Surviving It’s a Wonderful Life star joins Jimmy Stewart movie biopic cast | Films | Entertainment

The first trailer for Jimmy, the new James Stewart movie biopic, launched today and can be viewed above.

And with it, the news that a surviving It’s a Wonderful Life star will cameo in the 2026 film.

Karolyn Grimes was just six years old when the Christmas classic hit cinemas in 1946.

The 85-year-old played the younger daughter of Stewart’s George, Zuzu Bailey.

The child actress delivers the movie’s famous final line: “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.”

Grimes said: “It has been an incredible experience to be part of Jimmy. Jimmy carries forward the values and emotional warmth that audiences have cherished for decades. It’s truly an honour to return the screen and take part in a film that pays tribute to one of the most enduring stories in cinematic history. I feel deeply grateful to have been invited to step back into a world that has meant so much to my life and the lives of so many others.”

Meanwhile, Stewart’s real-life daughter Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, who is executive producer, added: “I am thrilled and grateful that Burns & Co is making the film, Jimmy, about my father, Jimmy Stewart. It highlights the part of Dad’s life of which he was most proud: his military service. I have long thought that it would be hard to find an actor who could bring my father to life without doing an extended Jimmy Stewart impersonation. But that actor has been found and his name is KJ Apa. I was privileged enough to visit the set in Ireland this last September, and there, I felt a magic. I know this will be conveyed in the film, and I can’t wait to see it.”

Jimmy hits cinemas on November 6, 2026.