Challenges faced by young Christmas movie actors: struggles with drug abuse, mental illness, and loss at a young age

By their very nature, Christmas movies are supposed to be feel-good films for the whole family to enjoy.

However, in the recent years, a number of beloved productions have been overshadowed by the unfortunate situations that some cast members have faced.

The young actors from well-known holiday classics have encountered challenges in their personal lives. For instance, Macaulay Culkin, the star of Home Alone, went through a very public legal feud with his parents.

Similarly, Taylor Momsen, known for her role as Cindy Lou in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, dealt with struggles of substance abuse while simultaneously achieving success as the frontwoman of the punk rock band The Pretty Reckless.

Tragedy further struck for Karolyn Grimes, who made her acting debut aged six in post-war Christmas cracker It’s a Wonderful Life. She lost both her parents before her 16th birthday.

‘My life has never been wonderful,’ the former actress candidly told the Washington Post in 2011.

‘Maybe when I was a child, but not after age 15. And maybe that’s what makes the film so important for me and a lot of other people.’

Here, FEMAIL delves into the curse of the Christmas movie for these young stars – and why you may never look at them the same.

Karolyn Grimes – It’s a Wonderful Life 

When the cameras filming It’s A Wonderful Life stopped rolling, life wasn’t so picture-perfect for the child at its centre. 

Karolyn Grimes, now 84, starred as six-year-old Zuzu in the 1946 movie that follows an angel who saves a father set on killing himself so his family can benefit from the life insurance.

Grimes, who lives in Seattle, starred in 16 movies as a child, including The Bishop’s Wife, starring Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young, and John Ford’s Rio Grande with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.

But with her mother suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s, Grimes revealed that life took a tragic turn as she hit her teenage years.

In an interview with the Washington Post in 2011, the actress explained: ‘My mother died when I was 12, and right after my dad died in a car crash. I was 15 and had no family.’

After this, Karolyn was sent to live with an uncle and aunt in Missouri – and was banned from acting.

She claimed: ‘They were kind of nutso religious fanatics who didn’t believe in movies, dancing, singing, that kind of thing. I don’t think they believed in laughing, either.’

Her aunt cut her off from friends and people she’d met during filming. Instead, she went to college and became a medical tech at a clinic outside Kansas City.

After marrying and giving birth to two daughters, she divorced – and the girls’ father died in a hunting accident.

Following the tragedy, she remarried, had a son and daughter and helped raise her second husband’s three children from a previous marriage.

Then her 18-year-old son committed suicide, and her husband died of cancer. She retired to take care of her teenage daughters, two of whom became single parents.

‘My life has never been wonderful,’ she told the Washington Post. ‘Maybe when I was a child, but not after age 15. And maybe that’s what makes the film so important for me and a lot of other people.

‘The Jimmy Stewart George is suffering terribly in the movie — you can just see it. He’s in Martini’s café and saying to himself, “God, I’m not a praying man, but please show me the way”.’ Gosh, it makes me cry,’ she said.

Grimes remembers being paid $75 a week – about $830 today – or around $10,000 over the 12-week shoot of It’s a Wonderful Life.

She only remembered taking part in the film thirty years later, when she saw footage out of the corner of her eye on the television. She recognised the faces and ‘then it hit me. I was in that movie. I was Zuzu.’

Taylor Momsen – How the Grinch Stole Christmas 

Taylor Momsen, now 31, began her career with her breakout role as Cindy Lou in How The Grinch Stole Christmas – the film adaptation of the Dr Seuss tale – at the age of seven.

Asked why the movie still resonates with so many people, the actress previously told Today: ‘I think that people love The Grinch just simply because the core of the story is so sweet and it’s so heartwarming and it has such a good message.

That no matter what age, touches your heart, I think that that’s an amazing thing to be a part of.’

Following her outing in The Grinch, Momsen went on to land roles in Hansel and Gretel, and Spy Kids 2 but then her career went quiet for a while.

She was one of the top three candidates for the part of Hannah Montana, which eventually went to Miley Cyrus but her profile skyrocketed again when she landed the part of preppy teenage socialite Jenny Humphrey in the show, Gossip Girl.

Momsen stayed in the series for several seasons, but left in season four to concentrate on her music career and embrace her avant-garde style.

