It's been more than thirty years since "The Sandlot" hit theaters — so what have Smalls and the rest of the cast been up to? From putting out fires to making pizzas, these former child stars have grown up and look a lot different.
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00:00It's been more than 30 years since the Sandlot hit theaters, so what have Smalls and the
00:04rest of the cast been up to?
00:06From putting out fires to making pizzas, these former child stars have grown up and look
00:10a lot different.
00:12Tom Guyrie was 12 when he played Scotty Smalls in The Sandlot.
00:15You're killing me, Smalls!
00:17After the 1993 cult classic, Guyrie went on to star in a number of high-profile movies,
00:22including Black Hawk Down, Mystic River, and The Revenant.
00:25Guyrie also worked in television, most notably playing Jimmy Donnelly in The Black Donnellys.
00:30He appeared in several police procedural series and some TV movies, though his last credited
00:35work came via 2022's Killin' Smalls.
00:38Unfortunately, it seems Guyrie has run into legal trouble in the midst of a gradually
00:42slowing acting career.
00:43In June 2024, Guyrie threw a 35-pound weight onto his neighbor's car, then went to the
00:48man's front door brandishing a kitchen knife.
00:50The whole thing was captured on the neighbor's security and doorbell cameras, so it's unsurprising
00:54the police hit him with assault, disorderly conduct, and malicious damage charges.
00:58He ultimately pled guilty to these charges, with a punishment of $757 in fines.
01:04Mike Vitar portrayed Benny Rodriguez in The Sandlot.
01:07He went on to play Louise in D2, The Mighty Ducks, and came back for the franchise's third
01:12installment.
01:13His last acting credit was a walk-on role on Chicago Hope in 1997.
01:17Vitar may have gotten an early foothold into the acting business, but it was never his
01:21passion.
01:22He wanted to become a firefighter, so that's precisely what he did.
01:25Vitar started out as an EMT before becoming a firefighter in the Los Angeles Fire Department.
01:30For the most part, Vitar's work as a firefighter hasn't been newsmaking, except for one 2015
01:35incident.
01:36That Halloween, Vitar and one of his co-workers chased a man who they believed was handing
01:39out drug-laced candy to children.
01:41However, it wasn't true.
01:43Vitar's co-worker put the man into a chokehold until he passed out, suffered severe injuries,
01:47and had to be revived, leading to the firefighters being charged with felony assault.
01:51Vitar got it dropped to a misdemeanor by pleading no contest and returned to duty after just
01:55six months.
01:57Chauncey Leopardi played Squince in The Sandlot and went on to appear in a variety of film
02:01and TV projects.
02:02Some of his work after The Sandlot includes roles in Houseguest and Gilmore Girls.
02:06However, he's probably best known for playing Alan White in Freaks and Geeks.
02:10When Leopardi isn't acting, he's a professional poker player.
02:13The actor competed in the World Series of Poker in 2010, 2022, and 2024.
02:18Another of Leopardi's ventures includes owning and producing his own marijuana strain called
02:23Squince.
02:25Patrick Renna's first outing as an actor was playing Ham Porter in The Sandlot.
02:29You play ball like a girl!
02:32He's since appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, including Boy Meets World, Home
02:36Improvement, and the film Dark Ride.
02:39Some of his more recent work includes Monster Summer and Glow.
02:42Outside of acting, Renna launched Hambino Athletics to sell apparel related to his Sandlot
02:46character.
02:48Yorke is always happy to meet fans of The Sandlot, telling Us Weekly,
02:50"...I liken it to how The Goonies is to me because that's my Sandlot.
02:54If I saw any of the actors from The Goonies, I would freak out more than I would freak
02:57out if I saw Brad Pitt."
02:59Marty Yorke began his acting career by playing Alan Yaya MacLennan in The Sandlot.
03:04Yeah, yeah, you were!
03:05Your tongue was hanging out of your head and you was swoonin'!
03:10Yorke kept at it for a while, but has only had a handful of roles since 1997.
03:14His most recent role is in a short film from 2021 called Superboys.
