It does make a person feel old when someone they saw acting in a movie back in the 90s turns 50, doesn’t it? Megan Ward, who a lot of us probably know from various shows and movies, is no longer the young girl that a lot of guys probably had a crush on back in the day, but she’s still in the business and still doing what she cares about as she remains just as vibrant as ever. She’s aged quite well to be fair and she’s continued to show up in TV and in movies throughout her career, but one movie likely stands out for a lot of people since it featured a few very noted actors at the time that kind of left her needing to stay in the frame as much as possible for fear that she might get left behind. The movie Encino Man is definitely one of her more well-known roles since as Robyn Sweeney she was one of the most gorgeous women in the movie, and this was when Robin Tunney, her supporting costar, was young and just as capable of turning heads. But with a cast including Brendan Fraser, Pauly Shore, Sean Astin, Michael DeLuise, and many more notable names, she kind of had to work at being a big part of the movie since she was Dave’s (Astin) crush after all and Matt’s (DeLuise) girlfriend. It’s the classic kind of movie where a guy and a girl have known each other for years but the guy is too socially inept to just come out and say that he likes the girl so she gets picked up by a major tool that’s treated like the king of the school since he’s popular and is a major jerk. You know, that old chestnut.
Her role in the movie was pretty easy to figure out but it was also harder to care about at certain points since the main part of the movie after all was the revived caveman, played by Fraser, who had been awakened from his block of ice after untold centuries had passed only to figure out that he wasn’t in the wilds any longer but was in the middle of suburbia. In fact she didn’t really come into the movie right away and when she did it was more or less as an object of Dave’s affection and Matt’s possessiveness as it pitted the two against one another with Matt obviously coming out on top. The character of Robyn didn’t really start to matter until Link (Fraser) came into the picture and as an aggressive caveman went after Robyn’s friend in a show of favor and affection, thankfully without any clubbing or hair-pulling. From there however Robyn’s role came in even more as Dave continually tried to get her attention and as a result made her more of a complete character as she started taking on a different aspect. By the time her role was really established it was obvious that Dave wasn’t really to be pitied or even offered a lot of sympathy since he’d had plenty of chances and was just too shy to take them. The ease with which she played this character though showed that Megan had already been around for a bit and knew how to pick up on certain cues and do what she needed to in order to make the scene work, and for her own part she played Robyn to a tee, a nice girl that liked to have fun but made a few bad decisions when it came to who she decided to date. In other words, the kind of girl that likes nice guys but also respects and values confidence as well, something Dave really didn’t have that much of.
She’s been acting steadily throughout the years as she’s appeared in shows such as Dark Skies and even Party of Five at one point, and looking at her filmography it’s kind of obvious that she’s stayed busy thus far and is never too far from the screen. At this point though she and a lot of people are being forced to make do and simply wait until the all clear is given to go back to work since Hollywood has been deemed as non-essential in a big way. That’s not too bad though, as actors are getting a nice long break, whether they wanted it or not, and are perhaps being given a chance to pursue hobbies that they might not have had time for before. As far as their finances are concerned a lot of actors are doing just fine since they have more than acting going and are able to make what money they can with their other endeavors. Megan’s net worth is great enough that she’ll probably do just fine until the shutdown is over, and at that point it’s a belief that she’ll go right back to work along with everyone else.Pauly Shore
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