Some commenters alluded to her reportedly being a ‘diva’ and TV personality Tim Gunn had nothing nice to say after working with her on Gossip Girl.

After landing a guest spot on the show he told E! News of Momsen: ‘What a diva! She was pathetic, she couldn’t remember her lines, and she didn’t even have that many. I thought to myself “Why are we all being held hostage by this brat?”‘

According to Gunn, Momsen spent all day on her Blackberry instead of learning her lines and that the director told him it happened ‘day in, day out, my life.’

Momsen announced that she was retiring from acting shortly afterward at the age of 18. The Missouri native’s heart has clearly always been in music and she even recorded a song called Why Can’t I Find You? for The Grinch soundtrack.

At eight, she wrote a song called Blackout, which The Hills star Heidi Montag went on record for her debut album, Superficial.

In 2009 her band The Pretty Reckless landed a deal with Interscope Records. They have released two successful albums and Momsen now spends her time touring with the band around the world.

Her image today is a far cry from the cheery youngster who appeared in The Grinch or her squeaky clean Gossip Girl character, with her trademark style including peroxide hair, thick black eyeliner, ripped fishnet tights and leather.

She has described shows in which she invited fans onstage, but had to stop because it got ‘a little violent,’ telling Rolling Stone how her hair was ripped out and she was ‘sexually assaulted in an uncool way’ as one fan was ‘a little too aggressive for my liking.’

In 2021, she also revealed how she struggled through an ‘utterly dark hole of and substance abuse’ she lived through following the death of two friends in 2017 and 2018.

First, on May 18, 2017, Soundgarden vocalist and guitarist Chris Cornell died at age 52 by suicide.

The Pretty Reckless had been touring with Soundgarden at the time and she considered the band one of her favourites ‘in the world’ — and the loss of Chris to be ‘devastating.’

‘It crushed me in a way that I can’t explain and I was not prepared for as a person,’ she told Metro.co.uk. ‘I wasn’t in a good place mentally to be public. 

‘I cancelled touring, I went home. I needed to attempt to process what had happened and kind of get my s**t together.’

She had just been starting to feel a bit better and was writing music again when she was hit with another tragedy: the death of record producer Kato Khandwala in a motorcycle accident on April 25, 2018.

‘It was the nail in the coffin for me,’ Taylor said, adding that they were ‘so immensely close.’ ‘He was so much more than a producer. He was a fifth member of the band and my best friend in the world.’

After that, she spiralled, and had a much harder time recovering from the back-to-back losses. 

Momsen has said that she prefers singing to acting, so it’s unlikely we’ll see her return to our screens in any film role – let alone a heart-warming festive one, any time soon.

Recent photos posted to Instagram show Momsen performing at venues around the world. Away from the stage, candid snaps show her meeting with friends, going to the gym and taking some well-earned rest.

Devin Ratray – Home Alone 

Devin Ratray, now 47, was well-known for playing Buzz McCallister, Kevin’s oldest brother who often got him in trouble, in the Christmas blockbuster Home Alone, which he starred in when he was just 13.

He went on to become a regular on MTV’s reality series Damage Control and starred in a few movies and TV shows like Dennis the Menace, Little Monsters, the 2007 movie Serial, sci-fi flick Surrogates, suspense thriller Elevator, Nebraska (opposite Bruce Dern and Will Forte), Blue Ruin in 2013, crime drama Hustlers, and Steven Soderbergh’s Kimi.

He also ventured into music, and sings and plays guitar in a band called Little Bill and the Beckleys.

In 2021, he reunited with some of his Home Alone cast members in Disney+’s Home Sweet Home Alone movie. Instead of playing Buzz, Ratray returns as a police officer.

But in February 2024, Devin Ratray pleaded guilty to two counts of domestic violence.

As a result, the 47-year-old actor has avoided jail time, resolving his years-long case in Oklahoma.

According to TMZ, he was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to complete a Batterers Intervention Program and undergo a drug/alcohol assessment.

Additionally, he must cover court expenses and maintain zero contact with the victim, his ex-girlfriend. Ratray appeared in court via a video link along with his lawyer. 

It comes after last month the star was hospitalized and in critical condition. He has since been discharged and was reportedly ‘back home resting on doctor’s orders.’  

In December 2021, he was arrested on domestic violence charges after he allegedly strangled his girlfriend in an Oklahoma hotel room. 

