What Really Happened To The Stars Of The Goonies

The Goonies’ intrepid Mikey was, in fact, Sean Astin’s first big-screen role. Of course, he’s gone on to even bigger successes since then – a little trilogy called The Lord of the Rings, for example – but he still thinks fondly of his breakout film and is totally up for a sequel... that is, if he isn't too busy with his current acting projects.

After the massive success of The Lord of the Rings, the work has continued to roll in for Astin. He’s appeared in big TV shows like 24 and Monk, and has even diversified into voiceover roles; it’s him you have to thank for giving Raphael his voice in Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Of course, he most recently had a memorable turn as the beloved Bob Newby in Stranger Things.

Jeff Cohen played the memorable Chunk, the kid who made the “Truffle Shuffle” the scourge of all playgrounds back in the ’80s. And let’s just say that he underwent perhaps the biggest transformation out of all of the Goonies clan, both professionally and physically...

In the years since The Goonies, he’s lost some weight, lost some hair, and now looks like a totally different person. And even though Cohen’s since left acting behind and become an entertainment lawyer, he’s not totally averse to reminiscing about the role for which he’s best known. He will also, possibly, do the Truffle Shuffle for you if he’s very drunk and you ask nicely.

Michael Paul Chan only had a small role as Data’s inventor father, Mr. Wang, in The Goonies. Nevertheless, even during that short time on screen he still won audiences over with his geekiness and his love for his son. Maybe he’ll be back for the sequel, if it ever materializes? It all depends on where he finds himself these days...

Chan’s another Goonies star who has never lacked for work since filming wrapped, having popped up in the intervening decades to lend his voice and acting skills to the likes of The Simpsons and Arrested Development. His most enduring role to date, however, remains that of Lieutenant Michael Tao in The Closer and Major Crimes. He's also been in Bones and the reboot of MacGyver.

Jonathan Ke Quan’s Goonies role wasn’t the only prestigious part he had taken on by that time. Fans in the know, in fact, will no doubt remember the child star fondly from playing Short Round in 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Still, adventuring with Indy didn’t see him use as cool a set of gadgets as Data did — or as many skills as he later used in his 2022 comeback role...

While filming Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Quan picked up some handy martial arts techniques. He put these techniques to good use in his behind-the-scenes fight choreography work of recent years. And in 2022, he and his martial arts skills made a huge comeback in the acclaimed film Everything Everywhere All at Once. Here's another fun fact: Quan's lawyer? His former Goonies co-star Jeff Cohen!

Josh Brolin grew up in an acting family, so it was perhaps inevitable that he’d make it to Hollywood someday. Still, Brolin didn’t actually start performing until high school – and, in fact, The Goonies provided his first-ever screen role. It certainly wasn’t his last, of course!

Certainly, Brolin has ended up possibly having the most successful career out of all The Goonies’ stars. His illustrious resume includes roles in No Country for Old Men, Inherent Vice, and Milk – the last of which he received an Oscar nomination for. And do we even have to mention his unforgettable turn as the villainous Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

As cheerleader Andy Carmichael, Kerri Green was one of the two female Goonies members. The movie was also her first showing on screen and could very well have been the start of a long and memorable film career; after a few years in the business, though, Green made a different decision about her future.

By the ’90s, in fact, Green had left Hollywood for academia, going to Vassar for art studies. She still acts from time to time, though – most recently in the rather under-the-radar indie movie Complacent, which was released in 2012. She eventually founded a film production company called Independent Women Artists.

Martha Plimpton was a pre-teen model before turning to acting, but it was her role as Stef in The Goonies that really made her name. Before long, she was appearing in bigger and bigger films, and even dated River Phoenix for a while. She made her mark in films like Running On Empty and Parenthood.

And just like Josh Brolin, Plimpton’s career has gone from strength to strength ever since, earning multiple Emmy nominations (winning one!) and no fewer than three Tony Awards nods. After a well-received turn in the show The Real O'Neals, she worked on many other projects in TV, film, and theater, both in the U.S. and in London.

