Ever notice how the young thespians portraying Audrey and Rusty Griswold in the Vacation movies kept getting yoinked and replaced?
It wasn’t because they were terrible actors (not necessarily, anyway). The problem was the movies’ infrequent release schedule, meaning the actors always aged out of the parts before they had a chance to film another one. Here’s the definitive ranking of the five pairs of Audreys and Rustys rolling around the comedy multiverse…
Vegas Vacation
Ethan Embry and Marisol Nichols are older, more jaded versions of Rusty and Audrey, which makes sense, given the film’s location. With the help of a fake ID, Rusty somehow wins five cars playing slot machines. And Audrey gets sexualized for the first time in the series, landing a job as a go-go dancer after visiting a strip club with her pole-dancing cousin. Yuck.
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National Lampoon’s European Vacation
Dana Hill (not to be confused with original actress Dana Barrows) is Audrey; Jason Lively is Rusty. Not a huge improvement over Vegas Vacation, but at least braces-wearing Rusty and Audrey still get to be adolescents enduring a terrible family trip. Lively, in particular, is convincing as a lusty teenager who’s not nearly as cool as he wants to be.
And Audrey gets a solo dream sequence that’s part Monty Python, part Willy Wonka. Pretty fun!
Vacation
Ed Helms stars as a grown-up Rusty trying to recreate a family vacation to Wally World. I prefer the Griswold kids to be, well, kids, but let’s face it, Helms is a funnier actor than most of the other Rustys on this list.
The underrated Leslie Mann doesn’t get much play as adult Audrey since this version of Vacation focuses on Rusty’s family. But at least the movie gets bonus points for minimizing Chase’s screen time. (He and D’Angelo show up briefly as the proprietors of a bed-and-breakfast.)
National Lampoon’s Vacation
Should Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barrows score the top spot? I’m downgrading the duo slightly, mainly because Hall was even funnier in Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club and Weird Science, making this the least interesting of his John Hughes roles. Still, the kid holds his own with Chevy Chase.
Barrows gets less to do as Audrey. Her main job is boggling at the depravity of her cousin Vicky, played by an impossibly young Jane Krakowski.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki’s future careers prove they more than had the chops to take a turn at Rusty and Audrey in the franchise’s most durable installment. Galecki has the right amount of tolerant disdain for his father’s holiday light project.
Once again, Audrey gets shortchanged when it comes to funny scenes, but no one is better than Lewis at communicating teen disgust. And Christmas Vacation has become incredibly meaningful to her, Lewis told Kelly Clarkson. “People are like, You’re a part of my family,” she said through tears. “People who’ve lost their parents, what it meant to them. It’s a tradition.”