He reportedly had gotten angry with his partner while the two were drinking at a bar after she didn’t charge two female fans for his autograph.

After they returned to their hotel room at Hyatt Place Oklahoma City, Ratray allegedly pushed her onto the bed before putting one hand on her throat and the other on her mouth.

‘The victim had trouble breathing while she was being strangled and while the defendant’s hand was over her mouth,’ according to an affidavit.

Ratray also allegedly told her, ‘This is how you die,’ as he continued to choke her. The girlfriend then bit Ratray’s hand as she attempted to scream for help.

He stopped choking her but allegedly began violently punching her afterward. She managed to break free from Ratray’s grasp and ran out of the room.

Ratray allegedly punched her against a desk when she returned to the room to collect her belongings.

The victim was found with multiple injuries including bruising under her left eye, marks under her right eye, marks above the left side of her lip, a bruise on her chest and a sore arm, according to KFOR.

The pair broke up following the violent fight. At the time, a police source revealed that Ratray ‘turned himself in and was processed through and bonded out,’ according to Fox News.

He was released from custody after posting a $25,000 bond and denied the allegations.

Last year, news broke that he was also being investigated by New York authorities over allegations that he raped a woman in New York in 2017. 

After hearing about the assault case, Lisa Smith contacted prosecutors about a police report she had filed in 2017 accusing that actor of raping her.

She told CNN that she wanted to know why the case hadn’t been pursued and was informed that authorities thought she wanted to remain anonymous and didn’t want to press charges.

Smith claims that she was friends with the actor for around 15 years before the alleged assault, adding that she met her brother and Ratray along with another friend for a drink in New York directly before the assault.

The group then went to Ratary’s apartment for another drink, where he insisted that Smith have a specific glass.

She says that she became exhausted soon after drinking it, and Ratray encouraged her to stay over and sleep on the couch.

Smith believes that she was drugged by the star, saying: ‘I remember waking up and I couldn’t move.

‘I couldn’t really open my eyes, but I could hear what was happening and I could feel what was happening. I knew that the other two people were gone and I was still on the couch.’

She claims that the assault went on for what felt like an ‘eternity’ and she was only able to regain control of her body at around 2pm the next day when she fled the apartment.

The day after the attack Smith told a friend, her sister and one of her brothers what happened, and then confronted Ratray in a text message.

He denied the assault, so Smith field a police report a few weeks later and met up with an NYPD detective in Salt Lake City – who wrongly marked that she did not want to prosecute.

Smith added that she is ‘devastated’ that police failed to investigate her allegations when she came forward.

At the time of the incident she travelled from out of state to be interviewed at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and provided them with the clothes she wore the night of the attack.

She added: Why would I have met with the DA in the first place, years ago, if I wasn’t willing to press charges?…This was all very upsetting to me.’

‘Seeing that he was accused of assaulting someone else made me realize that I needed to do whatever I could to prevent him from hurting even more women.’

Smith claims that she met with a prosecutor from the Sex Crimes Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in May, who apologised for the way the case had been handled.

When contacted by CNN, Ratray said he recalled the evening with Smith but denied her claims that he raped her.

A spokesperson from the district attorney’s office confirmed they ‘are in touch’ with Smith but declined to discuss the handling of the case, according to an August 25, 2022 report by Dailymail.com.

Carl Swizter – It’s a Wonderful Life 

Carl Swizter had a minor role in It’s a Wonderful Life as a Mary Hatch’s date to the high school dance.

Audiences will remember that the disgruntled teen – whose date has been distracted by the hero George Bailey – then causes the gym dancefloor to open onto the swimming pool below.

The actor had starred in the comedy series Our Gang as a child and was famous for his warbling singing voice.

According to History.com, Carl’s mother had taken him and his brother to the Hal Roach studios – who had signed Laurel and Hardy – during a family vacation to California.

Following this, Carl was cast as Alfafa in the series which followed a group of children and their adventures.

After It’s a Wonderful Life, Carl struggled to find work and began taking odd jobs and working as a bartender. During this time, he also reportedly had several run-ins with the police.

In January 1959, Carl went to the home of Moses Stilz to demand he pay him some $50 he believed he was owed.

After a fight broke out, Moses shot Carl – who was only 31 when he later died of his injuries.

