What Happened To The Cast Of Tommy Boy?

Though not one of the many films inspired by a specific "Saturday Night Live" sketch, "Tommy Boy" wouldn't have been without the impact of the long-running NBC series. The 1995 film was produced by Lorne Michaels as a star vehicle for Chris Farley and David Spade, two of the most promising "SNL" cast members at the time whose talent and dynamic as friends seemed perfectly suited for a larger-than-life buddy comedy of this kind. Farley anchored the film as the titular protagonist, the hapless heir to an auto parts company who unexpectedly inherits his birthright long before he's had the chance to become the businessman his father ("First Blood" actor Brian Dennehy) wanted him to be. Spade played the late owner's executive assistant, who joins Farley's Tommy for a Hail Mary sales adventure to save the company.

Critics at the time were relatively hard on "Tommy Boy" for its weak plot (indeed, the actual writing of the film had been a mess thanks to a late-game story overhaul and the limited availability of those headed back to "Saturday Night Live"), but Farley's debut as a comedic leading man has maintained the film's classic status. Decades after his death in 1997, Hollywood creatives have attempted to capitalize on its legacy, and though the cast will likely never reunite to a sequel of any kind, their careers since the original have grown far beyond the family business.

Here's what happened to the cast of "Tommy Boy."

The role of Ron Gilmore in "Tommy Boy" actually came at the end of James Blendick's sparse film career, which began in 1976 with a role in the film "Shoot." He also had roles in "Resurrection," Bob Fosse's "Star 80," and Sidney Lumet's "Guilty as Sin." On television, he guest-starred on programs like "The Invisible Man," "Police Story," "Kojak," "The Bionic Woman," "Remington Steele," and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."

Blendick did not appear in another film for 15 years after the release of "Tommy Boy." In 1997, he replaced voice actor John Colicos as the Marvel Comics supervillain Apocalypse in the beloved children's show "X-Men: The Animated Series." Interestingly enough, he was far from the only "Tommy Boy" alum in the cast — David Calderisi and Marc Strange, both credited as executives in "Tommy Boy," voiced Professor Thornton / Garokk and Forge respectively; Camilla Scott, who played a stewardess, voiced Lilandra; Nelson actor Colin Fox voiced the Purple Man; and, most notably, Magneto was voiced throughout the series by none other than the late David Hemblen, who played Archer in the 1995 film. We digress.

After serving as the narrator for the anthology series "Mythic Warriors" from 1998 to 2000, Blendick retired from acting. He came out of retirement for a small supporting role in Julie Taymor's live-action adaptation of "The Tempest" in 2010, but has not acted since.

After playing Ted Reilly in "Tommy Boy," Zach Grenier closed out the '90s with roles in "Reckless," "Twister," and "Fight Club," guest-starring spots on "Cosby" and "Ally McBeal," and a leading role on the short-lived procedural "C-16: FBI." He began the new millennium with a recurring role on the 1st season of the runaway hit political action-thriller "24," playing Carl Webb, a senior staffer working under David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). In 2004, he was cast as one of the leads in a new crime thriller for USA titled "Touching Evil," in which he would play an FBI agent hunting down serial killers. It was cancelled after one season.

For much of the following decade, Grenier guest-starred on a wide range of television shows, such as "Medium," "Boston Legal," "CSI: Miami," "Cold Case," "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," "The Blacklist," and "Chicago P.D." (He also recurred on HBO's "Deadwood" as Andy Cramed.) In 2010, he began recurring on the CBS drama "The Good Wife" as David Lee (pictured above), a cold divorce attorney and ally of Julianna Margulies' Alicia Florrick. He was promoted to a series regular during its 5th season and reprised his role for multiple seasons of the spin-off series "The Good Fight." 

