“A Christmas Story”'s Peter Billingsley Talks 35 Years of Friendship with Vince Vaughn: 'No One Better' (Exclusive)
Vaughn recently made an appearance on Billingsley's 'A Cinematic Christmas Journey' podcast
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Peter Billingsley and Vince Vaughn on Jan. 5, 2017, in Pasadena, CaliforniaPeter Billingsley and Vince Vaughn are a dynamic holiday duo.
The friends launched the A Cinematic Christmas Journey podcast last year, which recently wrapped its second season, with an episode dedicated to all things Die Hard.
In a chat with PEOPLE surrounding the podcast, the Christmas Story actor, who hosts the podcast alongside Steve Byrne, reflects on meeting Vaughn when they were both 18.
While Billingsley, now 52, "was trying to cross over to behind the scenes" by that point, Vaughn, now 53, "was really just starting" in the industry.
"To be able to form a friendship first, it's very rare," Billingsley says. "And then be able to eventually work together as both of us started growing and working, to have that trust."
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Peter Billingsley and Vince Vaughn in New York City on May 20, 2017The actor says it's "been such a blessing" and "truly fun" to experience both personal and professional life moments with Vaughn, whom he first met doing a 1990 episode of CBS School Break Special. They'd later go on to found Wild West Picture Show Productions together, which is behind hit movies like The Break-Up (2006), starring Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston, and Four Christmases (2008), which Billingsley appeared in alongside Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon.
"There's just no one funnier in the room. There's no one better," Billingsley says of his friend. "There's no one with a greater sense of story than him. He's the best."
"And everyone's always asking me, 'Is he really like he seems in his movies?' Just this super likable, cool guy, and I'm like, 'He's even better,' " adds the Elf actor. "It's been really, really lovely being able to have the chance to have him."
Billingsley, who reprised his role of Ralphie Parker in last year's sequel A Christmas Story Christmas, tells PEOPLE Vaughn was the one who came up with the idea for A Cinematic Christmas Journey.
"He was talking to me about doing a podcast and said, 'You'd be great at doing Christmas films.' And I thought, 'You're right,' " he says of Vaughn.
Related: Why Peter Billingsley Waited Nearly 40 Years to Make 'A Christmas Story Christmas'
"And I think I've now done five Christmas movies. So it's certainly a genre that I like personally — something that I know well," adds the Christmas with the Campbells co-producer.
The podcast has taken a "deep dive" into films like Home Alone, It's a Wonderful Life, Die Hard, Miracle on 34th Street — and, of course, 1983's A Christmas Story and its 2022 sequel.
"We really give a chance to look at a lot of the scenes from the movies, break them down. And I, as an actor and a filmmaker, am also able to give a little bit of insight in terms of what the filmmakers are trying to do," Billingsley says.
"And I think, just as fans, we all love to revisit them, and it's just been really fun for me to take a deep dive into them and get underneath them a little more," he adds.
The first two seasons of the A Cinematic Christmas Journey podcast are now streaming on Spotify.
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