One of the stars of Casper the Friendly Ghost looks totally unrecognisable to his former self.
Devon Sawa first shot to fame when he starred in the 1995 kids’ classic. Working alongside acting legend Christina Ricci, the actor melted hearts across the world with his portrayal of Casper in his human form.
Landing the role aged just 16, Devon endeared himself to the public thanks to his acting chops. But since then, the star has grown up – and looks like a completely different version of how viewers may have remembered him.
READ MORE: School of Rock child stars hint at engagement 21 years after appearing in movie
Click for more brilliant Daily Star showbiz stories
As well as this, it is clear that Devon is still more than happy to get stuck in on all the ghostly fun, often taking on the chilling role of being a ghost in his new Hollywood films. He has even gone as far as to take death head on in one of his latest projects.
(Image: Universal Pictures/IMDB)
Devon, now aged 46, is continuing his acting career to this day and has a slew of huge blockbusters to his name. Spanning everything from saucy music videos to terrifying horror franchises, the actor is more than happy to take on a variety of parts.
He initially broke out appearing in advertisements in his native Canada here and there, before he eventually landed his first film role in the kids’ film Little Giants. After that, it was clear Devon had something special, which led producers to give him a chance with the role of the human version of Casper.
In the film, Casper was granted his one wish to dance with Christina Ricci’s character Kat at the Halloween party. The character was given the brief moment of being a real boy and appeared in the shape of Devon for a brief stint, before returning to his ghostly figure.
(Image: Getty Images)
Since then, Devon’s range of acting has seen him take many twists and turns, landing a major role as Alex in the thriller film Final Destination. The film centres around his character trying to cheat death, after he was supposed to get on a plan they were meant to die on.
After this, he gained even more international recognition as he starred in the music video for Eminem ‘s iconic track Stan. The song proved to be a hit worldwide – and here in the UK, the track reached No1 in the charts, and stayed in the Top 40 for longer than three months.
But despite his success, Devon admitted that his fame came with a price, as he was forced to take a break from acting due to burnout. He also became dependent on alcohol and had been seen drinking almost constantly, resulting in a five-year hiatus, ending in 2009.
(Image: David Yeh/SYFY via Getty Images)
Coming back to the acting scene, Devon has stayed firmly in the horror genre, landing roles in The Fanatic, released in 2020. In a strange turn of events, Devon went from being a stalker in Eminem’s music video to the victim, as John Travolta starred as troubled fan who manically stalked him.
However, Devon has branched out and tried his hand at a number of other genres, including comedy – where he made an appearance in box office smash Hacks. However, Devon admitted in 2022 that his stint in Casper did have an effect on his career and confessed he struggles to break free from the character.
“I had to smoke pot in movies and I had to be in a hip-hop video,” he said in an interview with The Independent. “That’s what I felt like I had to do to get away from ‘Can I keep you?’”
For more of the latest showbiz and TV news from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up for one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