Bond villain turned Goonies nemesis Robert Davi was already a creditable opera singer by the time he played Jake Fratelli. Not that you’d believe it, from Jake’s own terrible attempts at singing in the film — Davi’s idea of a joke, in fact. He actually proved himself to be quite talented in the '80s and '90s in films like Die Hard, License to Kill, and Predator 2.

Davi has continued to prove his chops as a singer since then, having released an album in 2011 that saw his takes on Frank Sinatra standards. The album was praised by critics, and even earned him a headlining spot at The Venetian in Las Vegas. He’s still acting, too, and has even formulated his character arc for any potential Goonies sequel – he wants Jake to have become a singer. Well, at least that won’t now be a stretch to play!

Joe Pantoliano has shown up many times on both the big and small screens since The Goonies, but maintained in 2014 that the ’80s movie’s set is still his favorite out of all those he’s stepped onto. And the man otherwise known as “Joey Pants” has since shown his face in a whole array of notable movies — everything from The Matrix to Bad Boys to Midnight Run.

"Joey Pants" also memorably starred as The Sopranos’ unhinged Ralph Cifaretto from 2000 to 2004 – a role for which he picked up a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2003. The actor has appeared in the MacGyver reboot (coincidentally the same show his former Goonies co-star Michael Paul Chan was in) and 2022's Chucky. He's also an advocate for mental health awareness.

Corey Feldman was apparently pushed into acting by his parents. Well, we assume they had something to do with it, as he started working in the industry at the tender age of three. And even though he definitely made his mark in these films — he's a defining child actor of the '80s — his more recent years have only highlighted the downside of child acting.

In Gremlins, Stand by Me, The Goonies, and The Lost Boys, Feldman stood out as a talented rising star. But Feldman tells a much different story these days. Since his time as a child actor, Feldman has opened up about how he had been exploited and even abused by different people in Hollywood.

Steve Antin played mean rich-kid jock Troy Perkins to perfection in The Goonies – not that he even saw how well he had done at the time. In fact, as Antin told TMZ in 2011, to that date he’d still never seen the movie all the way through. Whatever you say, Steve!

After a slew of movie and TV roles, including a turn in the hard-hitting Jodie Foster drama The Accused, Antin has since turned to the other side of the camera. He directed 2010’s Burlesque, starring Cher – and, frankly, we don’t blame him if he didn’t end up watching all of that film, either! Since then, Antin has gone under the radar, but he still posts from time to time on Instagram. But what if a child actor was known for being in the most cheerful kind of movie — a Christmas movie?

While the film A Christmas Story has become a global hit, many people don't know what happened to all the actors since it was released. That's why we've done the work for you and figured out exactly what they've been up to all these years. Some of the more familiar faces at the time — especially Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin as Ralphie's parents — continued to have interesting careers, while the child actors, much like Corey Feldman, went in vastly different directions.

As Ralphie's younger brother, Randy is easily one of the most memorable characters from this film. He practically became the poster boy for mothers everywhere who felt compelled to overdress their children for the winter. With his high-pitched whine and snorting laugh, it was hard not to love Randy, even when he was embodying the typical "annoying little brother" role.

Since the film, Ian Petrella moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where the interior and exterior scenes of the house were filmed. He did some more child acting after A Christmas Story, in TV shows like Who's The Boss? and Beverly Hills, 90210. He became a student of the comedy group the Groundlings and even studied puppeteering! He left acting behind in the 2000s. The home from A Christmas Story was later turned into a tourist attraction, and in 2011, Petrella acted as a guest tour guide.

No one will ever be able to forget the raccoon hat-wearing bully who, quite literally, made Ralphie's walk to school a living hell every single day. His evil grin even managed to send shivers down our spines! But what's the actor who played him been up to since?

Since starring in the infamous role, Zack Ward has gone on to make guest appearances on television shows like American Horror Story. In fact, he's stayed in the horror genre and added films like Resident Evil: Apocalypse and The Devil's Tomb to his filmography. He also recently revealed in an interview that he still receives royalty checks from A Christmas Story, totaling roughly $1,800 every two years. Not bad!

