It Only Takes One Time to Find Out What the Stars of Little Giants Are Up to Now

“Little Giants” Turns 26: E! News Rewind

Just remember, football is 80 percent mental and 40 percent physical.

Okay, so that math doesn’t math, but Little Giants rushed into theaters on Oct. 14, 1994, meaning the family comedy about a rag-tag pee-wee football team is 30 years old. (And yes, that equation proves you are that old, sorry!)

Directed by Duwayne Dunham and starring two of the ’90s biggest actors, Ed O’Neill and Rick Moranis, the movie only scored $19.3 million at the box office. But, thanks to its young cast—including Devon Sawa and Shawna Waldron as dreamy quarterback Junior and “berzerko Barbie doll” Icebox, the only girl on the team—and hilarious one-liners, Little Giants has lived on as a cult classic.

And the making of the film was just as memorable for its cast, with Sawa telling E! News that Little Giants felt “like summer camp.”

“I don’t know if you notice in the background, but there was McDonald’s and Slush Puppies on the side of the field and they were all open to us and we were allowed to go nuts on those,” he recalled. “So we were constantly eating McDonald’s and it was a lot of fun. It was three months of football and goofing around.”

In addition to a lot of free food, the movie also provided Sawa with the opportunity to work with one of his comedy idols.

“Married with Children was at its absolute peak, so it was Al Bundy, it wasn’t Ed O’Neill,” Sawa reflected. “We were kids, we were working with Al Bundy and it was the greatest even though he wanted to be as far away from that as possible.”

And though he has some regrets—”That whole scene where we’re sitting on the boat talking about the two people kissing. I wish I could go back and reshoot that,” he admitted to E! News—he’s still glad he got in the game.

So, get ready to pull off the “annexation of Puerto Rico” to find out what the stars of Little Giants are up to now: 

Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb

Ed O’Neill

Ah, Kevin O’Shea, the hometown hero of Urbania, Ohio, thanks to winning the Heisman Trophy in his heyday. To play the tough head coach of the Cowboys, the producers tapped the Married With Children star, who had become one of the most successful actors on TV thanks to his iconic turn as Al Bundy. (Fun fact: He almost played professional football after he was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969, but was ultimately released.) 

After Married With Children ended its 10-year run in 1997, O’Neill once again found success on ABC’s Modern Family, playing the patriarch of the Pritchett clan, Jay, opposite Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell. O’Neill has earned three Emmy nominations for his work on Modern Family, which ended its 10-year run in 2020. 

Married to Catherine Rusoff since 1986, the couple have two children together. 

Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Rick Moranis

Moranis was one of the most in-demand comedy actors in Hollywood when he snagged the role of the little O’Shea brother and head coach of the Giants, thanks to his turns in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids film franchise, Ghostbusters II, Little Shop of Horrors, Parenthood and Spaceballs. 

After leading the Giants to a surprise victory, Moranis mostly went on to provide voice work in animated series, leaving Hollywood behind to focus on his two kids following the death of his wife, Ann Belsky. 

And after a 26-year hiatus from acting, Moranis will reprise his role from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids in Disney’s reboot of the beloved film. He is also set to make an appearance in Netflix’s long-delayed reunion documentary An Afternoon with SCTV, which will bring together members of the Second City TV comedy troupe, directed by Martin Scorsese.

Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock

Devon Sawa

Thanks to his turns in Casper (as the human version of the friendly ghost), Now & Then and Little Giants as new kid in town-turned-QB Junior Floyd, Sawa was one of the ultimate heartthrobs in the ’90s, going on to star in hits like Final Destination and Idle Hands. But Junior was initially set to be played by another teen idol: Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Still, with Spielberg in his corner, Sawa landed the role, even though, at age 15, he was several years older than the rest of the cast. 

Of course, Devon also infamously played the title role in Eminem’s “Stan” music video, and in 2010, he joined the cast of The CW’s Nikita. He most recently starred on USA Network’s Chucky series.

Sawa and his wife Dawni Sawa, who have been married since 2013, have two children and he made headlines in 2019 for a faux-feud with fellow ’90s idol Macaulay Culkin that the Internet became obsessed with. It remains to be seen if he can still throw a perfect spiral with a roll of toilet paper. 

Instagram/Shawna Waldron

Shawna Waldron

Fact: Icebox is one of the most underrated female characters from the ’90s.

Maldron played tomboy Becky (but call her Icebox, obviously!), whose dad starts the Giants after her Uncle Kevin won’t let her play on the Cowboys because she’s a girl…even though she’s one of the best players.

“I think the message was really strong with little girls,” Maldron told ESPN in 2019. “It really means a lot to me when I hear things from people that affected them.”

After winning the big game (and landing the guy), the actress’ next high-profile role was playing Michael Douglas’ daughter in the movie The American President before she went on to star on the TV series Ladies Man.

Since then, Maldron starred in 2008’s Poison Ivy: The Secret Society and appeared in several horror films, though she’s still known for her turn as Ice Box.

“I thought it would fade into obscurity,” she admitted to ESPN, “but it just kind of stuck around.” 

Alexa PenaVega 

Before she was a Spy Kid, PenaVega played O’Neill’s youngest daughter Priscilla, who memorably said this blessing in a dinner scene: “God bless family, friends, flowers, Nickelodeon, fuzzy little kittens, Pez, Mr. Lerenzo, the school janitor ’cause he’s so hairy.”

After becoming a child star with her breakout role in the Spy Kids franchise, PenaVega married Carlos PenaVega in 2014 and the two competed against each other on Dancing With the Stars before going on to star in Hallmark Channel Original Movies, together and separately. 

Alexa and Carlos have four children—Ocean, Kingston, Rio and Indy, who was “born at rest” in April 2024—and share their family’s adventures on their YouTube channel. 

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Sam Horrigan

After suiting up as overconfident and sexist Spike in Little Giants (“Spike don’t play with girls”), Horrigan went back to the jock playbook as Val in the 1998 Disney Channel classic Brink! In addition to starring on Grace Under Fire, the California native nabbed guest roles on One Tree Hill, 8 Simple Rules, Desperate Housewives, Veronica Mars and Modern Family. 

A father of two, Horrigan keeps his Instagram profile private, proclaiming himself a Disney villain that was “saved by Jesus.” 

Mediapunch/Shutterstock

Courtney Peldon

Following her turn as O’Neill’s other daughter Debbie, a cheerleader for the Cowboys, Peldon scored the coveted work of portraying JTT’s girlfriend Lauren on Home Improvement. She also enjoyed a 14-episode stint on Boston Public and guest parts on Entourage and Star Trek: Renegades. Her most recent credit was a 2023 episode of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson. The Skidmore College grad now works as a theatrical agent. 

Instagram/Marcus Toji

Marcus Toji

A member of the Little Giants team, Toji left football behind to make appearances on seemingly every popular show in the ’90s and early ’00s: Boy Meets World, Zoey 101, Party of Five, Hey Arnold! and The West Wing.

In addition to providing a lot of voice work to animated projects, the actor appeared in History Channel’s The Terror.

“We were a bunch of tweens hanging out together all summer, so of course there was a lot of camaraderie,” he said of filming the movie in a 2013 interview. “I think once it went into Lord of the Flies territory while enjoying a role-playing game under the bleachers, but luckily we had to go to set.”

Toji and his wife Erin welcomed daughter Candler in 2020, and Toji remained close with Todd Bosley, who played Giants player Jake Berman, with Bosley even giving a toast at Toji’s wedding.