'The Goonies': Where Are They Now? A Look Back Over 40 Years

TV & Film

Nov 4

As those of you who have read my articles know, I enjoy introducing my kids to the things I liked when I was young, and we go on our fandom adventures together. Enjoying movies from when I was a kid falls into this category.

It occurred to me a while ago that my boys would probably enjoy The Goonies, and they were game to watch it. While we watched, I took a look at the credits, and I was amazed that forty years have passed since I saw this in the theater, and so many people listed in the creation of this movie are still active today! I am going to take a look at what the actors have been up to in the past four decades and what some of the people behind-the-scenes are busy doing.

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Sean Astin

The son of Patty Duke and stepson of John Astin, The Goonies was Sean’s theatrical debut. He played the lead role of Mikey Walsh to high accolades. Sean went on to be in The War of the Roses (1989), Memphis Belle (1990), Toy Soldiers (1991) and Encino Man (1992). Sean also played the titular character in Rudy in 1993, which is considered by many to be one of the best football movies of all time. But, it was in 2001 when Sean played Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring that he made his adult breakthrough role.

He continued in this role in The Two Towers and The Return of the King in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Sean went on to write a book about his experience in the Lord of the Rings franchise, There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale, which went on to be a New York Times bestseller. My boys and I caught a glimpse of him at the Motor City Comic Con last year, but he has since been elected to be the SAG-AFTRA president, so I don’t know if he will have the time now to make comic con appearances. Sean has been married to Christine since 1992 and they have three daughters.

Josh Brolin

Son of the actor James Brolin, Josh Brolin also had his big-screen debut in The Goonies as big brother “Brand” Walsh. He then went on to be in some critically mediocre films in the 1990s. Brolin hit his adult stride in the 2000s, starring in the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men (2007). He went on to garner an Oscar nomination for his role in 2008’s Milk, and continued his resurgence with roles in Oliver Stone’s W. in the same year.

Josh has widened his repertoire by appearing in the MCU in The Avengers’: Endgame and Infinity War, and he is also in the new Dune franchise. Josh has been married three times; his current spouse is Kathryn, and he has four children, two with Kathryn and two from a previous marriage.

Jeff Cohen

Jeff started out his acting career in TV shows such as The Facts of Life, The Wonderful World of Disney, Amazing Stories, Family Ties, Kids Incorporated, Webster, and Tales from the Darkside. The Goonies was Jeff’s breakthrough role as “Chunk”, and he kept in contact with director Richard Donner when Jeff decided to change career paths and went to UCLA to become a lawyer.

He co-founded the law firm Cohen and Gardner, specializing in entertainment law. He actually negotiated his Goonies co-star Ke Huy Quan’s contract for his role in Everything Everywhere All At Once in 2022.

Corey Feldman

By the time The Goonies was released, Corey Feldman had already been in commercials, two Friday the 13th movies and Gremlins. After his role as “Mouth” in The Goonies, Corey starred in the acclaimed film Stand by Me in 1986. 1987 saw Corey’s first team-up with Corey Haim in the cult classic The Lost Boys, and he went on to reprise his role in that franchise in 2008’s The Lost Boys: The Tribe and 2010’s The Lost Boys: The Thirst as Edgar Frog. He and Corey Haim developed a friendship that lasted until Haim’s death in 2010.

The two starred in 1988’s License to Drive and 1989’s Dream a Little Dream. The 80s and 90s were the heyday of the teen magazines (I remember having a subscription to Seventeen myself), and Corey Feldman was one of the most photographed teenage actors of the era. His adult career became much more controversial, as he alleged that his parents cheated him out of his childhood earnings, leveled charges of sexual abuse against well-known actors, and, in turn, has been accused of sexual misconduct himself, and was friends with Michael Jackson. Corey also began a music career that has been described as “bizarre”. He has recently been on The Masked Singer and Dancing with the Stars. Corey has been an outspoken advocate for animal rights through PETA and has been married three times, most recently divorced from his wife Courtney in 2023. He has one child.

Ke Huy Quan

Ke Huy had already made his film debut in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, which also brought him to the attention of Steven Spielberg before starring in The Goonies as “Data”. He appeared alongside Sean Astin in Encino Man, but, after a role in Head of the Class, Ke Huy took a break from acting due to lack of roles coming his way. He continued to be behind the scenes as a stunt choreographer, and Ke Huy earned his film-making degree from USC, until he saw the success of Crazy Rich Asians and realized that he could make a comeback to acting.

Ke Huy did so in the aforementioned Everything Everywhere All At Once, for which he became the first Vietnamese-born actor to win an Oscar. In his acceptance speech, Ke Huy thanked Jeff Cohen, who had negotiated his contract for the movie, calling Jeff his “Goonies brother for life”. Since then, Ke Huy has been in Disney +’s American Born Chinese, Loki, and voice acting for Kung Fu Panda 4 and Zootopia 2. He is married to Echo Quan.

John Matuszak

Unfortunately, the actor who played favorite “Sloth” does not have a happy story to share, but as so many fans loved the character, I feel it important to share his story. John Matuszak had already appeared in 1979’s North Dallas Forty for his acting debut, but his first job was a professional NFL player, playing defensive end in the 1970s to 1982 for the Oilers, Texans, Chiefs, Redskins, and Raiders, winning two Super Bowls with that team. When he turned to acting, John played to type as either football players or “gentle giants”, as he was 6’8” and 272 pounds. It took five hours a day for his “Sloth” makeup to be put on everyday for The Goonies!

He went on to be in a few more movies, and quite a few TV show appearances: John showed up in such shows as MASH, Trapper John M.D., The Dukes of Hazzard, Silver Spoons, The Fall Guy, and Perfect Strangers. His last film role was 1990’s Down the Drain, which was released posthumously - John passed away at age 38 on June 17, 1989 due to heart failure brought on by drug abuse.

Chris Columbus

How can you have a good movie unless you have a good script and plot to work with? Chris Columbus had just started his script writing career earlier that decade with Reckless and Gremlins. Gremlins caught the attention of Steven Spielberg, and when that became a critical success in 1984, Chris joined Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and wrote the scripts for The Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes. From there, Columbus moved on to directing with Adventures in Babysitting (1987), and then finding real success when he directed Home Alone (1990) and its sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Columbus also went on to direct the first two Harry Potter movies in that franchise, and Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire. He had already started his own production company, 1492 (ha-ha) in 1995. He produced the Night at the Museum franchise along with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and its sequel, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters. Columbus has also started the animation company ZAG Entertainment (producer of one of my favourite animated series, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir). Columbus, like the famous explorer of the same name, has truly spread himself throughout the film-making world in the past forty years.

Also, named as Executive Producers are Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy. I would have to write separate articles to do their careers justice as they have both been very active and productive in the past forty years!

Even though forty years have passed, The Goonies is still considered a classic must-watch. Just this month, it has been added to Netflix’s rotation, and there are LEGO minifigures and a whole Ideas set with different scenes from the movie within One-Eyed Willie’s pirate ship. And, there is even talk of a sequel in the works at Warner Bros.! If you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, definitely put The Goonies on your watch list!

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