HIS shocking transformation from child star to drug addict stunned Mighty Ducks fans who remember Shaun Weiss as the adorable goalie in the 1992 movie.
Shaun was a stand-out star in the film about a bunch of school ‘losers’ who want to win an ice hockey tournament – and are helped by a hot-shot lawyer on community service for drink-driving.
His face ravaged and haggard through drug use, Shaun looked unrecognisable in a police mug shot during the darkest days of his meth and heroin addiction in 2017.
He'd been arrested for petty theft while living on the streets and was jailed for 12 days before being freed due to overcrowding.
But just five days later he was lifted again for meth possession and given 90 days incarceration.
Three years ago Shaun was arrested again, this time for burglary.
The 44-year-old this week opened up about his struggles and says he's been given a “second chance at life” after beating drugs.
He blamed depression – not the pressure of Hollywood – for his downfall during an interview with Today Extra in America.
He credited his Mighty Ducks pals with helping him get clean after co-star Aaron Schwartz put together a video from cast and crew wishing him well, which "blew him away".
“I really needed it at that time, so those guys were there when I needed them," Shaun said.
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“I’m feeling better than I have in years and being able to get back and do movies again is, like, just a dream come true.”
Shaun, who played Greg Goldberg in the Disney movie, is set to return to the big screen in upcoming biopic Jesus Revolution, aptly playing the role of a Vietnam veteran recovering from drug addiction.
Here we take a look at what happened to the rest of The Mighty Ducks cast.
'Fake' racist attack
Mop-haired cutie Jussie Smollett played Terry Hall, tough Jesse's little brother.
He went on to star in the hit series Empire which centres on a hip hop music and entertainment company.
But Jussie, 40, ended up behind bars for staging a hate crime attack in 2019 – allegedly to boost his profile.
He claimed he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago, saying he had an “unknown chemical substance” poured on him and a rope wrapped around his neck.
It led to an outpouring of support from stars including actress Viola Davis, Glass Onion star Janelle Monae and model Naomi Campbell.
Cops claimed he paid two black friends to help him stage the assault.
Jussie was found guilty of felony disorderly conduct for allegedly faking the attack in December 2021.
He appealed, but in March last year was sentenced to 150 days in jail and put on probation for two-and-a-half years. He was also ordered to pay the city of Chicago just over $120,000 and fined $25,000 dollars.
Jussie served just six days after a court said he should be freed while his conviction is appealed.
Long Covid battle
Heartthrob Emilio Estevez was part of the iconic 80s Brat Pack of actors which included Rob Lowe, Molly Ringwald, Demi Moore and Andy McCarthy.
He made his name in hits The Breakfast Club and St Elmo’s Fire.
Emilio plays arrogant lawyer Gordon Bombay, who takes over as coach of The Mighty Ducks. He appears in all three Duck films and reprised his character for the Disney+ spin off series, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.
He left the show in March 2020 after contracting Covid and becoming worried about his safety on set.
Emilio said he had Long Covid when he returned to filming post lockdown in August 2020.
He said producers told him he would have natural immunity and later had to deny being anti-vaccine after failing to get the jab.
Despite his Mighty Ducks role, the son of actor Martin Sheen and brother of Charlie Sheen is naturally shy and has mainly stayed away from big hit movies.
In 2019 he told the Big Issue: “At 16 I was incredibly shy to the point where I couldn’t speak. I was afraid to speak and I feared being ridiculed.”
Emilio called himself a natural storyteller and has since directed several films including Bobby, about Bobby Kennedy, and American hit TV show The Guardian.
Childhood friends with Tom Cruise, he dated actress Demi Moore between 1984 and 86.
Demi later claimed he lied about sleeping with his ex-girlfriend – and was forced to tell the truth after she fell pregnant.
He has two children to model Carey Salley – son Taylor, 39, and daughter Paloma, 37.
He married singer Paula Abdul in 1992 but they split two years later, and he went on to date Sonja Magdesvski, with whom he ran a vineyard before they split.
On his Twitter account he says his favourite football team is Ipswich Town.
Shock arrest
Joshua Jackson struck gold with his role as the heart and soul of the Ducks – Charlie Conway.
He went on to star in Dawson’s Creek as Pacey Witter and dated co-star Katie Holmes for the first two seasons.
Katie, who went on to marry and divorce Tom Cruise, said Joshua was her first love.
