Peter Gallagher Remembers Calling Chrismukkah 'Brilliant' the First Time He Heard It: ‘I Think That’s Gonna Stick’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Peter Gallagher.Photo:Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty

Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty

Peter Gallagherremembers the first time he heard the word “Chrismukkah,” long before it became an annual pop culture phenomenon.

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, PEOPLE spoke withThe O.C.alum, 69, at the opening night of Broadway’sLeft on Tenth— a play he stars in alongsideJulianna Margulies.

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Peter Gallagher, October 2024.Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty

“I just remember hearingChrismukkahfor the first time and thinking, ‘That’s brilliant. I think that’s gonna stick,’ and it did,” Gallagher, who starred as dad Sandy Cohen on the series, tells PEOPLE.

Rachel Bilson, known for her breakout role as Summer Roberts on the show, also recently spoke to PEOPLE about the holiday episode, adding that she plans to incorporate Chrismukkah into her real life as a mother.

THE O.C., Melinda Clarke, Mischa Barton, Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Adam Brody, “The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-vahkkah”.WB/Everett

WB/Everett

“I like teaching my daughter some of the Jewish traditions and things like that, but Chrismukkah itself is like its own holiday we haven’t really done,“Bilson, 43, told PEOPLEof her daughter Briar Rose, 9, whom she shares with exHayden Christensen. “But it sounds like this year might be the first.”

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“I wouldn’t go as far as being a proud dad,” he tells PEOPLE while discussing the recent success of Brody’s Netflix series,Nobody Wants This.

“And I’m glad he’s still doing his thing.”

source: people.com