If you’re a fan of the National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise, you may have found yourself wondering about the age of Rusty, the eldest child of the Griswold family. Rusty appears in multiple films in the series, including National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), European Vacation (1985), Christmas Vacation (1989), and Vegas Vacation (1997).
So just how old is Rusty throughout these movies? Let’s take a closer look.
Rusty in National Lampoon’s Vacation
In the first film of the series, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Rusty is played by actor Anthony Michael Hall. The movie was released in 1983, which means that Hall was likely around 14 or 15 years old at the time of filming. This puts Rusty’s age at somewhere between 12 and 14 years old.
Rusty in European Vacation
In the second film, European Vacation, Rusty is played by Jason Lively. The movie was released in 1985, just two years after National Lampoon’s Vacation.
It’s unclear exactly how much time has passed within the context of the films themselves, but it can be assumed that Rusty is meant to be around two years older than he was in the previous movie. This would put his age at around 14 to 16 years old.
Rusty in Christmas Vacation
For Christmas Vacation, which came out in 1989, Rusty was portrayed by Johnny Galecki. At this point, Rusty would have been older again – likely around 16 to 18 years old.
Rusty in Vegas Vacation
Finally, we have Vegas Vacation from 1997. In this movie, Ethan Embry takes on the role of Rusty.
By this point, several years have passed since we last saw Rusty in Christmas Vacation, so he would be even older. Based on Embry’s age at the time of filming, Rusty would have been somewhere around 21 to 23 years old.
Conclusion
So there you have it – Rusty’s age throughout the National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise! It’s important to note that these are just estimates based on the ages of the actors who played Rusty and the release dates of the films.
Additionally, because some time passes between each movie, Rusty may actually be slightly older or younger than these estimates suggest. Nonetheless, it’s clear that Rusty goes through quite a bit of growing up over the course of the series!