What Happened to the Original ‘Jumanji’ Cast? All About Robin Williams and the Rest of the Stars

" Do not begin unless you intend to finish " is the opening line to the thrilling, magical board game from the hit 1995 fantasy movie Jumanji . The film follows two children who discover the game at a construction site — drawn to it by the sound of drumbeats — but when they bring it home and start playing, nothing can prepare them — or the rest of the Jumanji cast — for how real the game soon becomes.

Those kids — siblings Peter and Judy Shepherd — are suddenly faced with Jumanji 's jungle world being drawn into their reality, their only hope for survival being Alan Parrish, who had been trapped there since 1969.

The film earned $262.8 million at the box office, spawning the spin-off Zatrhura: A Space Adventure (2005) and sequels Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), with a third followup in development.

But to find out what the original Jumanji cast has been up since that film premiered, keep reading!

Wanting to jump back into that world and revisit the Jumanji cast? The film is available for streaming on Netflix .

Robin Williams: Jumanji Cast

CHARACTER PLAYED: Alan Parrish

BORN: July 21, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois.

DIED : August 11, 2014 in Tiburon, California. He was 63.

BEST KNOWN FOR: Mork & Mindy (1978-1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Good Will Hunting (199 7) and Night at the Museum (2006).

PERSONAL: Williams , who leads the Jumanji cast, was married three times over the course of his life. The first marriage was to Valerie Velardi from 1979-1988, they had one child together. Then he married Marsha Garces W illiams in 1999, but they divorced in 2010 after having two children together. Finally, Williams was married to Susan Schneider from 2011 until his death in 2014.

THOUGHTS ON JUMANJI : While on set, Williams was a very big advocate for the child actors. Bradley Pierce recently remembered, "We were filming the monsoon scene and I think it was day 7 or 8 in that rain tank , we were all in wetsuits, but spending 8 hours in the water was really draining. It was coming to the end of the day, and children on set can only be on set for a certain number of hours. Producers approached our parents and said, 'We've only got a half hour left of shooting, is there anyway we can do a little bit of overtime just to get it done?'

"Robin caught wind of these conversations happening and apparently he pulled the director and producers aside and said, 'No we're not doing any extra time. You're gonna let everyone out of the pool now and we're going to be come back next week.'"

FUN FACT: In the scene where Van Pelt (Jonathan Hyde) is shooting at Alan (Williams), Robin was genuinely scared by how loaded the weapon was.

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Bonnie Hunt

CHARACTER PLAYED: Sarah Whittle

BORN: September 22, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois.

BEST KNOWN FOR: Jerry Maguire (1996), A Bug's Life (1998), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Cheaper by the Dozen 1 & 2 (2003/2005), Cars 1, 2 & 3 (2006/2011/2017) and Toy Story 3 & 4 (2010/2019).

PERSONAL: Hunt was married to John Murphy from 1988-2006. They had no children together.

THOUGHTS ON JUMANJI : Turns out life behind the scenes of Jumanji was just as fun as on screen! Hunt recalled that, "In between setups, we would drop our Jumanji roles and improvise, just to get it out of our system. Characters would spring to life based on the daily headlines or waiters from dinner the night before, and the crew was a wonderful audience. It was pure joy. "

FUN FACT: Despite their characters being the same age, Williams was 10 years older than Hunt.

Kirsten Dunst: Jumanji Cast

CHARACTER PLAYED: Judy Shepherd

BORN: April 30, 1982 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.

BEST KNOWN FOR: Interview with the Vampire (1994) Bring It On (2000), Spider-Man 1, 2 & 3 (2002/2004/2007), Hidden Figures (2016) and Civil War (2024).

PERSONAL: Dunst has been married to Jesse Plemons since 2022. They have two children together.

THOUGHTS ON JUMANJI : When asked about how working with Williams was, Dunst said "Being on the set of Jumanji watching Robin Williams was so exciting for me. When you're a kid, you don't appreciate things as much as when you look back as an adult. It was really special to be on that set with him. "

FUN FACT: Dunst was only six months older than Bradley Pierce, who played her younger brother in the film.

MUST READ: Kirsten Dunst Movies, Ranked: 10 of the Luminous Star’s Greatest Roles

Bradley Pierce

CHARACTER PLAYED: Peter Shepherd

BORN: October 23, 1982 in Glendale, Arizona

BEST KNOWN FOR: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Days of Our Lives (1990-1991), Shaky Ground (1992-1993), Sonic the Hedgehog (1993-1994) and The Borrowers (1997).

PERSONAL: Pierce was married to Shari Marie Holmes from 2005 to 2017. They had three children together.

THOUGHTS ON JUMANJI : Robin Williams was well-known for his improv work, which be brought to the set of Jumanji , with Pierce remembering "A lot of things Robin would improv would go over Kirsten’s and my heads. He would go on these Ethel Merman riffs where he would sing all his lines like her. It was hysterical, but I didn’t realize he was imitating a real person."

FUN FACT: Pierce and Dunst went on to play brother and sister again in the 1996 film The Siege at Ruby Ridge .

Jonathan Hyde: Jumanji Cast

CHARACTER PLAYED: Van Pelt/ Sam Parrish

BORN: May 21, 1948 in Brisbane, Australia.

BEST KNOWN FOR: Titanic (1997), Anaconda (1997), The Mummy (1999), Crimson Peak (2015) and Hamlet (2024).

PERSONAL: Hyde is married to Isobel Buchanan . They have two children.

THOUGHTS ON JUMANJI : When asked why he thinks the movie has remains so popular, Hyde said, " Children love to be frightened — I think it’s an important part of childhood. People between 25 and 35 come up to me and say, 'You scared the [hell] out of me when I was a kid.' I have to say that’s usually quite gratifying. That’s what was required."

FUN FACT: Hyde wasn't originally supposed to play two roles in the film, but after they couldn't find anyone else to play Sam Parrish, Hyde agreed.

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Bebe Neuwirth

CHARACTER PLAYED: Nora Shepherd

BORN: December 31, 1958, Newark, New Jersey.

BEST KNOWN FOR: Cheers (1986 to 1993), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Game 6 (2005) and Blue Bloods (2013-2019).

PERSONAL: Neuwirth was married to Paul Dorman from 1984-1991, then she married Chris Calkins in 2009, and has been with him ever since. They have no children.

THOUGHTS ON JUMANJI : It's not uncommon for actors and actresses to take things from set, and with asked what Neuwirth took, she said, "I have hippopotamus salt-and-pepper shakers . I don’t remember how they fit into the story, but somehow I have them."

FUN FACT: In the earlier drafts of the film, Nora was supposed to be Judy and Peter's mother, but that idea was changed pretty early on.

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