Macaulay Culkin – Home Alone 

At the age of 10, Macaulay Culkin sky-rocketed to fame when he was cast as Kevin McCallister in the first Home Alone film in 1990.

By the time he was 12 years old, the child star had reached millionaire status thanks to his performances in Richie Rich and The Good Son – making him the family’s breadwinner with the ability to reportedly bring in £6m with every performance.

Before bagging the life-changing role, Macaulay had been used to a much more modest lifestyle – as his former actor father Kit worked in a parish church while his mother Patricia held down a job in a call centre.

Speaking to New York magazine in 2001, Home Alone’s casting director Billy Hopkins claimed: ‘They were so poor I had to use my own money to make sure that he got to and from rehearsal.

‘Macaulay would crawl under the bleachers at the theater to look for change that had fallen out of people’s pockets. They were like the Beverly Hillbillies.’

What’s more, Macaulay’s younger brother Kieran told Vanity Fair 2018 that the family-of-nine’s New York apartment didn’t provide much in the way of privacy.

Describing how the space was effectively ‘just a hallway’, he added: ‘There were no separating doors, except for the bathroom, which didn’t have a lock.

‘They raised seven kids in that apartment – for years! They just kept bringing babies home to this little space.’

As such, Kit and Patricia used their son’s earnings to buy the family a huge brownstone in New York’s Upper East Side.

A 1993 New York Times article alleged that Kit – who took on the role of Maculay’s agent – had given his son a diva-like reputation in Hollywood thanks to his hands-on approach, which resulted in The Good Son hitting theatres a year late.

Four years after his big screen debut, Kat and Patricia’s 20-year relationship came to an end – prompting the feuding couple to battle over who would have custody of the child actor.

Setting out her argument, Patricia told a US court that Kit had a problem with ‘excessive drinking’ and accused him of ‘physical abuse and unfaithful behaviour’.

In denying her claims, Kit branded his ex-wife an ‘inept’ businesswoman as he laid out his case to continue managing Macaulay.

When he was only 15 years old, Macaulay sued both his parents for £13m and was successful in ‘divorcing’ them as his legal guardians – meaning they no longer had access to his fortune.

Appearing on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast in 2018, Macaulay claimed his father had been ‘physically and mentally’ abusive.

Describing how Kit was ‘jealous’ of him, the actor added: ‘Everything he tried to do in life, I excelled at before I was 10 years old.’

In 2016, Kit told the Daily Mail: ‘I don’t consider [Macaulay] a son anymore.’

As a result of his ongoing difficulties with his parents, Macaulay – who was now richer than his wildest dreams – struggled with life in the limelight.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2000, Macaulay explained how his work impacted his adolescence and said his father treated him as though he were a ‘machine’.

He said: ‘I remember one time near the end of school year, I was walking down the road with my mother saying what I wanted to do this summer and suddenly I knew there was something she did not want to tell me.

‘She said: ‘Don’t make plans this summer. You might be working.’ Then you find out they had already signed the contract.’

‘It started feeling like a chore,’ he told Esquire in a profile published in February 2020. ‘I started vocalizing that and not being heard: I was saying, ‘I wanna go to school’ – I haven’t done a full year of school since first grade.’

In the late 1990s, Macaulay took a break from acting and married Supernatural actress Rachel Miner – who was 17 at the time – when he was just 18 years old.

Two years after their separation in 2002, Macaulay was charged with possession of marijuana.

In the years that followed, the child star appeared increasingly gaunt in public – sparking concern about his rumoured drug habit.

From 2002 to 2011, Macaulay – who has never publicly spoken about his love life – was in a relationship with That 70s Show actress Mila Kunis.

Appearing on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast in 2018, the now mother-of-two said her break-up with Macaulay was ‘horrible’.

Giving rare insight into their romance, Mila said: ‘I f**ked up. I was an a** in my 20s and I’ll be the first to admit it. And that’s something that took me a long time to come out and be like, ‘Yeah, you know what, I was a d**k,’ and accept it and I own it now.’

She didn’t say exactly what she did to her former beau, but revealed: ‘And it’s f**ked up what I did and it’s f**ked up how I did it. When I got to be single I said, ‘I just need to figure myself out’. I genuinely need to know why I did what I did, and, like regroup myself as a human being.’

