Devon Sawa: I Didn’t Have ‘A Thing’ With Christina Ricci While Filming ‘Now and Then’
Devon Sawa is a punk at heart. After starring in a slew of ‘90s coming-of-age classics including Casper, Now and Then and Little Giants, the towheaded teen idol ran far away from his cookie-cutter persona.
"I rebelled against a lot of stuff as a young actor," Sawa tells Us. "Now that I look back, I think there was a lot of punk in me.”
Now 37, Sawa is stepping back into his combat boots for Punk's Dead: SLC Punk 2, the sequel to the 1998 cult classic (in select theaters February 11 and available for digital download February 16).
“I wanted to do edgier stuff at a certain point, like Idle Hands, [Eminem’s] "Stan" video, SLC Punk,” the dad of son Hudson, 2 (Sawa is also currently expecting a daughter with wife of two years Dawni Sahanovitch), says. “I wanted to get out of the Wild America and Casper era.”
Still, the Vancouver native happily regaled Us with his favorite '90s memories and shocking throwback revelations:
He’s Never Used Casper's ‘Can I Keep You?’ as a Pickup Line
"I haven’t said those words since I shot [1995’s] Casper. Never! Never. I’m very shy about stuff like that, so I don’t think I could have ever mustered up the courage to use that as a pickup line. But I get it at least once a day. At least! Especially on Twitter. Or someone will tweet me the video like I haven’t seen it. It’s cute."
He Did Not Hook Up With Christina Ricci
"That story of all the Now and Then girls fighting over me was a little blown out of proportion. Someone had written that me and Christina [Ricci] had a thing, which wasn’t true. We were all so young and so innocent."
JTT Was a Super Genius
"I did on-set school with Jonathan Taylor Thomas while we filmed [1997’s] Wild America. I was three years older than him, and he was doing the same work I was doing. He was just very smart, very intellectual. He already knew that he was taking a break after he finished Home Improvement and Wild America and going off to college. I was a little more rebellious than Jonathan, I’ll have to say."
Not Even He Knows JTT’s Current Whereabouts
"Unfortunately, we didn’t really stay in touch over the years. I’m sure if we ran into each other again it would be cool, but I don’t know what he’s doing nowadays. Who knows! He’s a good guy, though." [Note: Thomas last appeared as a guest star on Tim Allen's Last Man Standing in January 2015.]
He May or May Not Join a Now and Then Reboot Series
"I probably won’t be involved with that. I think that ship has sailed for me. I think a lot of those ships have sailed. I don’t think I would be part of aCasper or … I don’t know. I’d see if it came down to that. Never say never!"
He Can’t Wait to Show Little Giants to His Son
"I never thought I would be excited to show my kids my movies, but I am. Most of all [1994’s] Little Giants, because it’s a little boy’s kind of movie. He’s all about sports. So when he’s that age and he can sit down and watch it, it’ll be interesting."
He Hopes His Daughter Picks Her Teen Celeb Crush Wisely
"I don’t want to think about my daughter after the age of 12, but hopefully she chooses a good celebrity crush — like the Hanson brothers. They seemed like good fellas. They were wholesome young guys!"
