Ian Petrella was cast immediately before filming began. Tedde Moore had previously appeared in Clark's film "Murder by Decree" and was the only onscreen character from "A Christmas Story" who was played by the same actor in the sequel, "My Summer Story". Jeff Gillen was an old friend of Clark's who had been in one of his earliest films. The schoolyard bully, Scut Farkus, was played by Zack Ward, now an actor, writer and director, who had actually been bullied himself while in elementary school. In 2017, he said he was surprised at the impact his role had had over the years. "I saw that I was ranked – as Christmas villains go – higher than the Grinch. That's amazing."