The Big Chill' Cast: Where Are They Now?
Some considered it to be the defining film of the Me generation, others rolled their eyes at the thought of a bunch of navel-gazing Baby Boomers getting high and talking about their feelings after a funeral. Tomato, tomahto.
What can't be denied is that 'The Big Chill' not only had a big impact on '80s culture and TV (do you think we'd have had 'thirtysomething' without it?) but gave a serious career boost to more than a few stars (Glenn Close, we're looking at you). Here's a look at what happened to the 'Big' cast post-'Chill.' -- By Liane Bonin
(4) Columbia / Everett Collection
William Hurt
Played: Nick Carlton
Then: Hurt's star was already on the rise, with leading roles in the sexy noir thriller 'Body Heat' opposite Kathleen Turner and the trippy isolation chamber drama 'Altered States.'
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Columbia / Everett Collection
William Hurt
Now: While Hurt never truly emerged as the studly leading man we expected after 'Heat,' he made a career out of challenging, edgy fare. He won an Oscar for 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' and nominations for 'Broadcast News,' 'Children of a Lesser God' and 'A History of Violence.' Most recently, Hurt had a recurring role on the cable TV series 'Damages' with his 'Chill' co-star Glenn Close.
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Victor Fraile, Getty Images
Glenn Close
Played: Sarah Cooper
Then: While not yet a household name, the onetime Up With People singer had already made her mark with movies like 'The Elephant Man' and "The World According to Garp,' for which she received an Oscar nomination.
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Columbia / Everett Collection
Glenn Close
Now: After receiving another supporting actress nod for 'Chill,' she racked up more accolades for 'Dangerous Liaisons,' 'The Natural' and the film she's best known for, 1987's 'Fatal Attraction.' Bunny lovers will be happy to know she writes an animal-friendly blog, Lively Licks, at fetchdog.com. She's currently receiving raves as complicated villainess Patty Hewes on F/X's 'Damages.'
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David Livingston, Getty Images
Kevin Kline
Played: Harold Cooper
Then: After studying at Juilliard and winning two Tony Awards on Broadway, Kline made a pit stop in the soap world ('Search for Tomorrow') before taking his first film role as the unlucky lover in 'Sophie's Choice.'
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Columbia / Everett Collection
Kevin Kline
Now: Though Kline won an Oscar, for a 'Fish Called Wanda' and starred in 'Dave,' 'Chaplin,' 'Wild Wild West' and 'French Kiss,' most guys know him best for marrying 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' hottie Phoebe Cates. Kline is said to have turned down the lead in the 1989 version of 'Batman,' but that hasn't kept him from working. Next year look for him in 'The Extra Man' with John C. Reilly.
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Mike Coppola, Getty Images
JoBeth Williams
Played: Karen Bowens
Then: The leggy Texan had popped up in small roles on the big screen ('Kramer vs. Kramer') and small ('The White Shadow'), but she'd really made her mark as the terrified mom in Steven Spielberg's 'Poltergeist.'
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Columbia / Everett Collection
JoBeth Williams
Now: Williams found some of her best roles in television, scoring Emmy nods as the mom of a missing son in 'Adam' and a surrogate mother in 'Baby M.' While she's been busy with guest shots and recurring roles on everything from 'Frasier' to '24' and most recently 'Dexter,' she's also made the move into directing, getting an Oscar nod for her short film debut, 'On Hope.'
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Matt Sayles, AP
Jeff Goldblum
Played: Michael Gold
Then: He'd starred in 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' and the short-lived series 'Tenspeed and Brown Shoe,' but had mostly made a living with small parts in everything from 'Laverne & Shirley' to 'Annie Hall' and 'Columbo.'
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Columbia / Everett Collection
Reader Comments (33)
TammieJ at 8:52PM on Oct 10th 2009
It would be nice if these links worked properly every time!
And, please add RELEVANT comments...no one cares about your anti-aging, diets, or sex tapes.
Beezer at 8:47PM on Oct 10th 2009
I cannot believe this website allows comments that have nothing to do with the captioned story. In fact, they're nothing more than unabashedly bad advertising for some stupid products. Let's get real people.
Lily at 9:58PM on Oct 10th 2009
I agree - I do not want to see advertisements in the area reserved for comments regarding an article. I will never purchase such products for the one reason that the company maufacturing these products doesn't have enough money to have a legitimate advertising campaign rather than a "covert" marketing plan of using the comment section that is supposed to enable people to voice their opinions. Whenever I see these advertisements I always notify AOL of misuse by sending AOL a "report" of an inappropriate comment. Maybe if we all report such comments, they will stop.
Hugh Jass at 11:54PM on Oct 10th 2009
Of course, all of you people are aware that before the ads even appeared, you began talking about them, which kinda contradicts what you were saying, while you were saying it. Those comments had nothing to do with the story. Neither does mine, i'll give you that, but I'm not saying it does. Ah well, I don't want to ramble, or do I? How those Red sock lookin' this year?
MAK at 1:52AM on Oct 18th 2009
Since when does the amount of money a company has, or a person, determine if a product or idea is a good one. If anything, the opposite has proven true (necessity is the Mother or Invention, etc.).
Davida at 9:24PM on Oct 10th 2009
I went to see this movie with my mom when I was 9 and I totally loved Tom Berenger in this movie he is old now and still hot.
Here is some trivia Alex the dead friend was who?
