Fast Times': Where Are They Now?
Hey bud ... let's party! It's 1982, and Sean Penn is a stoner, Judge Reinhold is a dork in a pirate's outfit, and Phoebe Cates launches a thousand teenage fantasies just by climbing out of a pool. (Well, not JUST that.)
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' with a look at what those crazy kids have been up to since high school.
Universal / ZUMA Press (3)
Sean Penn
Then: Penn totally nailed the surfer-dude patois to play Jeff Spicoli, stoner extraordinaire. Want pizza in American history class? Spicoli's your guy. Don't think the classroom's an appropriate venue for your munchies delivery? Dude, that's just bogus.
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Sean Penn
Now: Who woulda thunk it? The actor who started out as Spicoli grew up to be Sean Penn, super-serious, Oscar-winning actor ('Mystic River'), controversy-courting political activist (he recently visited Venezuelan prez Hugo Chavez) and family man (he and wife Robin Wright Penn have two kids).
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Chris Pizzello, AP
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Then: She was Stacy Hamilton, the smart but shy wallflower with low self-esteem (you know, the kind of girl who becomes a successful lawyer and shows everyone up at the reunion). She went "all the way" with her boyfriend's best friend Mike (Robert Romanus), with disastrous results.
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Jennifer Jason Leigh
Now: Like we imagine her 'Fast Times' character, Leigh grew up to be cool, excelling in indie ('Georgia') and mainstream film ('Single White Female'); but amazingly, Oscar has never looked her way. She's married to director Noah Baumbach ('Squid and the Whale') and stars in his next movie, 'Margot at the Wedding.'
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Judge Reinhold
Then: In his first major film role, Reinhold played Stacy's brother Brad, a popular high school senior who took his job at the local burger joint just a little too seriously. In one of the film's most memorable scenes, he pleasured himself while fantasizing about a topless Phoebe Cates. Hey, we can't blame him.
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Judge Reinhold
Now: Most recently, he appeared in the 'Santa Clause' films, and he'll co-star in the 2008 Kevin Costner vehicle 'Swing Vote.' He also earned major cool points for his stint on 'Arrested Development,' in which he played the star of a TV show called 'Mock Trial With J. Reinhold.' Verdict: He's guilty ... of being awesome.
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Stephen Shugerman, Getty Images
Phoebe Cates
Then: She became an instant sex symbol after starring as sexpot Linda Barrett in 'Fast Times.' This was thanks in no small part to a legendary fantasy sequence in which she climbed out of a pool dripping wet and removed her red bikini top in slow motion -- all to the sounds of The Cars' 'Moving in Stereo.'
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Phoebe Cates
Now: Though she's only been in one film since the early '90s, 2001's 'The Anniversary Party,' she's kept busy raising two kids with husband Kevin Kline. Their son Owen Kline's an actor, too, having earned raves in 'Squid and the Whale' after director Noah Baumbach's wife -- Cates' co-star Leigh -- suggested him for the role.
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Hal Horowitz, WireImage.com
Ray Walston
Then: Walston wasn't shy about admitting regrets for starring in 'My Favorite Martian,' which made him a household name but typecast him as an alien. Good thing some of us are too young to remember, and know Walston best as Mr. Hand, a history teacher whose dislikes included truancy, marijuana and Jeff Spicoli.
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Reader Comments (17)
valreie ratner at 2:13PM on Jun 24th 2008
I liked him as the close talker on Seinfeld
DOUG at 2:29PM on Jun 24th 2008
oki-doki
clair at 2:29PM on Jun 24th 2008
I would love to see a "Meatballs": Where are they now. (Hint)
Donny wacenske at 2:47PM on Jun 24th 2008
he looks like hes getting something jammed up his ass
bob at 2:48PM on Jun 24th 2008
shes so hot!
bob at 2:49PM on Jun 24th 2008
she is so hot!!!1
Buckwheat at 3:21PM on Jun 24th 2008
I WOULD DO DAT !
kmon at 4:08PM on Jun 24th 2008
In 1982 she was in a movie called( Paradise ), Full frontal
Raejean French at 4:29PM on Jun 24th 2008
Okay, I understand if you can't get before & after pictures for everyone, but could you at least SPELL Phoebe Cates's name correctly?
Hitman at 5:18PM on Jun 24th 2008
Wow, there were a ton of jews in that movie.
Charlotte at 5:22PM on Jun 24th 2008
Ray Walston ROCKED!!! i LOVED him as the Martian in My Favorite Martian series,yes i REMEBER back htat far,i love him in Who's minding the store? with Jerry Lewis,,,and he was GREAT as Mr/ Hand in this one,,and i miss him ,,but he was a GREAT actor,,,
Shogun Dunmore at 12:28PM on Jun 26th 2008
Phoebe still has some nice cans
flo at 8:04PM on Jun 24th 2008
I think Phoebe Cates is even more beautiful than when she was a teen actress in High Times at R.High.
She has the most beautiful complexion and eyes.
wish all people in their mid 40's looked as good as Phoebe.
she is very exotic looking..too bad she has not made any current movies.
flo
ARWENNOV68 at 10:46PM on Jun 24th 2008
Hey! Not that I'm a big Forest Whitaker fan, but let
s give credit where credit is due. He is a director/producer, and has actually been in many films. He was in Phenomenon, First Daughter, Platoon, The Last King of Scotland, The Great Debaters, and others both worthy and unworthy of mentioning. The first movie he directed was Waiting to Exhale, and then he went on to direct Hope Floats, and First Daughter. He has produced more films than he's directed, but heck, he's still done more than credited for. Exactly how old is this info?
joe at 3:25PM on Jun 27th 2008
Wow Ms. Cates looks the same, its so pleasing to see folks that are my age still looking that hot, makes me feel not so old hahahha
FrisbeeGolfForiPhone at 12:21PM on Aug 30th 2008
She's still got it.
digital at 5:04PM on Sep 1st 2008
nick cage is still da Meatball.