See the Nerds From "Weird Science" Now at 52 & 53
Ilan Mitchell-Smith and Anthony Michael Hall have gone down very different paths.
In 1985, moviegoers watched as two nerdy high schoolers created a woman in a homemade science experiment, got back at their bullies, and captured the attention of their crushes. The movie was Weird Science, and the two nerds, Gary Wallace and Wyatt Donnelly, were played by Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith. In the 37 years since Weird Science was released, Hall and Mitchell-Smith have gone in very different directions with their lives. While Hall is still acting, Mitchell-Smith threw in the towel after his teen movie days and now works in education.
Read on to find out more about Mitchell-Smith and Hall's lives and careers today.
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Mitchell-Smith and Hall have kept in touch.
In a 2014 interview with Kickin' It Old School (via Rediscover the '80s), Mitchell-Smith shared, "When I left the business I concentrated on school almost exclusively, and so I lost touch with a lot of the people whom I really liked a lot." But, he added, "I am lucky enough to still be in touch with [Weird Science co-stars] Judie Aronson and Suzanne Snyder, Michael [Hall], and Vernon Wells."
Hall and Mitchell-Smith, along with fellow co-star Kelly LeBrock, reunited publicly in 2019 at Awesome Con where they answered questions from fans. A video of their panel can be seen on YouTube.
Mitchell-Smith quit acting for the most part.
Aside from Weird Science, Mitchell-Smith also acted in the '80s movies The Wild Life, The Chocolate War, and Identity Crisis, amongst other roles. He retired from the business in 1991, with his last role being an appearance on the TV series Silk Stalkings. In recent years, Mitchell-Smith has returned to acting for two parts: a voice role on the animated series Axe Cop and a guest role on The Goldbergs in an episode inspired by Weird Science.
He took on a new career.
Mitchell-Smith, now 52, went to college after his career as a young actor and then became a professor himself. "I am a professor of Medieval English Literature at California State University, Long Beach," he told Kickin' It Old School. "I have published a little bit on medieval chivalric romances, violence and monsters, and I also have written a little bit on contemporary recreations of the Middle Ages, in Disney princesses or in online gaming or in medieval action films."
As for his personal life, Mitchell-Smith is married and has two children.
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Hall is still acting.
Unlike his co-star, Hall has continued acting ever since he came to fame as a teen thanks to Weird Science and two other John Hughes-directed movies, Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. Some of his other projects include Edward Scissorhands, Six Degrees of Separation, The Dark Knight, and Foxcatcher. Most recently, he appeared in the movie Halloween Kills, and he has a recurring role on The Goldbergs, but was not in the episode with Mitchell-Smith.
He's engaged.
Hall got engaged to his fiancée, Lucia Oskerova, in 2019. According to People, they started dating in 2016 and appeared in the 2017 movie War Machine together. In September 2019, he posted photos from their engagement, which took place in Sicily, on Instagram, and captioned the post with the quote, "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."
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