{"id":157126,"date":"2025-06-04T09:28:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T09:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/157126\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T09:28:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T09:28:09","slug":"we-were-like-brothers-but-we-scrapped-the-chaos-and-pranks-that-shaped-the-goonies-by-its-cast-and-crew-action-and-adventure-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/157126\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We were like brothers, but we scrapped\u2019: the chaos and pranks that shaped The Goonies \u2013 by its cast and crew | Action and adventure films"},"content":{"rendered":"

When The Goonies was first released in 1985, the swashbuckling kids\u2019 adventure became a resounding box office hit. Audiences were charmed by Mikey (Sean Astin), Data (Ke Huy Quan<\/a>), Chunk (Jeff Cohen) and Mouth\u2019s (Corey Feldman) rambunctious personalities as the self-styled Goonies, who were desperately trying to save their homes in Astoria, Oregon, from being sold off by a property development company.<\/p>\n

Steven Spielberg is rumoured to have come up with the idea for The Goonies when he wondered what kids got up to on rainy days. Apparently the answer was daring exploits worthy of Indiana Jones involving a dastardly family of ex-cons and a hidden shipwreck heaving with jewels. It all combined to make a touching film about the power of friendship that was also rip-roaring good fun.<\/p>\n

Forty years later, the franchise lives on with the announcement by Warner Bros earlier this year that a sequel is finally in the works. We look back with the cast and crew to find out how the film has endured as a cult classic.<\/p>\n

Spielberg decided to hand <\/strong>directing duties over to <\/strong>Richard Donner<\/a><\/strong>, with <\/strong>Chris Columbus<\/strong> writing the script.<\/strong> Auditions were held in <\/strong>1984<\/strong> with some actors paired<\/strong> together in \u201cchemistry reads\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sean Astin, <\/strong>Mikey<\/strong> (The Goonies\u2019 13-year-old leader): We started doing the scene. At some point, I messed up the line and went: \u201cShit.\u201d They didn\u2019t seem bothered by it. I might have messed up a second time. Steven walked out. Afterwards, he said he walked out because I was nervous, and he didn\u2019t want me to be nervous any more. He said: \u201cYou had the job before you opened your mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We were always trying to one-up each other\u2019 \u2026 Robert Davi and Joe Pantoliano. Photograph: Landmark Media\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Kerri Green, <\/strong>Andy<\/strong> <\/strong>(a sweet high-school cheerleader who joins the Goonies\u2019 treasure hunt): <\/strong>It was an improvisation with an actor who was trying out for Stef [Andy\u2019s quick-witted friend, who would be played by Martha Plimpton]. They said talk about boys. So I kicked off my shoes and put my feet up on the couch. When the audition was over, my shoes were gone. I cracked up because Dick [Donner] was playing a joke.<\/p>\n

Joe Pantoliano, <\/strong>Francis Fratelli <\/strong>(one of the main baddies and a member of the Fratelli crime family): I had worked with Robert Davi [who was cast as Francis\u2019s opera-singing brother Jake] on two occasions. We had a combative relationship. We\u2019re sitting next to each other in the audition and Davi says: \u201cJoey wears a hairpiece.\u201d I thought that was rather mean and insensitive, but I went with it. So I lowered it [on my head] and said: \u201cYeah, if you want me to look younger, I can.\u201d They liked that we were always trying to one-up each other.<\/p>\n

We were a family. We loved each other and we bickered and drove each other mad. Five months is a\u00a0lifetime at that\u00a0age <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kerri Green<\/p>\n

Filming started in <\/strong>October 1984<\/strong>, mainly on location in Astoria<\/strong>. Spielberg took an uncredited role as second unit director.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Join the adventure\u2019 \u2026 the film\u2019s poster. Photograph: BFA\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Green:<\/strong> The actual shoot was extremely high energy. Donner had this big, booming voice. He would be yelling: \u201cHip hop, hip hop, find your mark, you goddamn kids.\u201d He believed in a lot of improv. There was a lot of allowing us to just be ourselves. A lot of times it got a little chaotic \u2013 he\u2019d have to rein it back. It was supposed to be a three-month shoot and it turned into five months because of that.<\/p>\n

