It would appear that Brandon Adams is still working, but it’s hard to tell since according to his IMDb page he’s doing more voice and bit work than anything these days. But those of us that grew up watching the guy on screen can still recognize him for a couple of big roles that were fairly popular since as Jesse Hall for The Mighty Ducks he was pretty great, and as Kenny DeNunez in The Sandlot he was just as good even if it was only one movie. Adams, if you can believe it, is now in his 40s, which makes sense considering that a lot of us were around the same age when we were watching him in the movies. He’s done a bit of voice work and been around a few TV shows in his career, but it does feel as though he hasn’t really done as much as he did when he was still a kid and could still pull off the youthful look that helped him and his costars out so much. Some actors can keep their careers alive and well from childhood on, while others either find themselves bowing out of the acting game at one point or another, or will stick with it and take on smaller roles here and there to keep things moving forward.
Brandon is obviously one of the latter and while his resume isn’t as impressive as some folks it’s definitely evidence that he’s still around and he’s still doing what he enjoys doing, at least that’s the hope. There are some folks that stick around the acting business that don’t appear to like it as much any longer, but the money and the opportunity are too much to just walk away from. Whatever Brandon’s case is though, it feels a little more comfortable to reminisce about the things he’s done than wonder if he’s going to see any future success since he does have a project that’s in post-production at this time, but as it is with everything during the pandemic, it’s hard to say whether or not it will come out on time or if people will have to wait to see it. Even then it’s bound to be a toss-up as to whether or not people are going to recognize him, though it’s very likely since he hasn’t changed all that much over the years, he’s simply gotten older like the rest of us.
Remembering back to his time as Jesse Hall on The Mighty Ducks, when Jussie Smollett played his brother Terry Hall, is pretty easy since it was one of the movies that a lot of kids remember given that it spawned two sequels and was also a big deal for several of the other stars that made up the cast. One can’t really say that every star on the list went somewhere with their role from The Mighty Ducks since some rose and some didn’t, but Adams at least took on a character that would last for another movie before fading out after the sequel. There are a few theories as to why he didn’t make it back for the third movie, but the kindest one was that he didn’t have the time since scheduling conflicts were a big issue. One of the comments about this however was that he was no longer needed since Kenan Thompson had been taken on and had filled the role, and Jesse’s character had been phased out for the most part. Jesse was kind of the kid that didn’t see others as worthwhile until they proved themselves to the team since he gave the character of Adam Banks so much grief until Banks showed that he just wanted to play hockey and would take on the Ducks mantle in order to do it. In short, Jesse was a bit of a jerk since he didn’t know how to trust people that quickly, but he was a solid teammate to those he trusted.
DeNunez was a lot easier to figure out since like the rest of the Sandlot group he just wanted to play ball and was there for the absolute love of the game. This is why the movie was such a great example for kids, apart from other controversial moments such as the pool scene. But The Sandlot was a great example of a bunch of kids just wanting to have fun and as a result, becoming closer and getting so good at the game that they dominated those that thought they weren’t any good since they didn’t keep score and didn’t do anything other than continually play, and play, and play. Say what you want about Adams’ career, but he does still have one and he is still making it work for him. Sometimes loving what you do is all it really takes to keep going.
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