The 2003 Christmas film Elf quickly became one of the best-selling festive films of all time.
With Will Ferrell playing Buddy the Elf and Zoeey Deschanel as his love interest Jovie, it’s quite an unforgettable film. Let alone the tale of a human ending up in Santa’s sack and being raised by elves until he returns to find his real dad.
But before Buddy even heads off to New York, a Christmas star from another film made their debut back at the North Pole. Head elf Ming Ming, who tells Buddy he’s “special” before he finds out the truth, made his name years prior.
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A whole two decades before Elf made its debut, Peter Billingsley, who played Ming Ming, took on the lead role in A Christmas Story. The family film was released in 1983 and followed 9-year-old Ralphie who wanted a BB gun.
(Image: New Line/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)
Little Ralphie wanted to be like Red Ryder and catch the bad guys – and he became obsessed with getting hold of the one gift he desperately wanted. He also appeared in A Christmas Story: Christmas as he returned home to give his kids a magical Christmas like he had as a child.
And 20 years from the Christmas film debut, fans realised that the beloved character also appeared in Elf. One user wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Peter Billingsley’s most iconic role is A Christmas Story’s Ralphie, but it still comes as a shock when people discover his Elf cameo appearance.”
(Image: New Line/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)
Another said: “I was today years old when I learned that Ming-Ming, the head elf from “Elf” was played by Peter Billingsley, who also played Ralphie from “A Christmas Story”. Nice to know a memorable actor from one Christmas classic appeared in another.”
A third person added: “How did I live this long not knowing that Ralphie from “A Christmas Story” (Peter Billingsley) played Ming Ming in “Elf”?!!”
(Image: Alamy Stock Photo)
While Peter landed quite a few acting credits during his long career, he’s since moved onto production as a primary focus – and a few Christmas movies have been placed under his belt there too.
According to IMDB, he’s one of the producers in festive films: A Christmas Story: Christmas, Christmas with the Campbells and Four Christmases.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