Ironically it wasn't until two years after their real-life breakup that their onscreen characters Joey and Pacey fell in love.
Joshua went on to star alongside Ruth Wilson in TV series The Affair in which he played a grieving father – a role he says he wouldn’t take now having become a dad.
He had his first child, daughter Janie, with actress wife Jodie Turner-Smith in 2020.
Joshua was previously in a decade long relationship with German actress Diane Kruger who he split from in 2016.
She later said their split was amicable – after deleting every picture of him from Instagram.
In 2002 Joshua was arrested at a hockey game in North Carolina after a row with a security guard.
He was charged with assault, affray and being drunk in public. Prosecutors agreed to drop the assault charge and he agreed to attend an alcohol education program and perform 24 hours of community service.
Soho House job
Vincent LaRusso starred in all three Mighty Ducks movies as privileged Adam Banks, but hasn’t had a great deal of work since.
Now 44, he played a bank robber in 2008’s Superhero Movie and had a small role in Dollhouse a year later.
In 2020 he reprised his role as Adam for a one-off appearance in The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers reboot.
In between acting roles Vincent has managed several restaurants and held a senior post at Soho House private members club.
Little is known about his private life other than he split from wife Kathryn Everard in December 2018.
Hunger Games role
Elden Henson is arguably better known for playing Foggy Nelson in the MCU streaming TV series Daredevil.
He also landed the role of Pollux in The Hunger Games and had supporting roles in hit movies She’s All That and The Butterfly Effect.
Elden, 45, dated Mighty Ducks co-star Marguerite Moreau who later said: “I was so sweet on [his character] Fulton.
“I can’t delve in on anyone else because I’m just me, but I definitely was, you know, sweet on the boys and boy crazy. He’s such a little sweetheart. And plus, his charisma is crazy when he smiles at you.”
Elden is twice married – to Amy Getman, for 15 years, then Neighbours actress Kira Sternbach, with whom he shares son Dodger, eight. They split after two years in 2016.
TV success
There was certainly no confusion over surnames when Marguerite Moreau played Connie Moreau in the show.
She has gone on to appear in dozens of TV shows including Shameless, Life as We Know It, The OC and Grey’s Anatomy.
Moreau, 45, also played the role of Jesse in the 2002 film Queen on the Damned and the lead role in the TV miniseries horror Firestarter: Rekindled.
The following year she starred opposite Gene Hackman in Runaway Jury, a huge box office success.
She has been married to Canadian actor Christopher Redman since 2010 and the couple have a seven-year-old son together.
Ditched acting
Garette Ratliff Henson got the Mighty Ducks gig alongside older brother Elden.
He had already appeared in big films Arachnophobia and 1990s Captain American.
Garette, 43, was in demand with roles in The Adventures of Huck Finn and Casper (the friendly ghost).
But he stepped away from acting to go to college after completing D3, the last of the Mighty Duck film trilogy.
He and his brother returned for small cameos in The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.
Garette lives in New York with wife Laurie, who he married in 2007, and their son, born in 2014.
Hunky transformation
Aaron Schwartz was already famous for playing 'the fat kid', Gerry Garner, in the 1995 comedy Heavyweights when he was 14.
He played Dave Karp in Mighty Ducks – and these days he's unrecognisable, having undergone a hunky transformation.
Aaron took 14 years off from acting and hasn't had any stand-out roles since – bar a recurring role as the doorman, Vanya, in Gossip Girl.
His credits also include a small part in the TV series Made In Jersey in 2012, and The Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals.
Aaron has remained close to the Ducks cast, sharing snaps of reunions on Instagram.
Bit roles
Matt Doherty, who played Lester, walked away from a life of acting to study writing and theatre at University – but later returned.
The 44-year-old’s success on The Mighty Ducks was never repeated and he has spent the rest of his career doing small screen gigs with big part roles in Grey’s Anatomy, ER and CSI: Miami.
When he was cast in the movie he didn’t know how to skate or play hockey.
But by the time the third film was shot he was captain of his high school team and offered a scholarship to play in college.
Pilates instructor
Heidi Kling played Charlie’s mum Casey in Mighty Ducks and made a reappearance in the third film.
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She also starred in the TV series Brimstone and the film Turbulence, but has mainly stayed away from the industry and teaches Pilates.
Heidi, 61, married actor David Beron – famous for Alita: Battle Angel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Logan – in 1994.
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