Pantoliano: <\/strong>Donner was very open, so anybody could come to dailies [to watch the unedited footage]. The kids would come and there would be pizza and soda, a lot of laughing and roughhousing.<\/p>\n

Astin:<\/strong> We\u2019d all hug Dick and climb all over him like he was Santa Claus. Steven came in to direct things like the kiss and the scene in the wishing well. He was really quiet. He\u2019d flick a finger and people would set stuff up. They were a perfect combo.<\/p>\n

Nick McLean, <\/strong>cinematographer<\/strong>: <\/strong>Some of the best stuff in the movie is the second unit stuff that Spielberg did. The big slide [that the Goonies ride to get to the cave with the ship], that was Spielberg\u2019s idea.<\/p>\n

Michael O\u2019Shea, <\/strong>camera operator<\/strong>: <\/strong>When we started to fall behind, we\u2019d have to work on weekends, too. They would invite you to bring your kids. My daughter was the same age as Josh [Brolin, who played Mikey\u2019s older brother Brand]. When she came, Josh went: \u201cOh my God, she\u2019s beautiful.\u201d So what happened is my daughter went to her high-school prom with Josh.<\/p>\n

There was a fun atmosphere on set \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Green: <\/strong>It really was like a family. Josh, me and Martha, the three of us were like the older siblings, and the boys were like the younger siblings. We loved one another. We also fought, bickered and drove each other crazy. Then we were all best friends. For kids to be together for five months, that\u2019s a lifetime at that stage of life.<\/p>\n

Pantoliano: <\/strong>Ke\u2019s mum, his brothers and sisters would come every day. She would make this great Vietnamese food on a wok and a Bunsen burner.<\/p>\n

Astin:<\/strong> The guys would all wrestle. Josh was charmed by us. It had to be annoying for him. I mean, literally, just the decibels. He was the natural leader of the group. Corey and I got on each other\u2019s nerves. He was Mouth on screen and off. He\u2019s got a big heart, so we were brothers, but we definitely scrapped a little bit together.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s pretty special\u2019 \u2026 Kerri Green as Andy. Photograph: PictureLux\/The Hollywood Archive\/Alamy<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea:<\/strong> Joe, Robert and Anne [Ramsey, who played Mama Fratelli] were great. You believed that they were family. The friction between Robert and Joe would play off screen, too. Davi would pull Joey\u2019s toupee back. Anne was funny.<\/p>\n

Some of the crew ended up <\/strong>playing minor roles, including Donner as a police officer and <\/strong>Jennie Lew Tugend<\/strong>, the director\u2019s <\/strong>executive assistant<\/strong>, as <\/strong>Data\u2019s mother, Mrs Wang<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

McLean:<\/strong> We couldn\u2019t get actors in one day because there was a big storm. Spielberg came to me and said: \u2018You have to play this part [Mouth\u2019s dad, Mr Devereaux]. You\u2019re the right height, the right weight, right age.\u2019 It wasn\u2019t much of a performance.<\/p>\n

The Inferno, a full-scale pirate ship measuring <\/strong>32 metres (105ft)<\/strong>, was created for the film.<\/strong> It took two and a half months to build and was modelled on the ship from <\/strong>Errol Flynn\u2019s 1940 film The Sea Hawk<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea:<\/strong> Donner didn\u2019t show that to the kids until the day we shot it.<\/p>\n

Green:<\/strong> They had us come in backwards and said: \u201cWhen I say action, I want you to dip under the water, count to three and then come up.\u201d Of course, it was all: \u201cOh, my f-ing God and holy s-h-i-t.\u201d They turned the entire soundstage into a pool. That was enormous.<\/p>\n

