The Kids From Hook: Then And Now

As the Lost Boys of Neverland, they would never grow old; unfortunately, given Steven Spielberg’s sort-of-sequel to ‘Peter Pan’ was a work of fiction, the young actors that played them did. We catch up with the child stars of 1991’s 'Hook’ to see what they look like now…

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Charlie Korsmo – Jack 'Jackie’ Banning

As the son of Robin William’s middle-aged Peter, Jackie Banning was the de facto star of the show – and 13-year-old Korsmo was a rising talent in Hollywood. He played Dick Tracy Jr in the cult Warren Beatty movie and the son of Richard Dreyfuss in 'What About Bob?’ but after 'Hook’, he only had one more movie role, in college comedy 'Can’t Hardly Wait’. As an adult, he graduated from Yale, passed the New York State Bar exam and taught Law in Ohio. In May 2011, Korsmo was nominated for excellence in education by some bloke called President Barack Obama.

Amber Scott – Maggie Banning

She was just seven years old when she played the role of Peter’s cute daughter, and that was her only movie role to date – so how come her IMDB headshot shows a a healthy and gorgeous 30-year-old Amber Scott? There’s precious little info out there on what the youngster did after visiting Neverland but if this latest pic is anything to go by, either a career in modelling or a return to acting is on the cards soon.

Dante Basco – Rufio

The Neverland punk with the iconic red haircut and the rooster crow has come of age, but he remains young at heart, thanks to the animated voiceovers he now provides – you can hear Basco as the young star of Disney’s 'American Dragon: Jake Long’ and as Prince Zuko in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender’. His biggest movie role post-'Hook’ was opposite Antonio Banderas in 'Take The Lead’, and he recently hip-hop danced his way through a Sprite commercial. Bangarang, Rufio!

James Madio – Don’t Ask

One of the few Lost Boys for whom 'Hook’ wasn’t their defining role, Madio was so well-liked by Dustin Hoffman that he hand-picked the lad to play his son in 1992’s 'Hero’. A role alongside Leo DiCaprio as a drug addict in 1995’s 'The Basketball Diaries’ showed he was a mature young actor, and the gig scored him a starring role in Steven Spielberg’s WWII TV epic, 'Band Of Brothers’. 2016 will see him play the lead in 'Pep’ as Willie Pep, the boxer with the most wins in the history of the sport.

Raushan Hammond – Thud Butt

The most unfortunately-named Lost Boy stuck with acting for a short while, scoring parts in 'Tales From The Crypt’ (opposite Bill Paxton) and 'E.R.’, but though acting wasn’t for him, the stage still called his name – he now makes his living as a magician. Hammond commented on the tragic death of Robin Williams in 2014, saying: “He really was truly Peter Pan. The role really fit him.”

Jasen Fisher – Ace

Probably the most successful of the young cast pre-'Hook’, Fisher played the lead in Roald Dahl in 'The Witches’ and the youngest son of Steve Martin in 'Parenthood’. Hat-sporting Lost Boy dandy Ace was his last foray into the world of acting, although he still looks back fondly on his time as a Hollywood child star. According to internet reports, he now makes his money as a professional poker player – 'Ace’ indeed.

Thomas Tulak – Too Small

Without a doubt the cutest Lost Boy there ever was at age 6, Tulak was also the youngest.  A recurring role in 'Cheers’ followed soon after as well as a role in Paul Reiser sitcom 'Mad About You’, but that’s about as star-studded as his CV got. These days he’s a YouTube star – look for user 'Dinomy199185’ – and he directed his own mini-series, 'Chronicles Of The Dragon’, in 2013. He also plays drums in thrash metal band Sire.

Alex Zuckerman – Latchboy

Young Zuckerman parlayed his success in 'Hook’ into something approaching a sustainable career, voicing characters in the popular animated 'Oz Kids’ series and appearing in Bill & Ted star Alex Winter’s comedy 'Freaked’. Judging from his IMDB page, once that voice broke, the voiceover roles stopped. He’s out of the business now but got married in 2014, according to his Facebook photos.

Ahmad Stoner – No Nap

Stoner actually did a pretty good job of following up 'Hook’, with 20 credits on his resume including 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’, 'The New Adventures Of Superman’, 'Boy Meets World’, 'Roseanne’, 'Sabrina, The Teenage Witch’ and 'Malcolm In The Middle’ to name but a few – basically he appeared in everything your childhood held close and dear. Now? Who knows: just a Facebook profile pic to go on. Maybe he went back to Neverland?

Gwyneth Paltrow – Young Wendy

Gwyneth Paltrow? Never heard of her. Of course, the young actress who played Young Wendy could well be the same Gwyneth Paltrow who went on to charm Hollywood for the Best Actress Oscar for 'Shakespeare In Love’, then burn through that goodwill with a weepy acceptance speech. She might even be the same Gywneth Paltrow who “consciously uncoupled” from her pop star husband Chris Martin last year. Who knows?

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