Grenier's other notable roles include Harrison Loeb in the 2000 Samuel L. Jackson "Shaft" film, San Francisco detective Mel Nicolai in the David Fincher thriller "Zodiac," Senator Dreyfus in the 2014 "RoboCop" reboot, and security officer Kenton in the mind-bending Alex Garland miniseries "Devs."

Frank Rittenhauer remains one of the most beloved roles of Sean McCann's acting career. Few films on his resume have reached the same level of lasting popularity as "Tommy Boy," save maybe for Rob Marshall's 2002 adaptation of the musical "Chicago" (in which he had a supporting role as the judge presiding over the trial of Renée Zellweger's Roxie Hart) and the 2004 sports drama "Miracle" (in which he portrayed Walter Bush, the general manager of the gold medal-winning 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team). He continued to appear in smaller films throughout the later 2000s and 2010s, posthumously ending his film career in 2021 playing a shopkeeper in the Canadian comedy "Defining Moments." (Incidentally, it is also the final film of Burt Reynolds' film career.)

There is a chance some younger Canadian readers may recognize McCann from his later television work. In 1998, he was cast as the lead of the children's series "Noddy," a fantasy program that followed the curious happenings at a toy shop that sold "Notions, Oddities, Doodads, and Delights of Yesterday" (N.O.D.D.Y.). McCann played old Noah Tomten, the patriarchal proprietor of the store. "Noddy" ran for two seasons and 66 episodes, ending in 1999. He was also the voice of Grandfather Bear on the animated series "Little Bear."

McCann died in 2019 due to complications from heart disease. He was 83.

Rob Lowe was already one of the biggest stars in Hollywood when he appeared in "Tommy Boy," having previously starred in the '80s hit "St. Elmo's Fire, but his role as Paul Barrish came as the actor was regaining his footing after a sex tape threatened his meteoric rise. His role in "Tommy Boy" wasn't even credited, but it might have just been an excuse for Chris Farley to hang out with him. As Lowe said on "The Rich Eisen Show" in 2024, recalling one of their shooting days after the two ditched the rest of the cast to chill in a jacuzzi, "I saw [David] Spade and Farley physically fight over me... and [also] over a turkey sandwich."

Lowe kept a low profile through the end of the decade, before making a smart move to television to star as Sam Seaborn on Aaron Sorkin's acclaimed NBC political drama "The West Wing." Though he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2001, Lowe made the difficult decision to leave the series at the height of its popularity in 2003. Television studios continued to recognize him as a singular talent for the medium, and he was soon after cast in leading roles in the ABC drama "Brothers and Sisters," the NBC mockumentary sitcom "Parks and Recreation," the Fox legal drama "The Grinder," the CBS medical drama "Code Black," and the Ryan Murphy firefighting procedural "9-1-1: Lone Star."

In 2023, he co-created and co-starred in the Netflix comedy "Unstable" with his son John Owen Lowe, though it was cancelled after two seasons. He is currently the host of the Fox trivia game show "The Floor" (pictured above).

Prior to playing Thomas Callahan Jr. in "Tommy Boy," Brian Dennehy frequently starred in TV movies that, while not necessarily as well-remembered today, earned him significant acclaim when they were released. In 1990, he was nominated for his first Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the Stephen Gyllenhaal (yes, the father of the Gyllenhaal siblings) crime drama "A Killing in a Small Town." He earned three more nominations before 1995, including two in 1992 — one of which was for playing serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Of course, more than these films and a few other hidden gems you haven't seen, Dennehy is still arguably best known as Sheriff Will Teasle from "First Blood," the first installment in the "Rambo" series.

Dennehy's theatrical film career consisted largely of supporting roles, though he found his way into some of the most interesting projects released in his lifetime. The year after "Tommy Boy," Dennehy was tapped to play Leonardo DiCaprio's father, Ted Montague, in Baz Luhrmann's modern reimagining of "Romeo and Juliet." In the 2000s and 2010s, he appeared in a remake of "Assault on Precinct 13," the beloved Disney-Pixar animated comedy "Ratatouille" (playing Remy's father, Django), Terrence Malick's "Knight of Cups."