Astin:<\/strong> It was only the water-facing half. You could go into it, but if you went to the other side, it was sheared off, and you\u2019d walk down steps and out of stage 16. It was genuinely spectacular.<\/p>\n

Donner and Spielberg were <\/strong>fond of playing pranks and a pranking epidemic spread through the cast and crew.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pantoliano: <\/strong>Davi was very proud that his parking spot was next to Spielberg\u2019s so I stole his parking nameplate. Then he got even with me. I was lying down and I heard this banging. He\u2019d nailed my dressing room door shut. They had to come and pry my door open.<\/p>\n

We had wetsuits on but Donner would take scissors and cut them so they\u2019d fill up with water<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nick McLean, cinematographer<\/p>\n

McLean: <\/strong>There\u2019s a scene that was never seen. There was an octopus [an attack that Data mentions at the end of the film], and we\u2019d spent a week trying to photograph it. We had wetsuits on but Donner would take scissors and cut our suits so they\u2019d fill up with water.<\/p>\n

Astin:<\/strong> They were very scared of the water and electricity, because the wishing well set was connected to the water slide set and you were all standing in water. So we did a bit where they rigged up some sparks and one of these little junction boxes. Somebody went: \u201cDick, look out!\u201d and the thing went in the water and started exploding. I think for a second it freaked him out, and then he was laughing really hard.<\/p>\n

Mission impassable \u2026 The Goonies. Photograph: Warner Bros\/Allstar<\/p>\n

Green turned 18 during the shoot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Green: <\/strong>We were on the ship filming and Dick said: \u201cCome here. We need to get this shot.\u201d He guided me to where there was a big cake, and everyone started singing. I thought I did something wrong. But no, he was always joking around like that. It was very sweet. People would ask me [later on]: \u201cOh, were there are lots of drugs?\u201d No! Like what are you talking about? We were kids.<\/p>\n

Many celebrities visited the set including <\/strong>Cyndi Lauper<\/strong> (who was musical director for <\/strong>the soundtrack),<\/strong> Pee-wee Herman<\/strong>, <\/strong>Dan Aykroyd<\/strong> and Harrison Ford<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pantoliano: <\/strong>When Harrison came to visit, he was on the cover of a magazine. Steven ordered 300 copies, so when Harrison came over to see the ship, everybody had the magazine like they were reading it. Harrison was going: \u201cWhat the hell\u2019s going on here?\u201d<\/p>\n

McLean:<\/strong> One time, Cyndi, myself and Donner got a flat tyre. When Cyndi got out, with her red hair, it stopped traffic.<\/p>\n

\u2018This experience for us kids was transformative\u2019 \u2026 Kerri Green, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Sean Astin, Ke Huy Quan, Jeff Cohen and Martha Plimpton. Photograph: Warner Bros\/Allstar<\/p>\n

When filming came to an end Spielberg organised the ultimate prank \u2013 for the cast to fly out to Hawaii to surprise Donner at his home in <\/strong>Maui<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Green:<\/strong> Jeff would come to set in a big Hawaiian shirt, a camera around his neck and a big hat. Dick was like: \u201cOh, you goddamn kids. I\u2019m exhausted. You\u2019re killing me. I can\u2019t wait to go to Maui.\u201d So Jeff was like: \u201cWe\u2019re coming with you.\u201d And Dick would just howl with laughter.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea: <\/strong>The kids were kind of standoffish to Richard and he wondered what was going on: are they sad because we\u2019re finishing? That was Steven. He said to the kids: \u201cDon\u2019t pay attention to him.\u201d Then they all showed up in Maui.<\/p>\n

Pantoliano: <\/strong>They arranged for Donner to go shopping, to get him out of the house. We opened up the suitcases and threw clothes all over the living room. Donner showed up and all he kept saying was, \u201cWhat the fuck?\u201d Then we had a barbecue. Steven had the foresight to stick us on an airplane afterwards and get us off the island so the kids wouldn\u2019t bother Donner. So we went over to O\u2019ahu for a five-day vacation. It was great.<\/p>\n

