Danica McKellar on working with Jonathan Brandis
Every kid who’s ever been bullied at school found a relatable story in Sidekicks, the Chuck Norris movie that was released stateside 30 years ago this month. It depicted high school student Barry, played by actor Jonathan Brandis, who often daydreamed about being strong enough not only to defeat his tormentors but to fight alongside his idol, only for his dream to become a reality by the end of the movie.
The movie, which also co-starred Danica McKellar, Beau Bridges, Joe Piscopo and the late Mako, debuted in the second spot at the box office, behind Indecent Proposal, and grossed more than $17 million, according to Box Office Mojo. And personally, at least McKellar and Bridges recall it as a happy time.
“Chuck Norris is one of the gentlest souls. He was so great to work with, and his brother directed it: Aaron Norris,” McKellar notes in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment. “And the two of them were just these Black Belt-strong but gentle men who cared about everyone on set. I remember that really strongly. And Beau Bridges was also wonderful to work with. Great, natural actor. And it’s hard not to think about Jonathan Brandis and what happened to him.”
Brandis, a child star-turned-teen idol, died by suicide in November 2003, just a decade later. He was 27. At the time of Sidekicks, he was still a teenager but had already spent a years appearing in guest roles on shows such as L.A. Law, Webster, Full House, Who’s the Boss? and on McKellar’s own The Wonder Years. He had also starred in the TV miniseries based on Stephen King’s It in 1990, the same year he did The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter movie. In 1992, he had starred in Rodney Dangerfield’s soccer comedy Ladybugs.
McKellar remembers her teenage co-star as “really fun to work with,” “so charismatic” and “just a really creative guy.”
Also? She playfully describes Brandis as a troublemaker.
“I still remember we had this scene, this kissing scene and he convinced me, because it was like this sweet kiss, he goes, ‘OK, this is what we’re gonna do: When they say cut, we’re gonna drop to our knees and just totally make out…,” says McKellar, who was born a year ahead of Brandis. “I had a boyfriend at the time, and I told my boyfriend about it later. And he goes, ‘What?!’ and he broke up with me. I was like, ‘Oh, wait, that was probably bad.'”
McKellar laughs about it now.
“Jonathan could just get people to do whatever. I remember talking about this actually, because there was, a bunch of us actors who got together shortly after he died, and shared stories. And I shared that one, and everybody had a story like that, where somehow he convinced them to do something that was not something they would normally do,” McKellar says. “And later they’re like, ‘What? Why did I just do that?’ Because he made it seem so fun. And I didn’t realize I was actually being disloyal. At the time, I didn’t even know he was trying to make out with me. It just seemed like, ‘Oh, that’s a fun prank.'”
Bridges’s experience was different, of course, but he also remembers Brandis and the entire time fondly.
“Sidekicks was a fantastic movie making experience,” he tells us. “Mattress Mack [actor James McIngvale] and Chuck Norris were great hosts in Houston where we made the movie. My wife Wendy and I, and our family studied Tae Kwon Do with Master Simon Rhee in the San Fernando Valley so this movie really resonates with us. Most of my scenes were with the wonderful young actor Jonathan Brandis. He was an inspiring acting partner, and we had a really fun time working together.”
Following the action-comedy, Brandis played one of his most memorable roles, as Lucas Wolenczak in the Steven Spielberg executive-produced seaQuest DSV, and co-starred in the Farrelly brothers’s, There’s Something About Mary follow-up, Outside Providence. He appeared in the 2002 Bruce Willis drama Hart’s War, although much of his small part was cut.
He struggled to find work once he began to age out of the teen dream category, not that he ever wanted to be included that group.
“I never perceived myself like this — a teen magazine kid,” he said in an interview the year after Sidekicks was released, per the Los Angeles Times. “As an actor, you just hope to continue working. Then when you start getting mail! I sure never knew it was coming. It’s not something you prepare for.”
While actress Soleil Moon Frye wasn’t part of Sidekicks, she’s someone else in Hollywood with fond memories of Brandis. In 2021, she told People that she found souvenirs of her friendship with him while researching her 2021 Hulu documentary, Kid 90.
“I found so many voicemails Jonathan left me when we were kids,” she said. “Some of them were 10 minutes long, his innermost thoughts. It just made me cry listening to them. He was a real friend.”
Brandis’s final two movie roles were in 2004’s Puerto Vallarta Squeeze, with Harvey Keitel and Scott Glenn, and Bad Girls from Valley High, with Julie Benz, in 2005.
Sidekicks is available on Prime Video.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