The actor also appeared in a star-studded adaptation of the classic Anton Chekhov play "The Seagull" (pictured above), but off-screen, he was also a lauded thespian, winning two Tony Awards for leading the Broadway revivals of "Death of a Salesman" and "Long Day's Journey into Night". Meanwhile, on television, he guest-starred on "The West Wing," "30 Rock," "The Good Wife," "The Blacklist," and "Penny Dreadful: City of Angels."

Well into the latter years of his career, Dennehy reflected fondly on "Tommy Boy" and his time with Chris Farley. In 2020, Dennehy died at the age of 81 due to complications from sepsis.

Like a few of the actors we've yet to speak about on this list, Dan Aykroyd was cast in "Tommy Boy" after making his mark on "SNL." The hit NBC sketch series had already led Aykroyd to his own breakout role in the 1980 film "The Blues Brothers," which he co-wrote (with director John Landis) and starred in alongside the late "SNL" alum John Belushi. The duo would reunite the next year for "Neighbors," and Aykroyd himself went on to star in classic comedies like "Trading Places," "Dragnet," "Spies Like Us," "Driving Miss Daisy," and "Coneheads" (another "SNL" idea he spun into a screenplay). However, Aykroyd's star shot into another dimension thanks to the 1984 action comedy "Ghostbusters," which he also co-wrote with Harold Ramis.

Around the time of "Tommy Boy," Aykroyd's career as a comedic leading man began to settle down, but he enjoyed a string of memorable supporting and even cameo roles in a wide variety of movies including "Grosse Pointe Blank," "Loser," the Michael Bay war drama "Pearl Harbor," "50 First Dates," "Christmas with the Kranks," "Tammy," and "Pixels." He has also appeared in every "Ghostbusters" sequel (reprising his original role in the most recent installments, pictured above) and contributed to the documentaries "John Candy: I Like Me," "You Had to Be There" (about a 1972 Toronto production of "Godspell" that improbably cast actors who would become some of the most important figures in comedy), and "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not."

A scholar of the unknown, Aykroyd has hosted series like "Hotel Paranormal" and "The Unbelievable." In 2024, he also hosted a web series inspired by "A History of the World in Six Glasses" (in addition to being a professed spiritualist, Aykroyd is a purveyor of spirits — particularly his Crystal Head Vodka).

The same year she played Michelle Brock in "Tommy Boy," Julie Warner landed a starring role in the Marc Lawrence NBC sitcom "Pride and Joy." Also featuring future "Entourage" star Jeremy Piven in an early role, the series followed two couples living in the same apartment building in New York City, but it was cancelled after six episodes. She found her next major television project in 1999 in "Family Law," a legal drama about a recently-divorced divorce attorney trying to make it on her own (played by Kathleen Quinlan). Warner was part of the main cast for the first two seasons.

Heading into the 2000s, she began working mostly as a television guest star on popular series like "Scrubs," "House," and "Entourage," occasionally landing recurring arcs on shows like the "Nip/Tuck" and "Crash." In the past decade or so, she's appeared on episodes of "Dexter," "Grey's Anatomy," the Marc Maron IFC sitcom "Maron," "Code Black," and "The Good Doctor." Her most recent role as of writing was in the 2023 TV movie "Where Are You, Christmas?" (pictured above).

The role of Beverly Burns-Barrish in "Tommy Boy" came to Bo Derek at the peak of her film career, the years that followed seeing the model-turned-actor starting to embrace a kind of celebrity less enmeshed in performance. Though she had starred in several successful films, including "10," "A Change of Seasons," and "Bolero," her acting was often the target of harsh criticism, and she's been "honored" with multiple Golden Raspberry Awards, including for her work in "Tommy Boy."

