The 1993 release of “Last Action Hero” was not well received by the public. The movie “Last Action Hero” ended up being a huge failure, despite the fact that it had the biggest action star of the period, a recognisable cast, and a talented director in John McTiernan. According to Box Office Mojo, the film made roughly $50 million against a $85 million budget, and reviews from critics were largely unfavourable, with one quote from Roger Ebert reading, “The underlying story never ever fully works.”
Numerous viewers have watched “Last Action Hero” again throughout the years despite its dismal performance. Modern reviews frequently describe the movie as being ahead of its time. For example, senior entertainment writer Mike Ryan stated in a review from Uproxx in 2020, “what I learnt by watching ‘Last Action Hero’ for the first time in 27 years is that it’s great.” It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what went wrong, but the movie’s sarcastic undertone may have turned off those hoping for a conventional action movie. The movie was in the capable hands of John McTiernan, who had previously directed “Die Hard” and “Predator,” and Shane Black, who had previously written “Lethal Weapon” for the screenplay.
Let’s find out what happened to the cast following the movie’s premiere given so much of the praise for “Last Action Hero” came years later.
Anthony Quinn as Vivaldi
In “Last Action Hero,” Anthony Quinn played the pool-bound thug Vivaldi in a minor role. Quinn was born in 1915 and started performing in the 1930s as a young guy. According to Broadway World, Quinn also enjoyed a prosperous career in the theatre. Among other plays, such as “Zorba,” in which he portrayed the title character, he appeared as Stanley Kowalski in the original 1947 Broadway production of “A Streetcar Named Desire” and once more in the 1950 revival.
Anthony Quinn had a long career and acted in many notable movies. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Ox-Bow Incident, La Strada, The Guns of Navarone, Zorba the Greek, and Lawrence of Arabia are a some of his most known movies. Anthony Quinn had two Oscar nominations for best lead actor and won the prize twice for best supporting actor. Quinn’s career ended with “Last Action Hero,” but the actor continued to have a few appearances after that, including playing Zeus in a number of made-for-TV “Hercules” films. According to The New York Times, Anthony Quinn passed away in 2001 at the age of 86.
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jack Slater
When “Last Action Hero” debuted in theatres in 1993, Arnold Schwarzenegger was already a well-known action star. He had a long list of great performances under his belt from the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, including “Predator,” which was also directed by John McTiernan. He was still reeling from the huge success of “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” which had been released two years before.
Schwarzenegger’s career has taken a unique path in the years following “Last Action Hero.” He continued to appear in action movies for the following ten years before putting acting on hold in 2003 when he won the special election to replace Gray Davis as governor of California, according to the Los Angeles Times. After winning re-election in 2006, Schwarzenegger postponed a substantial acting comeback until after he had served out his term. He did, however, have a few small appearances during his time as governor, including a quick cameo in “The Expendables.”
His first significant appearance following his resignation from politics was a cameo in “The Expendables 2,” which was followed by leading roles in “The Last Stand” and “The Escape Plan.” In “Maggie,” a zombie drama from 2015, Schwarzenegger displayed a different side to him, one that utilised his range as a dramatic and emotional actor rather than just his well-known role as an action hero. In “Terminator: Genisys” and “Terminator: Dark Fate,” Schwarzenegger made another cameo in the “Terminator” film series.
Art Carney as Frank
In “Last Action Hero,” Art Carney played Frank, which turned out to be his last movie role before quitting acting. Ten years later, at the age of 85, Carney passed away, according to the Chicago Tribune. Carney’s lengthy and illustrious career in the film and television industries came to an end with “Last Action Hero.” His first experience with acting came in 1941, when he appeared as a band member in “Pot o’ Gold” without receiving any credit. Carney’s early career was largely comprised of television roles. On “The Honeymooners” and the “The Jackie Gleason Show” versions from the 1950s and 1960s, Ed Norton played a character who was possibly his most well-known. Additionally, Carney would return as Ed Norton on “The Ed Sullivan show.”
Carney featured in slightly under 100 movies and TV episodes during the course of his five-decade career. The actor frequently worked in the comedy genre, but he was also occasionally cast in horror, action, and western films. His other notable works include “Firestarter,” “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” “Defiance,” and “Harry and Ton to,” to name a few.
Austin O’Brien as Danny Madigan
Danny Madigan, as portrayed by Austin O’Brien, is the youngster who is miraculously transported from the actual world to the fictional one in “Last Action Hero.” O’Brien was 12 years old when the movie came out and had only before acted in “The Lawnmower Man.” Over the following few years, O’Brien continued to work as a child actor, making appearances in films like “Apollo 13,” “My Girl 2,” and “The Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace,” in which he played Peter Parkette from the first movie once more.
