie look audition; Walker must have something special that he stood out to the folks behind the scenes.
Andy Walker joins a cast already comprised of Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live and Matthew Broderick of The Producers. Rudolph will play Ralphie's mom, who was originally played on the small screen by Melinda Dillon. The Tony-winning Matthew Broderick will step in for Jean Shepherd as narrator of the live musical. We can be sure that more castings will be announced in the coming weeks, so be sure to check back with our growing cast list.
A Christmas Story Live! will air on Sunday, December 17 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on Fox. Be sure to tune in if you want to get ready for the holiday season with a new twist on the Christmas Story we've all come to know. If you're in the mood for other holiday movies in the coming months, a whole bunch will be coming to Hallmark, and we have a handy list of all of them. For your other TV options, take a look at our fall TV guide.