03:18Yorke had some legal trouble in 2009 due to a fight with a girlfriend that led to his
03:22arrest.
03:23While he initially pleaded not guilty, he changed his plea and received a 60-day jail
03:27sentence along with five years of probation.
03:30In 2023, Yorke's mother was tragically murdered by a man she was dating, so the actor took
03:35to Instagram to ask for help in finding the killer.
03:37Eventually, his mother's murderer was found and taken into custody.
03:40The loss was hard on Yorke, who credited his mother with helping him achieve success.
03:45Brandon Quentin Adams started acting years before he joined the cast of The Sandlot as
03:49Kenny DeNunez.
03:50Prior to that film, he had roles in Michael Jackson's Moonwalker film, The People Under
03:55the Stairs, and The Mighty Ducks, to name a few.
03:57He went on to appear in Boy Meets World and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
04:00After 2001, however, Adams shifted gears and became a hip-hop artist under an alias, B.
04:06Lee.
04:07He also took screenwriting and directing classes, shifting his focus to behind-the-scenes work.
04:11To this day, Adams is often recognized for playing Kenny.
04:13In a 2009 interview with The Chicago Defender, he described what it's like getting spotted
04:17in public, saying,
04:18"...it's being recognized for your accomplishments and what you've done, becoming closer to what
04:22you want to achieve in life."
04:24Grant Gelt worked extensively in the years leading up to his role as Bertram Grover Weeks
04:29on The Sandlot.
04:30As a child actor, he appeared in shows like Knots Landing, Northern Exposure, and Blossom.
04:34However, he ultimately retired from acting in 1999.
04:38Gelt switched his interests to managing rock bands after high school and taught himself
04:41the business.
04:42He eventually acquired a job at MCA Records, and after a few years there, he returned to
04:47management.
04:48From there, Gelt co-founded MassCult, and now works as its chief strategy officer.
04:52He also co-founded Play Forever, a nonprofit dedicated to providing young athletes with
04:56the resources they need to thrive.
04:58Gelt runs the charity with his friend and former co-star, Victor Dematia.
05:03Victor Dematia entered the entertainment industry when he was six, racking up dozens of credits
05:07before playing Timmy Timmons in The Sandlot.
05:10Dematia continued acting until 1995, but stopped after appearing in 11 episodes of A Peaceable
05:15Kingdom.
05:16After that, he tried his hand at a number of professions, including playing in a band,
05:20working as a bartender, and co-chairing Play Forever with Grant Gelt.
05:24Dematia returned to acting in 2018, playing Officer Lynham in Get Married or Die.
05:28He's since appeared in two more movies, including 2023's Breakout.
05:32Dematia never forgot the film that made him famous, however, and shows up to many Sandlot
05:36fan events alongside his former co-stars.
05:39Shane Obazinski had a brief career as a child actor prior to playing Tommy-Repeat Timmons
05:44in The Sandlot.
05:45He only had a handful of roles since, appearing in Superboy, My Girl, Swamp Thing, and other
05:50projects.
05:51After that, he effectively stopped acting, and now co-owns New York Times Square Pizza,
05:55located in his hometown of Brandon, Florida.
05:58In addition to the pizza shop, Obazinski and his partner, Charlie Jonathan, have more than
06:0230 restaurants in their Fire It Up restaurant group.
06:05Obazinski joined his former castmates at the film's 20th anniversary celebration in 2013,
06:10where he noted,
06:11"...the field looked just like it did 20 years ago."
06:14Marlee Shelton played Wendy Peppercorn in The Sandlot, and has been nabbing roles in
06:17movies and TV shows ever since.
06:19Shelton went on to appear prominently in films like Pleasantville, Sin City, and many others.
06:24Most notably, she portrayed Judy Hicks in the Scream franchise.
06:27Shelton spoke with Us Weekly on the film's 25th anniversary, explaining that people still
06:32recognize her as Wendy.
06:33She told the outlet,
06:35"...initially people liked the movie, but nobody thought it was going to have the legs
06:38that it did and become this cult classic.
