Sean Astin

The Goonies made him a recognizable face as a kid, Rudy made people believe he could carry an emotionally serious film, and then his career quietly stalled. The call for Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings came while he was deep in that slump. He won five awards for the role and wrote a memoir about the experience. Turns out playing the most loyal character in fantasy fiction is a durable brand.

Bob Newby in Stranger Things Season 2 was a crowd-pleasing character death that reminded a new generation he existed. His Broadway debut as Santa Claus in Elf the Musical followed in late 2024. The real turn came in September 2025, when SAG-AFTRA members elected him president with nearly 80% of the vote, succeeding Fran Drescher. His mother, Patty Duke, held the same role from 1985 to 1988. The acting career runs in the background now.

Patty Duke told him at 14 that Desi Arnaz Jr. was his biological father. Nearly a decade later, a DNA test revealed it was actually Michael Tell, the man Duke had married for 13 days in 1970. He considers John Astin, who adopted and raised him, his real father. He founded Run3rd Alliance, a nonprofit for after-school running programs, and earned a master's in public administration from American University in 2024, which suggests the whole Hollywood career was never really the whole plan.