A Christmas Story Star Says The Movie Almost Got Him Beat Up
A Christmas Story's Zack Ward revealed people wanted to fight him after he appeared as Scut Farkus in the original movie.
Sometimes actors can be so good at their jobs that we think they are actually the people they play in movies. That was certainly the case for A Christmas Story and Zack Ward, who portrayed the neighborhood bully in the movie, Scud Farkus. According to an interview with Insider, Ward stated, “If they were drunk, if I was in a bar or out at night and someone was a little in their cups, they would literally start to get in my face and start a problem, which was very discombobulating.”
Apparently, just because A Christmas Story had painted Zack Ward as a bully in the movie, people thought he was that terrible in real life. Ward also stated that he would try and quell the situation by explaining that he was only an actor, and he was just doing his job. Thankfully, people, these days are a bit more forgiving when they recognize who he is.
Ward added with a laugh, “People just saw me and got a big smile on their face, and they’d usually say, ‘You got your a** beat.’ I’m like, ‘Yes, I did, I’m glad that brought you joy.” Though A Christmas Story made Zack Ward the bully, he was still able to bring plenty of people joy as the bully who got his comeuppance.
In the scene in question in A Christmas Story, Zak Ward’s Scut Farkus picks on Ralphie by throwing a snowball at his face as he walks by. However, after Ralphie has had enough of his terrible luck during the holidays, he springs into action and beats up Farkus. The neighborhood kids run to watch, and are overjoyed at first, only to realize that Ralphie is letting out his pent-up anger on Farkus.
A Christmas Story follows Ralphie, his friends, and foes (Zack Ward’s Scut Farkus) in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana. Ralphie only wants one thing for Christmas, a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. When his requests are denied by Santa, his mom, and his teacher, he is finally gifted the air rifle by his father, “The Old Man.”
The rest of A Christmas Story is cut up into vignettes that show what happens to Ralphie through the course of the holiday, including having to deal with Zack Ward’s Scut Farkus. The silly happenings in the movie made it an instant holiday classic. Though it took nearly 40 years to make, the sequel is now streaming for everyone to still enjoy.
A Christmas Story Christmas did bring back Zak Ward as Scut Farkus, along with many of the original actors. The long-awaited Christmas sequel is currently streaming on HBO Max. Though Ralphie is now an older man, he remembers how amazing “The Old Man” was to him, and he wants to replicate the same type of special feeling that his father made him feel during the holidays.
A Christmas Story Christmas follows Ralphie, Schwartz, Flick, and Zack Ward’s Scut, who are now all adults. Ralphie is married with two kids and receives the call that “The Old Man” has passed away, and he must return home to be with his mother. Ralphie’s mother tasks him with writing his father’s obituary and taking up the mantle of making Christmas special for his own children.
