The Cast ofLittle Giants: Where Are They Now?

Mar. 15, 2025

The cast of ‘Little Giants’ in 1994.Photo:Warner Bros. via Alamy

Warner Bros. via Alamy

What do you get when you mixEd O’Neill,Rick Moranisand a bunch of football-playing kids and set them in Ohio? You getLittle Giants,the 1994 film about two rival brothers and the pee-wee football teams they coach.The film premiered 30 years ago on Oct. 14, 1994, making almost $20 million at the box office and living on today through quotable moments and a continued love for the cast.“It was a load of fun to shoot, and it’s crazy who will approach me nowadays and be like, ‘Oh my God, I loved you fromLittle Giants,’ " starDevon Sawatold ESPN in 2019. Calling it “this crazy football environment,” he added of the cast and extras, “They had all these kids from everywhere that were the top of the football leagues for pee-wee football, these were legit kids.“As the film marks its 30th anniversary, catch up with some members of theLittle Giantscast, then and now.

What do you get when you mixEd O’Neill,Rick Moranisand a bunch of football-playing kids and set them in Ohio? You getLittle Giants,the 1994 film about two rival brothers and the pee-wee football teams they coach.

The film premiered 30 years ago on Oct. 14, 1994, making almost $20 million at the box office and living on today through quotable moments and a continued love for the cast.

“It was a load of fun to shoot, and it’s crazy who will approach me nowadays and be like, ‘Oh my God, I loved you fromLittle Giants,’ " starDevon Sawatold ESPN in 2019. Calling it “this crazy football environment,” he added of the cast and extras, “They had all these kids from everywhere that were the top of the football leagues for pee-wee football, these were legit kids.”

As the film marks its 30th anniversary, catch up with some members of theLittle Giantscast, then and now.

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Rick Moranis as Danny O’Shea

Left: Rick Moranis as Danny O’Shea in 1994’s ‘Little Giants;’ Right: Rick Moranis in 2017.Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection; Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection; Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Not long after the film debuted, Moranis took a step back from acting following the death of his wife, costume designer Ann Belsky.

“I took a break, which turned into a longer break,“he toldThe Hollywood Reporterin 2015. “Stuff happens to people all the time, and people make adjustments, change careers, move to another city. Really, that’s all I did.”

Moranis, now 71, has made a few cameos in recent years, and was slated to star in a 2020sHoney I Shrunk the Kidsrebootthat was ultimately scrapped.

The actor has two grown children with Belsky.

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Ed O’Neill as Kevin O’Shea

Left: Ed O’Neil as Kevin O’Shea in 1994’s ‘Little Giants;” Right: Ed O’Neill in 2024.Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection; Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection; Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Ed O’Neill was already well-known on the small screen for portraying Al Bundy onMarried… with Childrenfrom 1987 to 1997 before he took up the role of bullish brother Kevin O’Shea.

In a 25th anniversarychat with ESPN, director Duwayne Dunham shared the thesis for O’Neill’s character.

“It was simple. I said just play Mike Ditka,” he recalled. “Ed was great. So the combination of Ed and Rick worked out really well.”

O’Neillhas two daughterswith his wife, actress Catherine Rusoff. The couple has been married since 1986.

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Shawna Waldron as Becky ‘Icebox’ O’Shea

Left: Shawna Waldron as Becky O’Shea in 1994’s ‘Little Giants’; Right: Shawna Waldron in the 2020s.Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection; Shawna waldron

Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection; Shawna waldron

Waldron is married to filmmaker Adam Dick.

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Devon Sawa as Junior Floyd

Left: Devon Sawa as Junior Floyd in 1994’s ‘Little Giants;” Right: Devon Sawa in 2023.Warner Bros., Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

Warner Bros., Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

A total ’90s heartthrob, Devon Sawa was having a moment when he joined the cast ofLittle Giantsas rough-and-tumble quarterback Junior Floyd. Another actor actually had the part before Sawa — who was filmingCasper —hit the set. (And according to ESPN, fellow ’90s kidJonathan Taylor Thomaswas up for it, too.)

“The problem when you’re 12 or whatever and your boy gets canned, bringing in the new kid, for the first couple of weeks, I was not liked on that set,“Sawa told ESPNin 2019. “Because I was the replacement.”

However, the stars ultimately meshed. “It was just four months, which seems like the longest time when you’re that age,” he recalled. “And it was a lot of fun. It was Al Bundy. And of course Rick Moranis was huge at the time, and it was nothing but good memories.” He revealed to PEOPLE in 2024 that he’s still in touch with much of the cast — and that his momhad even kept his jersey and helmetfrom the film (plus the VHS!).

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Todd Bosley as Jake Berman

Left: Todd Bosley as Jake Berman in 1994’s ‘Little Giants’; Right: Todd Bosley in the 2020s.Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection; Greg Crowder

Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection; Greg Crowder

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Sam Horrigan as Spike

After Sam Horrigan played the rude and arrogant Spike inLittle Giants, he went on to regularly appear in seasons 4 and 5 of the ABC hit showGrace Under Fire. During his run on the show, he also starred as Val in the Disney Channel movieBrink!In February of 2024, Horrigan discussed the resurgence of the filmBrink!on an episode of theMagical Rewindpodcast.“I get messages at like 3 a.m.,” he said. “People will be reaching out to me like ‘We just got back from the bar are we’re all watchingBrink!’ People who used to skate when the movie came out, they stopped, they became parents, and then now they’re back skating again. There is a crazy resurgence of just skating in general.”Since his role as a Disney Channel villain, Horrigan has made small screen appearances in shows such asOne Tree Hill,Desperate Housewives,Veronica Mars,Reba,CSIandModern Family.In June 2018, the actor filed for divorce from his wife, Betty. The two share children Blake and Hailey.

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Marcus Toji as Marcus

Left: Marcus Toji as Marcus in 1994’s ‘Little Giants;” Right: Marcus Toji on a 2014 episode of ‘The Goldbergs’.Warner Bros. via Alamy, Michael Ansell/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

Warner Bros. via Alamy, Michael Ansell/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

The actor shared fond memories of on-set antics with ESPN in 2019, and joked, “I did all my own kicking. All the crappy kicks were 100 percent me.”

Toji said that at the time, the young actors “all hoped it would be [successful], but as a kid you don’t think about the numbers.” Though it wasn’t an initial hit, “it wasn’t until about maybe four, five years later that we realized it was popular,” he added.

Tojiis now married(with children!).

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Alexa PenaVega as Priscilla O’Shea

Left: Alexa PenaVega as Priscilla O’Shea in 1994’s ‘Little Giants;” Right: Alexa PenaVega in 2020.Warner Bros., Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

She went on to appear in theSpy Kidsseries, starring in the first film (2001), and the two sequels,Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams(2002) andSpy Kids 3-D: Game Over(2003). In 2011, she reprised her role as Carmen yet again in the sequel,Spy Kids: All the Time in the World.

In recent years, she has done countless Hallmark films, including a few with her husband, formerBig Time Rushstar Carlos PenaVega. Together,they have three children, two sons born in December 2016 and June 2019, and a daughter born in May 2021.

source: people.com