06:40I think it's still relatable, something about baseball and adolescence and that simpler
06:44time in life."
06:45Karen Allen launched her feature film career in 1978, playing Katie in National Lampoon's
06:52Animal House.
06:53She followed this with a small role in Woody Allen's Manhattan, and in 1981, starred in
06:57Raiders of the Lost Ark as Marion Ravenwood.
07:00She went on to reprise that role in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,
07:04and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
07:06Allen played Mrs. Smalls in The Sandlot, and is still amazed at the film's enduring legacy.
07:11She told The A.V. Club,
07:12"...I got a lot of people who were telling me what huge fans they were.
07:15The Sandlot, for them, was this seminal film growing up."
07:18In addition to acting, Allen has worked as an adjunct professor at New York University
07:22and Bard College at Simons Rock.
07:24She also runs Karen Allen Fiber Arts, a Massachusetts-based clothing store.
07:29Dennis Leary got his start working as a stand-up comic, and he became well-known for his 1993
07:34single, Ass****.
07:35Like many other comics, Leary eventually transitioned into acting.
07:38He appeared in a number of smaller movie projects, before landing the role of small stepfather
07:42Bill in The Sandlot.
07:43"...I'm a baseball guy, sports guy, father-son, so that's why I took it."
07:48After The Sandlot, Leary kept at it, appearing in films like Demolition Man and The Ref.
07:53He's also done significant voice acting work, voicing Francis in A Bug's Life, Diego in
07:57the Ice Age franchise, and much more.
08:00Leary also played George Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel, so he's kept himself
08:05busy as an actor.
08:06Outside of acting and comedy, Leary is an author, having published Why We Don't Suck
08:10in 2018.
08:11He continues working in comedy as well, and even hosted Comics Come Home in 2024.
08:16He also founded the Leary Firefighters Foundation in 2000, after his cousin, a friend, and four
08:21firefighters died in a fire in his hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts.
08:26Art LaFleur is one of those actors you've probably seen hundreds of times but never
08:29knew his name.
08:30That's because LaFleur was a brilliant character actor who possessed an uncanny ability to
08:34disappear into his roles.
08:36He played Babe Ruth in The Sandlot, but it was only one of many roles he performed over
08:40his nearly 40-year acting career.
08:42LaFleur got his start in 1978's Rescue from Gilligan's Island, and went on to appear in
08:47everything from M.A.S.H. to Field of Dreams.
08:49After his role in The Sandlot, LaFleur continued working in Hollywood, acting in all kinds
08:53of projects well into the 2010s.
08:55His last role was playing Dad in the 2017 TV movie, Dive.
08:59Sadly, LaFleur died on November 17, 2021, at the age of 78.
09:04His wife, Shelley, announced the news on Facebook, writing,
09:07"...after a 10-year battle with atypical Parkinson's, Art LaFleur, the love of my life, passed away.
09:12He was a generous and selfless man, which carried over to his acting, but more importantly,
09:17it was who he was for his family and friends."
09:19James Earl Jones landed his first film role in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove in 1964.
09:25He also worked in television, and by 1977, Jones nabbed a small, uncredited role in Star
09:30Wars.
09:31Jones chose not to be credited for voicing Darth Vader in the first two films, believing
09:35he didn't contribute enough to the movies.
09:37Over time, Jones' iconic voice became one of his most celebrated attributes.
09:41"...This is CNN, the most trusted name in news."
09:47Whether he was revealing to Luke Skywalker that he is his father, or offering wisdom
09:51as Mufasa in The Lion King, Jones' acting legacy is hard to deny.
09:55Among his many memorable performances, he also played Mr. Myrtle in The Sandlot.
10:00Jones continued acting into the 2020s, reprising his role as King Jaffa Jaffa in 2021's Coming
10:05to America.
10:06After a long and impressive career, Jones passed away on September 9, 2024, at the age
10:11of 93.
10:12Jones has since been celebrated for his remarkable career, which earned him an Emmy, Grammy,
10:17and honorary Oscar, and Tony, making him one of the few stars to win the coveted EGOT.