For the first time since the 1992 Italian film "Sognando la California," Derek played herself on a 1999 episode of "The Drew Carey Show." This immediately kicked off a trend for her appearances in films and on TV, with similar cameos coming her way in the Emeril Lagasse sitcom "Emeril" (2000), the Jason Alexander sitcom "Bob Patterson" (2001), Dana Carvey's comedy "The Master of Disguise" (2002), and the Indian film "Boom" (2003).

Derek did continue to play characters that weren't herself, including on the TV series "Family Law," "Wind on Water," "Queen of Swords," "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place," and "7th Heaven." In 2006, she was cast as one of the stars of "Fashion House," a soap opera that aired nights on the Fox-affiliated MyNetworkTV. It ran for just one 65-episode season. 

More recently, Derek has appeared in the "Sharknado" series and the Walton Goggins-led "John Bronco" mockumentary shorts, playing a fictionalized version of herself in the latter. In 2023, she was a contestant on the 3rd season of the Spanish-language version of "The Masked Singer."

Having played a supporting role in "Coneheads," "Tommy Boy" was David Spade's chance to step into the spotlight — or at least share it as Chris Farley's straight man. After the 1995 film became a success, the two "SNL" players were reunited for the 1996 film "Black Sheep," in which Spade played a political staffer tasked with preventing the brother (Farley) of a politician from ruining his chances of winning an election. The film was similarly successful financially but was critically panned.

Spade left "SNL" in 1996 and began starring in the Steven Levitan sitcom "Just Shoot Me!" the following year. It ran for over 140 episodes and seven seasons, with Spade earning an Emmy nomination for his supporting role as Dennis Finch in 1998. That same year, he released his first stand-up special "Take the Hit" on HBO.

While continuing to appear on "Just Shoot Me," Spade began to co-write and star in feature films including the 1999 romantic comedy "Lost and Found," "Joe Dirt," and "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star." He also voiced the titular character in the Disney animated film "The Emperor's New Groove." In 2006, Spade entered a new era of his career by appearing in Dennis Dugan's "The Benchwarmers." He would go on to work with Dugan on the Adam Sandler films "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," both "Grown Ups" films, and "Jack and Jill."

In recent years, Spade has almost exclusively appeared in Sandler's films (the two having been friends since their days on "SNL"), such as the "Hotel Transylvania" series, "The Ridiculous 6," "The Do-Over," and the Happy Madison-produced "The Wrong Missy." He also continues to tour as a stand-up comedian, with three recent specials from Comedy Central, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video.

Chris Farley remains one of the most beloved and memorable "SNL" cast members of all time. While some of his more conventional comedic co-stars — including friends Spade, Chris Rock, and Adam Sandler — would go on to their best work in subsequent films, television shows, or stand-up specials, Farley dominated the sketch comedy format, his boundless energy and distinct physical style making him a peerless talent in the genre. He had previously stolen scenes in "Wayne's World" and "Coneheads," but it wasn't until "Tommy Boy" that audiences saw what happened when his singular style was unleashed on an entire film.

After "Black Sheep," Farley appeared in just one other film before his death in 1997 (the Dennis Dugan flick "Beverly Hills Ninja"). In December of that year, he died of a drug overdose at the age of 33. The comedian's use of hard drugs had been noticed by many throughout his career, including "SNL" alum Jim Belushi, who lost his own brother John Belushi (infamously Farley's personal hero) to a drug overdose at the age of 33. In 2022, Jim Belushi shared on an episode of David Spade and Dana Carvey's podcast that he had confronted Farley out of concern for his health.

Before his death, Farley completed work on "Almost Heroes" and "Dirty Work," and was famously cast to star in the animated movie "Shrek." In 2015, his friends and colleagues — including Spade, Dan Aykroyd, Bo Derek, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and Lorne Michaels — participated in the documentary "I Am Chris Farley." Paul Walter Hauser is set to play Farley in a biopic based on the book "The Chris Farley Show" produced by Michaels and directed by Josh Gad.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).