Many people don't know that prior to starring in A Christmas Story as Ralphie and Randy's sweet but kooky mother, Melinda Dillon was already an accomplished actress. She'd won a Tony award for her performance in the original production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and was even nominated for two Oscars for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice. So by the time A Christmas Story came around, she was an old pro!

That helps explain why she's had a rather successful, albeit quiet, career ever since. Just a few short years later she starred in Harry and the Hendersons, Magnolia, and she's even gone on to make an appearance on Law and Order: SVU. She retired from acting in the early 2000s, and her performance in A Christmas Story is remembered as one of the best of her career.

How could anyone forget Ralphie's stern father who not only introduced the world to the unforgettable leg lamp, but who also simultaneously taught us that "fragile" is an Italian word pronounced "fra-gee-lay?" He's the guy who taught us a few choice expletives, not to mention the importance of a well-functioning furnace. To many, McGavin was the prototypical, endearingly-grumpy dad...

After A Christmas Story, Darren McGavin starred in films like Dead Heat and Billy Madison. He also had memorable turns in the show Murphy Brown, for which he was nominated for an Emmy, and the beloved baseball film The Natural. Sadly, he passed away in 2006 from cardiovascular disease at the age of 83.

If there's one thing everyone who has ever seen A Christmas Story remembers about the film, it's when Flick is triple-dog-dared by his classmate to place his tongue on a pole in the freezing cold. In the process, it becomes stuck. (Don't pretend this didn't become a major childhood fear of yours after seeing this scene.)

Luckily for Scott Schwartz, his character eventually managed to free his tongue from the pole. Years later, he landed himself a number of roles in adult films before appearing in a TV movie called Vape Warz as a Disco City hot dog vendor. His career certainly took an unconventional turn!

Grover undeniably made Ralphie's life at school quite miserable as the newsie hat and leather jacket-wearing sidekick and lackey to school bully Scut Farkus. He was little, he was mean, but deep down, his character was just as scared of Scut as anyone else. Did Yano Anaya, who played Grover, ever graduate from sidekick to protagonist?

Well, he may not have pursued acting much as an adult, but that doesn't mean Anaya didn't achieve his dreams! Anaya's not so little anymore, if his work as a personal trainer and "body transformation expert" is any indication. He also makes appearances at A Christmas Story conventions around the globe to meet and greet fans of the film.

For as familiar a character as Ralphie is in A Christmas Story, you might be surprised to realize that he only has a few lines in the entire film. That's because the majority of his lines were recorded via narration! The young actor had to convey most of his emotions through his facial expressions, and it's safe to say he succeeded. We'll never forget the look on his face when Santa chastises him by saying, "You'll shoot your eye out!"

Since appearing in this Christmas classic, Billingsley has gone on to star in several other holiday films. Among these are roles in Elf and Four Christmases. He's also produced a number of movies, including the Marvel blockbuster Iron Man. With these projects under his belt, is it any surprise that he often collaborates with old friends Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau?

As a sweet yet stern teacher, Miss Shields' main goal was to teach Ralphie's class about theme writing. This, of course, led to Ralphie's hilarious daydreaming sequence where she proudly gives his paper the grade of "A+++++++++" — you get the idea. And in real life, Tedde Moore, who played Miss Shields, seemed to love her experience in the film so much that she gladly did it all over again...

Tedde Moore was the only member of the cast to also appear 1994's My Summer Story, a little-remembered sequel to A Christmas Story. She also appeared in quite a few TV movies, including Christmas films Mistletoe Over Manhattan and Magical Christmas Ornaments.

R.D. Robb played one of Ralphie's friends in the film. As the character who triple-dog-dared Flick to stick his tongue to the freezing cold pole, Schwartz was cemented in the unofficial hall of fame for horrific acts of peer pressure by children in film.

Since daring his way into those ranks, R.D. Robb appeared in several other flicks, including The Brady Bunch Movie and Matilda. He also starred in a number of television roles like Touched By An Angel, ER, and The Goldbergs. He didn't act much by the early 2000s, but he did write and direct a film called Don's Plum in 2001, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. That's a big accomplishment!