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A legendary actor who got his start as a child actor in the 90s looks almost unrecognisable from his first efforts in Hollywood.
Devon Sawa, most known for his stint in Final Destination, has commanded a decades-long career on our screens after a very ghostly start in Hollywood.
The 46-year-old had us all doing a double-take when he popped up at New York Comic Con recently, taking part in the dedicated Shudder panel at the event.
He appeared dapper in a grey blazer and black T-shirt for the annual celebration in Manhattan, while sporting chunky black glasses.
The dad-of-two was joined by a string of other famous faces on the panel, including Tina Romero, David Dastmalchian, Flying Lotus and fellow horror legend Kate Siegel.
Devon famously began his career in the spotlight at the age of 14 and made his screen debut two years later in 1992’s Little Giants.
He shot to fame as Casper McFadden in Casper, as the ghost in his human form -starring opposite Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Eric Idle and Cathy Moriarty in the hit 1995 film.
However, it wasn’t all fun and games as Devon found himself taking on grittier roles to avoid the fame he attracted from the family movie.
‘I had to smoke pot in movies and I had to be in a hip-hop video. That’s what I felt like I had to do to get away from “Can I keep you?”’ he told the Independent in 2022. ‘Everybody wanted to hear, “Can I keep you?” It drove me nuts.’
He switched things up with his role as Scott Wormer in coming-of-age comedy Now and Then, also starring Christina, as well as Thora Birch, Melanie Griffith, Demi Moore and Rita Wilson.
Following a string of roles, Devon’s career took another turn when he fronted supernatural horror film Final Destination in 2000, appearing as teenager Alex Browning, who has a premonition on board a doomed flight to Paris and scrambles to get off the plane.
After rushing to safety and saving his classmates, they find themselves stalked by ‘Death’ as revenge for messing up the plan.
That same year, he performed in the music video for Eminem’s Stan, playing the overzealous, obsessive fan of the rapper.
He ended up taking a step back from the industry shortly after, and shared that while the move ‘wasn’t completely his choice’, it gave him the opportunity to work on himself and his sobriety.
‘I was burnt out, I was drinking too much. I was partying too much. And so I went back to Vancouver and got sober,’ he continued. ‘After a couple of years, I met my wife and we went away to southeast Asia. I wrestled with the idea of never acting again.’
Upon his return, Devon popped up in NCIS: Los Angeles, a recurring role in thriller series Nikita, and Somewhere Between.
He also enjoyed a cameo in Hacks in 2022, while also landing a huge part in the recently-canceled Chucky series across three seasons.
As well as this, he welcomed two children with his wife, producer Dawni Sahanovitch, who he married in 2013.
When asked whether their kids, son Hudson and daughter Charlotte, could follow his footsteps into Hollywood, he added to the Independent: ‘My daughter, I think, has the actor buzz in her.
‘She has comedic timing and she has levels. I’m never going to get her an agent or anything, but it’s really weird to see that she’s got this little performer in her.
‘Whenever parents ask about advice for their children, who they want to be actors, I always tell them what I’m sure they don’t want to hear: keep them out of the film business. If they want to act, put them in theatre, put them on the stage. They don’t need to be paid.
‘And then, four, five, six years later, if they’re still showing as much interest and passion, maybe revisit. You don’t need to make money out of your kids.’
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