Kevin Costner
Anyway, I heard there was old footage with Kevin Costner with flashbacks but it's never been released even on the Anniversary DVD which I bought.
It does have some hillarious out takes with Kevin Klein and William Hurt doing these comedy routines it's so funny I could not stop laughing.
From my perspective watching it at the time the music was everything I grew up listening to with my parents who at the time were both musicians. Now, as a 30ish adult I can relate to the characters problems. It is a timeless movie because of the stages that you go through in life. I mean people are still cheating, selling drugs, and going through divorces.
I think when I was a kid the most memorable part of the movie because I wasn't old enough to understand what the husband said in the kitchen to Tom Berenger and William Hurt. He said something like, "I was thinking about your friend Alex's death and no one said life was going to be fun at, least no one said it to me." It's badly paraphrased but that is the gist of it.
Now, as an adult I totally get it. If you haven't seen it rent it or download it. The movie is excellent and Tom Berenger is so funny his character Sam Webber is an actor who portrays a man named JT Lancer it's totally funny. It reminds me of the show Matt Houston from the 80's.
Tom Berenger with the cheesy moustache is cute but he looks better without it like in the Substitute, he played a mercenary name Shale and Betrayed with Debra Winger he was great in that to no cheesy moustache.
gennie at 10:16PM on Oct 10th 2009
Oh my Gaawww!!!! Kevin, Kevin, we hardly knew ye!
And Tom Berenger? Looks like an old lady now!! How great to see that the ladies are the ones that held up! ha! Take that! However, I would be remiss if I didnt say that Jeff Goldblum is still a doll, and William Hurt hasnt changed much. He still looks intense. You know, like he would laugh but he is just too damn intelligent?
frasier894 at 10:06PM on Oct 10th 2009
and your comments have anything to do with this article?@!!!! get off your soapbox and get on one where you try to make sense.....I just wanted to read a write-up of a great "old" movie and then get your crap! Go AWAY^!!!!
laraine at 10:27PM on Oct 10th 2009
I agree they shouldn't let these people doing their advertising on these boards, it has nithing to do with the original story line it it is getting very frustrating. Use the correct forum people those of us on these post are NOT interested in your diets, colon cleansing, enlargements etc.
Gary Mayer at 10:29PM on Oct 10th 2009
What about Meg Tilly's sexual abuse? Was that in the TV show or her actual life?
I always thought she was a good actress and very cute.
ronnie at 10:39PM on Oct 10th 2009
Clearly one of the best films of our time. it spoke to an entire generation. the writers were brilliant and should be interviewed.
schmuck at 10:47PM on Oct 10th 2009
i would creampie meg,with pleasure....
Joe Turner at 10:59PM on Oct 10th 2009
Totally agree with Ronnie............If you don't agree, then you just don't understand it.
By the way of trivia. Who put up the money for it ?
Ans= Johnnie Carson !! Now that's one you didn't know , eh ?
riane at 11:23PM on Oct 10th 2009
YOU FREAK
Reggie Wagstaff at 12:15AM on Oct 11th 2009
Meg Tilly can't complain about sexual harassment until she interns on the David Letterman show. She'll earn her stripes at that show.
David at 4:40PM on Oct 11th 2009
Oh, Reggie, don't be silly. Surely you understand the difference between consenting adults having sex and an adult forcing sex on a child.
Chris Robbins at 12:31AM on Oct 11th 2009
"The Big Chill" is to Baby Boomers what "The Breakfast Club" is to us Gen-Xers. These movies basically serve as focal points for realizing where we stand in this world.
What I like about the Big Chill (having hit my mid-40s, I'm just beginning to apppreciate and identify with the storyline) is that it depicts what reality does to us. Here you have a group of friends who grew up in college during the radical 60's. But when they graduated, and got out into the cruel, or rather cold, world, many of the liberal ideals they adhered to did not work out too well (i.e. clients a defense lawyer tries to protect turn out to be rapists and scum, writings have to be cut to the shortest time possible for a hurried busy world, etc). They had to make adjustments that changed them into something different from what they expected themselves to be.
phil at 1:20AM on Oct 11th 2009
As you said..."many of the liberal ideals they adhered to did not work out too well (i.e. clients a defense lawyer tries to protect turn out to be rapists and scum, etc..." Here's a clue. It was fashionable to believe that your college ideals were fresh and new and oh so intelligent. Those ideals (always noble),invariably hit a stumbling block called human nature. As you mature, you realize that crime, and criminals will always exist. There is good, and conversely, evil. The poor will always be with us, and no amount of tax money will ever be enough to accomplish utopia. (It's for The Children!)
In maturity, you discover truths: (grandmother was right!) Equal opportunity does not guarantee equal results. There is right, and there is wrong, regardless of what your philosophy professor told you. There is a reason The 10 Commandments are not called the 10 "suggestions."
With this experiment called freedom, comes great individual responsibilities and sacrifice. I hope we as a nation, are up to the task.
David Grover at 1:12AM on Oct 11th 2009
It's hard to believe that the writers failed to even mention Dances with Wolves when they gave a synopsis of Kevin Costner's work.
val at 2:48AM on Oct 11th 2009
Amen to the comment re Costner's Dances with Wolves; he cleaned up on that one, and he has a really long filmography. Check him out on his Wiki bio. He is probably the most successful actor/director/producer in the group.