Easily one of the best movies of the 1990s, Jumanji was a true testament to the imagination. It had the same spirit of children playing make-believe but in the most detailed and realistic way possible. The film’s star, Robin Williams, continued his career through goofy children’s comedies like Flubber and more serious adult films like Bicentennial Man.
But Jumanji is definitely an ensemble film. It features Kirsten Dunst as Judy Shepherd and Bradley Pierce as Peter Shepherd, who play Jumanji 26 years after Alan Parrish’s mysterious disappearance. The game is fun and chaotic, but most importantly, it’s dangerous. So where is the cast of 1995’s Jumanji today? We compare them then and now, almost 30 years later.
SOURCE: SONY PICTURES
Robin Williams (Alan Parrish)
When he starred in Jumanji, Robin was at the height of his film career. He had just won a Golden Globe for his role in Mrs. Doubtfire and was en route to win an Academy Award in 1997’s Good Will Hunting. His iconic role in The Birdcage was in 1996, and another came along in 1998’s Patch Adams.
Sadly, however, Robin passed away in 2014 from “asphyxia due to hanging.” His wife, Sarah Schneider, whom he married in 2011, described Robin’s “diffuse Lewy body dementia” as “the terrorist inside my husband’s brain.”
Kirsten Dunst (Judy Shepherd)
Before she became a leading lady, Kirsten was a child actor. She made her debut in 1989’s New York Stories and was even nominated for a Golden Globe for 1994’s Interview with a Vampire. Now, her most acclaimed films include 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and 2021’s The Power of the Dog. She received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019 and is starring in the upcoming film, Civil War. She’s married to her Fargo co-star, Jesse Plemons, with whom she shares two kids.
David Alan Grier (Carl Bentley)
David Alan Grier portrayed Carl, the shoemaker-turned-policeman, in Jumanji. Before that, he was a Tony-nominated theater actor who forayed into film with 1983’s Streamers. He finally won his well-deserved Tony Award in 2021 for his role in the 2020 revival of A Soldier’s Play. In 2023, he starred as Reverend Avery in The Color Purple and will be in 2024’s The American Society of Magical Negroes. He and his ex-wife, Christine Y. Kim, share one daughter, who was born in 2008.
Adam Hann-Byrd (Young Alan Parrish)
Adam plays the young version of Robin Williams in Jumanji, but he had a very different career path. After Jumanji, Adam had a few roles in projects such as The Ice Storm and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, but his last role was in a film called Simone as Walker. In 2017, he married Dara Epstein, with whom he lives in Los Angeles. He’s now a television and video game writer whose most recent project was Hogwarts Mystery.
Bonnie Hunt (Sarah Whittle)
Bonnie Hunt is a force to be reckoned with after her ongoing and expansive career. She rose up in Chicago’s Second City improv theater and even had her own television show, The Bonnie Hunt Show, from 2007–2010. She supports the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, and her most recent role was as Mrs. Claus in 2024’s Red One. She also voices several characters in franchises such as Toy Story, Cars, Zootopia, and more.
Bradley Pierce (Peter Shepherd)
Just a kid when filming Jumanji, Bradley was first recognized as the voice of Chip in 1991’s Beauty and the Beast. He went on to do plenty of voice work in Sonic the Hedgehog, The Pink Panther, and more. He now produces short films and media “Geek” content with ZFO Entertainment and is the co-founder of Pierce & Luna, a cocktail community he began with his partner, producer/performer Bella Luna. He has three kids with his ex-wife, Shari Holmes, who he divorced in 2015.
Laura Bell Bundy (Young Sarah Whittle)
After playing young Sarah in Jumanji, Laura went on to have an illustrious television and stage career. She starred in Guiding Light from 1999–2001 as Marah Lewis and later snagged a recurring role in How I Met Your Mother. On Broadway, she originated the roles of Amber in 2002’s Hairspray and Elle Woods in 2007’s Legally Blonde.
Sarah most recently returned to Broadway in The Cottage, although she focuses most of her time on women’s rights and activism with her podcast, Women of Tomorrow. She and her husband, Thom Hinkle, had a son in May 2019.
Jonathan Hyde (Sam Parrish/Van Pelt)
As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Jonathan Hyde had an extensive theater background before transitioning to film and television. After Jumanji, he played J. Bruce Ismay in 1997’s Titanic and Dr. Allen Chamberlain in 1999’s The Mummy. He played the iconic Henry Jekyll in 2023’s Doctor Jekyll and the Duke of Norfolk in The Crown. He shares two daughters, one of whom is actor Georgia King, with his wife of 44 years, Isobel Buchanan.
Bebe Neuwirth (Nora Shepherd)
As the caring, yet harsh, aunt who ends up with the Shepherd kids after their parents died, Bebe Neuwirth is still a delight. Throughout her storied career, she has won two Emmys, two Tonys, and a Drama Desk Award. Her breakthrough television role after a decade on Broadway was as Dr. Lilith Sternin, Frasier’s wife, on Cheers and Frasier.
Bebe has done plenty of film and television work since, most recently in Netflix’s Tick, Tick… Boom! and the Frasier reboot. She’s also returning to Broadway in 2024 as Fräulein Schneider in Cabaret. Bebe is currently married to director/producer/writer Chris Calkins and is on the board of trustees for the Actors Fund, as well as helping Seeds of Peace.