Following their break-up, Macaulay hit back at reports that he was addicted to drugs. Speaking to The Guardian in 2016, he said: ‘No, I was not pounding six grand of heroin every month or whatever.’

The 44-year-old now appears happier than ever – having been in a relationship with Brenda Song – who shot to fame on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody – for the past seven years. They share two children together.

The Home Alone star was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023 – with his on-screen mother Catherine O’Hara introducing him in an emotional speech.

Jake Lloyd – Jingle All The Way

He played Jamie the adorable son of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character Howard Langston in the 90s Christmas classic but Jake Lloyd is a far cry from his festive alter-ego these days.

In 2015 at the age of 26, the American actor was arrested after he lead police on a high speed car chase.

In April the following year his mother Lisa revealed that her son was suffering from schizophrenia and he was then transferred to a psychiatric facility.

Aside from the festive classic Jake also starred as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars the Phantom Menace with Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson.

The film made a total of $2billion from worldwide box office receipts and rentals. He was only 10 years old at the time.

Following his brush with fame, Lloyd quit acting altogether claiming that the role had made his childhood a ‘living hell.’

‘Other children were really mean to me,’ he said in a 2012 interview. ‘They would make the sound of the light saber every time they saw me. It was totally mad.’

Lloyd said at one point he was doing around 60 interviews a day. ‘My entire school life was really a living hell – and I had to do up to 60 interviews a day.’

Miffy Englefield – The Holiday

 She was the adorable child star of The Holiday playing one of Jude Law’s daughters, but you would struggle to recognize Miffy Englefield today.

Whilst the 25-year-old child star, from Hampshire, doesn’t appear to have had tragedy blight her life, she does looked remarkably different from her acting days.

Miffy, who played Sophie in the 2006 Christmas movie alongside her on-screen sister Olivia (Emma Pritchard) has transformed from her sweet seven-year-old self into a punk TikTok star.

The account is filled with pictures of Englefield sporting piercings, dark eyeliner and gothic outfits to support her new edgy image.

Englefield’s real name is actually Rebecca, but she got her nickname because of the messy hair she used to sport as a little girl.

In her Instagram bio, the Brit describes herself as ‘short, loud and mostly ridiculous.’ She also calls herself a ‘pint sized punk rocker that can probably eat spicier food than you.’

Englefield was just seven when The Holiday came out and she was seen playing the scene-stealing little girl who attempted to set her dad up with Cameron Diaz’s character Amanda.

After The Holiday, Englefield went on to star in 12 episodes of Casualty between 2008 and 2010 and appeared in a short film called Beautiful Enough but she hasn’t landed any notable roles since.

In 2022, she took to TikTok to show off her unrecognizable look as she answered questions about starring in The Holiday.

In the clip, which racked up millions of views, she explains how she’d love to return to acting, but worries about getting cast due to her punk look.

Commenting on what it was like starring in The Holiday, she told fans: ‘The cast were amazing. It sounds cliché but there’s not much to tell because they were all so lovely.

‘Obviously playing one of Jude Law’s daughters in the film, he’s the person we spent the most time with, he was so kind and patient and so helpful and taught us so much about acting.

‘All of the cast is so sweet. Jack Black is hilarious, he made me laugh on the first day of set. Kate Winslet is just as ethereal as she might seem in film and Cameron Diaz is pretty self-explanatory, she’s beautiful.’

Englefield, who gave birth to a baby girl named Frances in April 2020, revealed that she didn’t keep in touch with the cast, but Nancy Myers sent an email a few years ago to check in.

Answering questions about her life now, she went on: ‘I’m 1734352301 a mum, I have a daughter who will be two in April, I spend my time raising her in the best way I can.

‘I’d love to read for a part and go for an audition again. I don’t know if I’m any good at it anymore. I don’t really think many casting directors are looking for people with my look.

‘I have a lot of tattoos now, a shaved head and a few body mods so if there’s a casting director watching who wants someone like me to read for a part, hit me up, I’d love to.

‘I don’t know what the future holds but I’m excited about it, 2022 seems like a great year. I really want to make more content here though because I really enjoy it.’

According to Englefield’s Facebook page she now works in the hospitality industry at a local bar and she is in a relationship with an aspiring musician, Jordan Terry.