If you grew up in the ’80s, you remember Chunk — the Hawaiian shirt, the legendary Truffle Shuffle, and the lovable chaos he brought to The Goonies.
But Jeff Cohen’s Hollywood story took an unexpected turn.
Born in 1974 in Los Angeles, he adopted his mother’s maiden name for his acting career and landed the role that made him a pop-culture icon. While filming The Goonies, he even hid a case of chickenpox to avoid being replaced. Director Richard Donner, with Steven Spielberg producing, helped create the classic — and became a lifelong mentor to Cohen.
After the film’s success, puberty changed everything. As Cohen put it: “I didn’t give up acting. Acting gave me up.” Unable to find roles, he stepped away from Hollywood and focused on school.
With Donner’s encouragement and support, he earned a business degree from UC Berkeley and a law degree from UCLA. Instead of staying in front of the camera, he built a career behind the scenes — becoming a top entertainment lawyer and co-founding Cohen & Gardner LLP.
In a poetic twist, he later negotiated the deal for his former co-star Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All at Once, the role that won Quan an Oscar.
Today, Jeff Cohen may not look like Chunk anymore, but he’s proud of the impact that 10-year-old him made — and of the successful life he built beyond child stardom.