Break out the “booty traps“! There is new hope that the long-rumored sequel to ‘The Goonies‘ might actually come to fruition!
According to an interview with Sean Astin, aka Mikey, a sequel to the 1985 adventure classic is an “absolute certainty.” We’re so ecstatic, we hunted down the original Goonies to find out what they’re up to today.
Then: The son of actors Patty Duke and John Astin, Sean Astin made his film debut as Mikey, the asthmatic heart and soul of the Goonies and their leader on the hunt for infamous pirate One-Eyed Willie’s treasure.
Now: After roles in the sports classic ‘Rudy’ and the gazillion-dollar-earning ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, he’s very much in demand. Recent gigs include a hilarious guest stint on a ‘Rudy’-themed episode of ‘My Name Is Earl,’ the underdog sports movie ‘The Final Season’ and father to three kids with wife Christine.
Then: The son of screen legend James Brolin, Josh Brolin made his acting debut in ‘The Goonies.’ As Brand Walsh, he reluctantly abandons working out to Cyndi Lauper music videos in order to join younger bro Mikey’s treasure hunt — and romance cheerleader Andy (Kerri Green) in the process.
Now: In addition to calling the gorgeous Diane Lane his wife, Brolin is enjoying a banner year as an actor. He plays assorted jerks in ‘Planet Terror,’ ‘In the Valley of Elah’ and Ridley Scott’s ‘American Gangster,’ and he’s getting Oscar buzz for his antiheroic turn in the Coen brothers’ ‘No Country for Old Men.’
Then: Kerri Green made her movie debut as Andy, a foxy cheerleader whose piano skills prove helpful to the gang and whose tonsil-hockey skills prove enjoyable to Brand. Ensuing roles as John Candy’s daughter in ‘Summer Rental’ and Corey Haim’s crush in ‘Lucas’ cemented her ’80s teen idol status.
Now: After taking a break to study art at Vassar, she returned to acting in the early ’90s. In 1999, she wrote and directed the critically lauded but little-seen drama ‘Bellyfruit,’ and in 2001 made her last credited acting appearance on ‘Law and Order: SVU.’ She currently resides in L.A. with her husband and kids.
Then: Jeff Cohen did the rounds of ’80s TV sitcoms (’Webster,’ ‘Facts of Life’) before being tapped to play Lawrence “Chunk” Cohen, the pudgy, ice cream-loving, tall tale-telling Goonie who redeems himself by pledging devotion to the sweet deformity known as Sloth. (”I’m gonna take care of ya … because I love ya.”)
Now: ‘Goonies’ was Cohen’s only film role, but he never really left Chunk behind. As an undergrad at UC Berkeley, he ran for office (and won) on a “Chunk for President” platform and amused students by doing the Truffle Shuffle at football games. He’s now a slimmed-down entertainment lawyer at Cohen & Gardner in L.A.
Then: By the time he played obnoxious Clark “Mouth” Devereaux (aka the Goonie you’d most like to smack upside the head), Corey Feldman was a show-biz pro, having co-starred in two ‘Friday the 13th’ movies, ‘Gremlins,’ ‘Fox and the Hound’ (he voiced Copper, the hound) and as a series regular on ‘Bad News Bears.’
Now: Oh, to be a Corey in the ’80s, when parts were plentiful … as were the drugs. Now sober, Feldman was married (by M.C. Hammer) on ‘The Surreal Life’ in 2003, reteamed with hetero life partner Corey Haim for the A&E series ‘The Two Coreys’ and has just filmed the straight-to-DVD ‘Lost Boys 2: The Tribe.’
Then: In Martha Plimpton’s third big-screen role, she plays Andy’s plucky tomboyish friend — and Mouth’s crush — Stef Steinbrenner. Though she became a critical darling for her late-’80s work in ‘Mosquito Coast,’ ‘Running on Empty’ and ‘Parenthood,’ she was even more famous for her romance with River Phoenix.
Now: The daughter of actor Keith Carradine, Plimpton mostly does TV work these days — but the stage is where she really thrives. Last year, she was a Critics Desk Award winner and Tony nominee for her role in Tom Stoppard’s ‘The Coast of Utopia.’
Then: After Johnathan Ke Quan made his screen debut as Short Round, the most effective 11-year-old sidekick in motion picture history, in ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,’ the Vietnamese immigrant excited us again with his gadgetry (the “booty traps,” especially) as Data in ‘Goonies.’
Now: Much to our dismay, Quan has found more work behind the camera lately, serving as a martial arts coordinator on ‘X-Men’ and ‘The One’ (think about how many action movies would be better if Short Round were involved). We blame ‘Encino Man,’ his only major role since, and pray he turns up in ‘Indy 4.’
Then: Sure, he wasn’t pretty to look at, but Lotney “Sloth” Fratelli was a tragic hero with a heart of gold. Before acting, Matuszak (a.k.a. “Tooz”) was an accomplished athlete, to say the least: He was the number one pick in the 1973 NFL draft, and won two Super Bowls with the Oakland Raiders.
Then: She was Mama Fratelli, terrifying matriarch of the Fratelli clan of criminals.
Now: Longtime character actress Ramsey earned an Oscar nomination for her second most famous role, as Danny DeVito’s domineering mother in 1987’s ‘Throw Momma From the Train.’ She died of throat cancer in 1988.