O’Brien has worked less frequently but occasionally still participates in projects since becoming an adult. He appeared in the independent films “Rain From Stars,” “Innocent,” and “Bounty” as a supporting actor. When he was younger, O’Brien appeared on television in “Touched by an Angel” and “Promised Land” as Josh Greene. He made an adult appearance on the “Bones” episode “The Baby in the Bough” from Season 3. Additionally, O’Brien portrayed himself in the Indiegogo-funded “Cowl Girl” pilot from 2015, which was never turned into a full-fledged television series.
Charles Dance as Benedict
Benedict, the villain with the insane eyes, was portrayed by Charles Dance in “Last Action Hero.” This character is simply a satire of the bad guys in action movies, and Dance gives a suitably outrageous performance to match. These days, Dance is most recognised for his role as Tywin Lannister, the head of the Lannister family, in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” Dance has had numerous important television roles, while “Game of Thrones” is by no means her only one. Dance has also appeared in repeat episodes of shows including “The Crown,” in which he played Lord Mountbatten, “The Little Drummer Girl,” a spy miniseries, and the action series “Strike Back,” which airs on Cinemax.
Dance has also been featured in a number of important movies, like “Gosford Park,” which won an Academy Award. Dance recently played William Randolph Hearst in David Fincher’s most recent movie, “Mank.” Dance has additionally made personal appearances on a number of British comedy panel shows. Additionally, since 2012, he has featured as a guest on shows like “Was It Something I Said?” and “The Big Fat Quiz,” where he has solemnly read passages from trashy celebrity autobiographies.
F. Murray Abraham as John Practice
In “Last Action Hero,” F. Murray Abraham plays investigator John Practice opposite Jack Slater, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The two have a history and parody the buddy-cop tropes that author Shane Black contributed to popularising with “Lethal Weapon” in 1987. Although Abraham’s career started in the 1970s, it really took off in the early 1980s. IMDb reports that after playing a famous part in “Scarface,” Abraham portrayed Antonio Salieri in “Amadeus,” for which he won the Academy Award for best actor in a major role.
Since “Last Action Hero,” F. Murray Abraham has continued to be quite busy. In the Coen Brothers movie “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Abraham played Bud Grossman, a music producer who says, “I don’t see a lot of money here,” after watching the main character perform his heart out. He portrayed Mr. Mustafa, Tony Revolori’s older counterpart to Zero Mustafa, in Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Abraham then provided the voice of Jupiter in Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs,” which was their second joint project.
Abraham has performed in a number of well-known television roles. Dar Adal on “Homeland” was one of his most well-known television characters. Additionally displaying his versatility, he made three separate appearances as a distinct character in “Louie” on FX. He also played the much-anticipated Ayatollah in an episode of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” as a continuation of the Fatwa plotline in Season 9.
Frank McRae as Dekker
In “Last Action Hero,” Frank McRae portrayed the irritable LAPD captain named Dekker. The character is simply a satire of the archetypal screaming-mad police captain prevalent in action and buddy-cop films, and McRae delivers a suitably outrageous performance. McRae was a professional football player for the NFL before he became an actor. McRae, a defensive tackle who played for both the Chicago Bears and the Oakland Raiders, was mentioned by Variety.
In “Shaft of Africa,” the third and concluding “Shaft” movie in the original Richard Roundtree trilogy, McRae played his first important movie role. Later, McRae made other action movies throughout the 1970s and 1980s, most famously “Licence to Kill,” a 1989 Bond movie. McRae continued acting for another 13 years, but “Last Action Hero” was one of his final notable appearances. Before his final act in “Love’s Abiding Joy” in 2006, he made appearances in “Lightning Jack,” a Paul Hogan movie, and a few more lesser-known movies. Sadly, a heart attack claimed McRae’s life in April 2021.
Ian McKellen as Death
The character of death played by Ian McKellen in “Last Action Hero” was brief but unforgettable. Even though “Last Action Hero” came out before two of the roles for which McKellen is most known today, his decades-long career had already established him as a top-tier actor long before the movie. According to London Theatre, McKellen spent a significant portion of his early career acting on stage, frequently in Shakespearean productions where he played roles such as King Lear and Macbeth. From the 1970s through the 1980s, he was a member of The Royal Shakespeare Company, and he continued to play some of those roles in front of the camera in several TV movie adaptations all through the 1970s.
