The Mighty Ducks: The Cast Then And Now

One of the things that’s often overlooked in the history of Disney cinema is their wide collection of sports movies. From Angels in the Outfield and Miracle to McFarland, USA, Disney has rarely met an uplifting, rags-to-riches sports tale it didn’t like. Before nearly all of them, however, was The Mighty Ducks. The story of a group of down and out kids and the man forced into coaching them was so popular it spawned two sequels.The movie saw a number of child actors who have grown into regular staples of TV and film as well as several adults who got some of their earliest work in the franchise.

But where are those cast members now? The answer may surprise you: 

Emilio Estevez

Emilio Estevez was the leader of the rag tag group of hockey playing kids and was the only bona fide star in the first film. He’d been famous for seven years already, having starred in the both of classic "Brat Pack" films The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire. Then he played Billy the Kid in a pair of Young Guns movies. While Estevez has continued to act since Ducks, he’s been much more focused on directing in recent years. He both wrote and directed the Kennedy Assassination drama Bobby as well as his current project, the drama The Public about the people who live and work around the Los Angeles Public Library. 

Joshua Jackson

The first Mighty Ducks film was only Joshua Jackson’s third acting job in his career. Jackson would go on to wider fame two years after the third film, when he would play Pacey in the well-remembered teen soap Dawson’s Creek. While Jackson has continued to do the occasional movie role, including a part in Estevez’s own Bobby, he has continued to find the majority of his success in TV. He played the role of Peter Bishop for five seasons on Fringe, and can currently be seen on Showtime’sThe Affair. 

Eldon Henson

Playing Fulton Reed, the first kid to call himself a Duck, Henson already had been working for 10 years when he filmed the first Mighty Ducks movie. In Ducks, he was the enforcer because of his size. This asset became part of many of his characters over the years, including his role as the silent giant Maxwell Kane in The Mighty. He also had a large part as the best friend of Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect. Today, Henson is best known for his role of Foggy Nelson in Netflix’s Daredevil series. 

Keenan Thompson

Keenan Thompson scorned his first movie role when he was cast as Russ in D2, the street hockey player who helps save the day. The same year he would be cast in Nickelodeon’s kids sketch comedy show All That, which would in turn spawn theKeenan and Kel side project, as well as Good Burger, a movie based on the show’s most popular sketch. Three years after All That wrapped, Thompson would join the cast of the granddaddy of all sketch shows, Saturday Night Live, where he can still be found today. 

Kathryn Erbe

Kathryn Erbe was the tutor for team USA in the Junior Goodwill Games of D2. For most people, however, she will always be detective Alexandra Eames, the partner of Vincent D’Onofrio for 10 years on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. She has reprised the role for a couple of guest spots on Special Victims Unit, and even did it again last year as part of sketch on John Oliver’s HBO series Last Week Tonight. 

Marguerite Moreau

Moreau portrayed Connie, one of the few girls on the Ducks' hockey team. The next time you probably saw her, she had grown up quite a bit in her role as Katie in Wet Hot American Summer. Since then, Moreau had recurring roles in several TV series including The O.C., Shameless, and Grey’s Anatomy. More recently, she reprised her role for the Wet Hot American Summer mini-series for Netflix. 

Jussie Smollett

Smollett may be one of the more interesting stories from the entire Mighty Duckscast. After getting the role of Terry in the first film, he practically vanished. He wasn’t in either of the sequels, and while he certainly continued to work, the different series he ended up on never made it much beyond a single season. Cut to 2015. Smollett jumps back into the forefront of notice as Jamal on FOX’s much loved series Empire. Funny how things go