Astin:<\/strong> This experience for us kids was transformative. How do you complete that without causing major depression? For Steven to play that practical joke was really, to me, an instinctive way for him to honour us.<\/p>\n

Even when the film came out, I still wasn\u2019t that popular in school<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sean Astin<\/p>\n

The film was released <\/strong>to largely positive reviews and went on to gross <\/strong>$64m<\/strong> at the worldwide box office.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Green:<\/strong> There was a premiere, and my family and I went to LA for it. I saw myself on those enormous billboards, hanging off of Josh\u2019s leg. None of it felt real.<\/p>\n

Astin:<\/strong> Even when the film came out, I still wasn\u2019t that popular in school. I don\u2019t think it really changed my life. Recognisability, that\u2019s what changed.<\/p>\n

Pantoliano:<\/strong> The fact that it was successful led to opportunities. I went on to work for Spielberg. He hired me to be in Empire of the Sun.<\/p>\n

The cast still keep in touch.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pantoliano:<\/strong> I see Sean a lot and Martha. I reacquainted myself with Kerri. When we were doing The Goonies, I was a jogger then, and Kerri was too, so we would jog all around Astoria. But now, in our old age, we walk. We all have an email chain. We talk to everyone at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u2018Some of the best stuff, Steven Spielberg did\u2019 \u2026 the wishing well scene. Photograph: Cinematic\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Astin:<\/strong> Ke\u2019s such a dignified, strong person, now with a Hollywood story for the ages [he won the best supporting actor award at the 2023 Oscars for Everything Everywhere All at Once<\/a>]. Jeff is a successful entertainment lawyer, so his vibe is different.<\/p>\n

Green: <\/strong>It might be a year or two between seeing each other \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter. We just know one another, and we kind of pick up exactly were we left off. It\u2019s pretty special.<\/p>\n

The Goonies sequel was officially announced in February, with Spielberg and Columbus reuniting for the project.<\/strong><\/p>\n

McLean:<\/strong> Donner has died [in 2021], so who would direct it?<\/p>\n

Pantoliano: <\/strong>They\u2019ve been talking about sequels to this movie for years. Spielberg would say: \u201cThey probably spent millions of dollars just in developing ideas for this thing.\u201d As far as I know, nobody\u2019s called me.<\/p>\n

Astin:<\/strong> I would expect that it would not include us. Maybe it\u2019s just my desire not to raise my expectations. I root for it on behalf of the fans who love it.<\/p>\n

Green: <\/strong>I had a nice conversation with Chris Columbus at Ke\u2019s hand and footprint ceremony [at LA\u2019s TCL Chinese theatre] recently. It sounds like we all might have cameos in it, which would be so much fun.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Watch the original trailer for The Goonies<\/p>\n

Over the years, the film has become a cult classic and was selected in 2017 to be preserved in the US\u2019s National Registry by the Library of Congress<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

McLean: <\/strong>Everyone loves The Goonies. It\u2019s just a fun movie.<\/p>\n

Pantoliano: <\/strong>It was like Raiders of the Lost Ark for kids.<\/p>\n

Astin:<\/strong> It\u2019s camp and goofy and stupid in parts. Then it\u2019s got the childhood wonder and heart. I\u2019ve met so many people who have tattooed their bodies with the Inferno, Sloth, One-Eyed Willy, our faces. They have carved into their skin what this movie means to them.<\/p>\n

Green: <\/strong>It\u2019s about friendship. It\u2019s an underdog story; that idea that if you do this together, you\u2019re going to succeed. It was such a magical thing. I have learned to just look back and appreciate how lucky I was to have been part of that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When The Goonies was first released in 1985, the swashbuckling kids\u2019 adventure became a resounding box office hit.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3935],"tags":[77,3943,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-157126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114624390968090932","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}