After “Last Action Hero,” Ian McKellen discovered the roles that made him famous to general audiences. McKellen became well-known to pop culture and film audiences all around the world with roles in movies like Magneto in “X-Men” and Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings.” Since “Last Action Hero,” he has also starred in important movies including “Gods and Monsters,” “The Da Vinci Code,” and “Mr. Holmes,” in which he played the famous Sherlock Holmes character.
Ian McKellen, who is 82 years old, is still going strong. He continues to work in theatre and movies, and in “Hamlet Revenant,” a reimagining of the classic tale, he returns to Shakespeare’s world.
Noah Emmerich as Rookie
In only his second ever cinematic appearance, Noah Emmerich played the humble role of Rookie in “Last Action Hero.” Another actor whose face you probably recognise even if you don’t know his name is Emmerich. When “Last Action Hero” was released, the actor hadn’t yet played a significant role, but in the years that followed, Emmerich would go on to appear in prestigious movies including “The Truman Show,” “Miracle,” “Cop Land,” and “Super 8.”
Emmerich has had a number of noteworthy roles in films, but his most well-known appearances may be found in television series. Emmerich is Stan Beeman, the FBI counterintelligence agent who moves in next door to the main protagonists in “The Americans,” which fans of the show will definitely remember. Additionally, he has appeared repeatedly in episodes of “White Collar,” “Billions,” “The Spy,” and “Space Force.” According to Deadline, Emmerich also makes an appearance in the western-themed thriller “Dark Winds” on AMC, which is set in the 1970s.
Robert Patrick as the T-1000
In “Last Action Hero,” Robert Patrick makes a cameo on the opposite side of the screen from Sharon Stone, who is making one of her own. Patrick reprises his role as the T-1000 from “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” who famously battled Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator character, for this brief visit. The connection to the T-1000 is incredibly meta, given that the real-life Arnold Schwarzenegger resides within the reality of “Last Action Hero.”
Since “Last Action Hero,” Robert Patrick has appeared in more than 150 films and television programmes. In “Cop Land,” “The Faculty,” “Walk the Line,” “True Blood,” and a long-running recurrent part as John Doggett on “The X-Files,” he played some of his most notable roles. Texas Blood Money, the straight-to-video sequel to “From Dusk Till Dawn,” also starred Robert Patrick. Many years later, he would return to the series as the lead in the television adaption “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series.” He plays Jacob Fuller, the character Harvey Keitel originally played in the movie, on the show. Patrick has recently made regular appearances on the popular TV shows “Goliath” on Amazon Prime and “Perry Mason” on HBO.
Sharon Stone as Catherine Trammell
In “Last Action Hero,” Sharon Stone makes a fleeting appearance as she lights up a cigarette in front of the LAPD headquarters as Jack Slater and Danny Madigan enter. She’s reprising Catherine Trammell from “Basic Instinct,” unquestionably her most well-known role, so her outfit might appear familiar. When “Basic Instinct 2” was released in 2006, Stone would eventually play Catherine Tramell for a third time, despite the movie receiving far less attention than its predecessor.
Taking advantage of the buzz around “Basic Instinct,” Sharon Stone continued to work throughout the 1990s after “Last Action Hero.” Since then, she has acted as a gunfighter in Sam Raimi’s western “The Quick and the Dead,” played the cunning Ginger alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese’s “Casino,” and made an appearance as one of Bill Murray’s several ex-lovers in Jim Jarmusch’s “Broken Flowers.” Stone most recently appeared in Ryan Murphy’s “Ratched” series as Lenore Osgood.
Tom Noonan as The Ripper
Even if you don’t know Tom Noonan’s name, you might identify him as a superb character actor. Noonan plays The Ripper, the movie’s axe-wielding supporting antagonist, in “Last Action Hero.” Even though he is wearing false teeth and has prosthetics all over his body for the part, his performance is still excellent. Tom Noonan has played noteworthy supporting parts in a number of movies since “Last Action Hero,” including Michael Mann’s “Heat,” Ti West’s “The House of the Devil,” and Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York.”
Noonan has also appeared repeatedly in a number of television programmes. He portrayed Detective Victor Huntley in “Damages” and Reverend Nathaniel Cole in “Hell on Wheels.” Noonan is a theatre artist who is also heavily involved in film and television. Noonan founded The Paradise Factory, a centre for the advancement of theatre and film, after purchasing a foreclosed structure in New York City. What Happened was, a play by Noonan that he later wrote, directed, and starred in its film adaptation. According to IMDb, the movie received the Grand Jury Prize at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. In 1998, Noonan received a Guggenheim Fellowship, which is offered to individuals who have “exceptional innovative aptitude in the arts.”
