Sure, we all know where John Cusack is as his star rocketed to the top since Better off Dead. As Lane Myer, he was the guy you love to root for, especially when his girlfriend dumps him and he luckily fails miserably at killing himself. Since then he has starred in the futuristic thriller 2012, and The Raven and is active on Twitter, but what about the rest of the cast? Here is what happened to the cast after filming that classic dark comedy in 1985.
Demian Slade
As paperboy Johnny Gasparini he hunted down the Myer family for his “two dollars”. Since then, not enough has been seen of Demian Slade. After a few kid parts in 80s movies, he appeared 90s hit show The Wonder Years but since then he has done some short film work in Ushers and Untreated.
Yuji Okumoto
Yes, he dropped the Howard Cosell impression he adopted for his role in Better Off Dead and went on to star in TV shows like NCIS: Los Angeles and in feature films as Chozen Toguchi in The Karate Kid Part II ( Okumoto studied martial arts and is a brown belt in real life ) and Inception, billed as “Saito’s Attendant”.
Diane Franklin
We were so glad that she came to Lane’s emotional rescue as Monique Junet in Better Off Dead. She also starred in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure as well as The Last American Virgin. She wrote a memoir about her life titled Diane Franklin: The Excellent Adventures of the Last American, French-Exchange Babe of the 80s. She’s still gorgeous and is married to screenwriter, Ray De Laurentis, famous for his work on the show Fairly Odd Parents.
Curtis Armstrong
Every guy needs a best pal with a cool hat to make it through a tough competition and Charles De Mar had the coolest lines in the film. For example, “Ah, come on! It’s Christmas Eve! I could be home right now, drinking this *monster* eggnog my brother makes with lighter fluid.” Curtis went on to play the iconic Booger in Revenge of the Nerds and was one of the hosts of 2015’s awesome game show King of the Nerds. Throughout the decade he has been a working actor showing up on shows like Moonlighting and recently as the voice of Snot on American Dad.
Kim Darby
As mom Jenny Myer (the mom in the apron who boiled bacon) she had already been on TV and movies for years. She went from actress to teacher and students at the Extension Program of the University of California benefit from her expertise. She must be dedicating her professional life to teaching as her last role was in 2007 as Barb in Cold Ones.
Dan Schneider
After playing the hilarious role of Ricky Smith, Dan went on to co-star on Head of the Class as the guy with the keyboard on his lap, Dennis. He channeled his creativity into another area of show business as the creator of hits like iCarly and Zoey 101.
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Wow. T must’ve taken at LEAST 5-7 minutes of intense research on IMDb for this article. Not to mention you left out 3 other characters including the dad, the blonde and the bully.
This wasn’t a “what happened” to them article as advertised. It’s a “here’s what else they were in after this movie” article.
I guess IMDb better step their game up so you can add more detail to your articles.
Here’s the ironic part–as my critic mentioned IMDb–IMDb shows my article here for TV Overmind under their “news” portion for Better Off Dead. Lol.
I guess imdb’s definition of ‘news’ is extremely broad.
Just trying to add some constructive criticism. I know it’s hard to find information on those that don’t go on to do a lot after such roles, but it might be best to stick to the key characters that really drove the movie. Curtis would be one, so would the main antagonist and the love interest. Try sticking to the core characters and go from there. It wasn’t really that bad, you just need to pick the most pertinent characters and do a little digging. Best of luck to you on future articles.
I was limited as to word count space so the characters I included were the ones I Iiked the best and whom,( to me at least) had some interesting facts about their “ever afters”. That might have been the wrong way to go..I don’t know.. As I explained to the previous commenter (who at least wasn’t as snarky as your “stand up comic” article detractor) not everyone is gonna like what I write and that’s cool Thanks for noting that my article was “really not that bad.” LOL.
Actually, I’m a fan of the movie and watched it again before writing this piece.–and did quite a bit of research. I included a book written by one of the cast members and info on one actor who is now a teacher, I don’t have a pass to their private lives so their professionally known work was all I could access.
The specs were to choose six characters and come in around 500-700 words. No, I did no rely on IMDB and there is no reason to be insulting about my research skills just because I did not include everyone you wanted. Had I more room, I would have included all of the stars; however, I picked the ones I liked the best and I’m sorry I could not tell you whatever you wanted to know about the rest. Yes, I could have included just the leads but I just love the kid who wanted his “two dollars” and Kim Darby, the mom.
Again, sorry the article disappointed you. No need to be so harsh. I’ve been writing for decades for print magazines and online so I’m used to the rare insults along with the praise. I’m all for constructive critique and I try to please all of my readers. Sometimes I fail.
Not trying to tear you down at all. Some of those facts were interesting. For instance I didn’t know that Okumoto was an actual brown belt. It was a good article. And yeah, my critic was quite a bit harder on me, lol. He actually tried to tear my life apart after reading my bio. You’re right, not everyone will like what we write and that’s ok. As long as you enjoy it that ought to be enough.
Thanks yeah, I do appreciate constructive comments like yours. 99.44% of the folks who comment on this site are awesome, witty, and I love to hear from them. I keep evolving in my craft because of constructive criticism. The very few who want to play “belittle the writer” games do so with motives beyond comprehension. It doesn’t matter.
As professional writers, we know it’s a miniscule part of our otherwise awesome profession. P.S. , I really enjoy your articles.
Thanks I really appreciate that.