6. Per tradition, two new actors were brought in to play Clark and Ellen’s exasperated children. Juliette Lewis took over the role of Audrey, telling Rolling Stone, “The fact that the Griswolds have a new set of kids each time became the thing. Your agents couldn’t explain why it was acceptable; it just is. Of course, I grew up with the Vacation movie with the legendary Anthony Michael Hall. This was this huge exciting opportunity and even at 15, I knew it was a big deal.”
7. Just before production began, Lewis discovered her then-boyfriend was cheating on her. “That first trip to Colorado, I took my boyfriend and caught him in our hotel room talking to another girl on the phone,” she revealed to Rolling Stone. “I didn’t even tell him that I heard him, I just asked who he was talking to. He lied and I said, ‘Oh, by the way. You’re leaving tomorrow morning.’ I booked his flight and then he left, and then I went to go film.”
8. Future Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki became the franchise’s new Rusty after putting himself on tape and sending it in.
“They flew me out to Los Angeles; it was one of the first times I was ever here,” he recalled. “I read with Chevy and Jeremiah—and that alone would have been enough for me. I could have been given my walking papers and sent home on the next flight and it still would have been a dream come true. Chevy told me right there in the room that I had gotten the role.”
