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Dead Poets Society surprised everyone in 1989 with an incredible crop of unknown young actors. Here’s where the cast is today.
Dead Poets Society was released almost 34 years ago, making the teenagers in the movie middle-aged men now. This is one of the best coming-of-age films of the '80s; one that changed the lives of every one of the kid actors, becoming their break-out roles, and with an incredible Robin Williams performance anchoring the movie, in one of the movies that Williams loved doing the most. What has the cast done in these 34 years? Here’s where the Dead Poets Society cast is today.
Robin Williams played eccentric English professor John Keating; the man that makes his students see there’s a place for curiosity and being yourself without being subjected to what society and family expect of them. This is one of Williams' best performances, as he perfectly mixes his comedic Tasmanian Devil-energy, with a more grounded person, who loves teaching and wants the best for their students. The role made people aware of Williams’ dramatic abilities, and might've been one of the reasons he got cast in Good Will Hunting.
After the film, Williams continued doing both comedy and drama, as the '90s were when Williams was at the top of his game, with films such as Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Jumanji. Sadly, he died by suicide in 2014 after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few months earlier. His last film was Absolutely Anything, which sounds like it could’ve been Williams' live philosophy, as he did it all: standup, TV, movies, comedy, and drama.
Robert Sean Leonard played Neil Perry, one of the lead characters in the movie; the kid with an overbearing father, who loved theater and didn’t know how to serve both. It was Leonard’s break-out role, showing his acting skills with a character where everything is happening underneath, but audiences can read the character's thoughts and feelings.
The movie allowed him a film career in the '90s, appearing in films like Much Ado About Nothing, The Age of Innocence, and Swing Kids. After spending most of his time in the theater, he went to TV and had the role most people recognize him from, Wilson on House, playing Watson to House’s Sherlock. Since then, he’s been one of TV’s greatest guest stars. The last roles where you might’ve seen him are as President Truman in The First Lady, and in Julian Fellowes’ The Gilded Age.
Josh Charles played Knox Overstreet, the hopeless romantic kid with a crush on a girl from a nearby school. He writes poetry, so he can woo her over, even though she has a boyfriend. This was Charles' second role ever, as he was only 17 when he did the movie. Back then, it was already obvious he had the talent and charisma to work in the industry, and he never stopped. Charles was one of the leads in Aaron Sorkin’s first show, Sports Night, and became a supporting actor in movies like S.W.A.T. and Four Brothers. In 2009, he was cast as Will Gardner in The Good Wife, making him a TV star, and giving him the ability to be choosy about his roles, playing both comedy and drama. His last role was as corrupt policeman Daniel Hersl on David Simon’s TV miniseries, We Own This City.
About the iconic scene where he’s riding a bike and the birds take off, Charles told Entertainment Weekly: “I came down that hill on that bike, and those birds took off and flew, and it’s one of my favorite shots in the movie because it’s just so beautiful. It’s so well done, and it speaks volumes about all those characters being free of all that they had been taught before—being free of living this sort of conforming life.”
Who would’ve thought that the actor playing the extremely shy Todd Anderson would be the one with the biggest career in 2022? But that’s Ethan Hawke for you. His character’s arc might be one of the best in the film, and when he gets the courage to stand on his desk and shout the famous “Oh, Captain, My Captain”, the audience knows Keating changed his life forever and for the better. Dead Poets Society was one of his first lead roles after Explorers, and it’s still one of his best.
Hawke became an indie darling in the '90s and one of the most known Gen-X actors, appearing in films like Reality Bites and Before Sunrise. Since then, he’s been able to work both in indie films and big blockbusters, earning four Oscar nominations and acting in stories as different as Gattaca, Training Day, or Boyhood. His 2022 was full of projects, and you might’ve seen him in The Northman, as the bad guy against Oscar Isaac in Marvel’s Moon Knight, in Raymond and Ray, or a cameo in Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
About filming the famous "Yawp!" scene, where his character tells a stream-of-conscious free verse, Hawke told Script Magazine: “Filming that scene was like being part of a powerful collective dream like we were poking through to some alternate universe. I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.”
Gale Hansen played Charlie Dalton, the free-spirited, jester friend, who would become known as Nuwanda. He puts the whole group in trouble when he writes an article demanding that girls be admitted into the school. This role could’ve been a movie star-creating performance, as it requires a charismatic actor to play it, and Hansen did it well, but he was already 29 when the movie came out, and Hollywood wasn’t as interested in him as in the younger actors. He was one of the leads in The Finest Hour and had a starring role in the TV show Class of ’96. After 1998’s Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, he stopped acting and became a film executive and acting teacher, work he’s still doing today.
Dylan Kussman played Richard Cameron, the student who blames Neil’s death on professor Keating, to escape punishment for being one of the members of the poetry club. Dead Poets Society was Kussman’s breakout role, and he has been a working actor since then, appearing in small roles in both movies and TV. He’s been part of X-Men 2, Leatherheads, Jack Reacher, and his last appearance was on Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. He’s also been working behind the camera as he was one of the writers on Tom Cruise’s The Mummy.
James Waterston played student Gerard Pitts, one of the quieter members of the poetry club, and someone who has spent most of his career as a supporting player and in theatre. The son of known actor Sam Waterston has dedicated his life to the stage and has disappeared from films and movies for long periods. When Waterston has been in front of a camera, he’s been doing supporting roles and guest roles on shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Blindspot, and The Politician. His latest role was in Inventing Anna.
Kurtwood Smith played Neil’s dad, the one that squashes his kid's dreams of becoming a theatre actor and wants to send him to military school, creating the saddest moment in the whole film. Smith has been an actor for more than 40 years, and has had 160 roles. For some, he’s the villain in RoboCop, for others, he’s Neal’s father in this movie, and for the younger people, he might be a different kind of dad, the sarcastic, hard on the outside, lovely on the inside, Red Foreman in That ‘70s Show. After being part of Jupiter’s Legacy and The Dropout in the last two years, we’ll see him soon reprising his role of Red in That ‘90s Show.
