The Not So Little Rascals

We sit down with Justin Cooper, the kid who played Max Reede, Jim Carrey's son in the 1997 blockbuster Liar Liar. Justin's "first call" story is a good one: he was standing in line at a Kinko's when his mom got word that Jim Carrey wanted to meet him first, just to make sure the two of them clicked before the cameras rolled.
Justin was working before most kids can read, starting with a Domino's commercial at four and rolling into his own series The Boys Are Back, two years on General Hospital, a Full House episode, and his own TGIF sitcom Brother's Keeper, all before his teens. He takes us behind the scenes of Liar Liar, from the Batmobile in Jim Carrey's backyard to a hidden Fire Marshal Bill cameo tucked into one of the movie's most emotional scenes, and the one bit that actually got overwhelming as a kid: the claw.
We get into the honest stuff too, the awkward jump from private school to public school, hiding his past to try to blend in, a protective mom who quietly intercepted some genuinely startling fan mail, and the slow decision to walk away as auditions started to feel like work. Then the reinvention: cold-emailing his way into an internship that became a 14-year career producing an overnight sports radio show, and finding a version of the business that finally fit.
It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.
🎥 What happens in this episode?
00:00 – Cold open: the prison mail
00:54 – The call at the Kinko's, and meeting Jim Carrey
03:41 – The Riddler costume and the Batmobile in the backyard
07:13 – How it started: Disneyland, headshots, and a Domino's commercial
14:09 – Full House, Brother's Keeper, and life on a sitcom
18:38 – After Liar Liar: buffet lines, prison mail, and a protective mom
24:08 – Jennifer Tilly, poker, and Meadows Oaks camp
28:46 – Private school, public school, and the bullying
35:42 – Sports radio, the listeners, and the claw
38:50 – Stepping away, the grind, and the awkward years
42:04 – Family, the money, and the Coogan account
47:27 – From intern to producer

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We sit down with Miko Hughes, who started working younger than anyone we've talked to yet, having been just over two years old when he played Gage Creed in the 1989 horror classic Pet Sematary.
His story starts before he could even walk, when his mom heard him spell a word from his car seat and decided, on the spot, to take him to Hollywood. She spent nine months getting past the front desk of the biggest kids' agency in town, and once she did, Miko booked the first three things he ever went out for. What followed was a run most actors dream of: the Kindergarten Cop line everyone still quotes (if you know, you know), Michelle's most out-of-pocket classmate on Full House, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Spawn, and screen time with Danny DeVito, Tom Hanks, and Bruce Willis, all before he finished growing up.
We get into what it's like to have your earliest memories be movie sets, growing up on horror sets and sitcom sets, and the harder stuff too, a family that got rocky as the work became its livelihood, and money that vanished the way it did for so many kids of that era. Miko is open and clear-eyed about all of it, and about why he'd still do the whole thing over exactly the same way.
It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.
P.S: This was the first guest episode we ever recorded, and it showed. The audio was a mess and our 'production design' was two guys and a prayer. We spent the time and remnants of our child acting money to fix it because the conversation with Miko was just too good to bury. Thanks for bearing with us, rascals.
Fun Fact - The word “Like” is used 526 times in this episode. 
🎥 What happens in this episode?
00:00 – Cold open, and welcoming Miko
01:21 – The call at 27 months old, and returning to the Pet Sematary house
04:09 – Realizing acting wasn't what every kid did
06:34 – Nine months at the agency door: the "MOBIL" story
09:46 – The audition grind, getting into character, and stretched resumes
17:46 – Siblings, homeschool, and growing up around adults
19:30 – Aging out, a rocky home, and stepping away
25:11 – Why this podcast exists, and working-man child actors
27:28 – Horror fandom, the cons, and a Gage Funko
30:26 – Are you proud of your body of work?
32:50 – The Kindergarten Cop line and the prop feeling
36:00 – His dad, the Coogan meetings, and the money that vanished
40:09 – Advice for a parent, and the last era of child actors
44:00 – Wes Craven, a good set, and finding his way back behind the camera
53:41 – Are you proud, and goodbye
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We sit down with Natanya Ross, known to a generation as Robyn Russo, the dark, sharp, unforgettable heart of The Secret World of Alex Mack.
Natanya's story starts earlier than almost anyone's, on stage as a baby and on Broadway before she ever set foot in Hollywood. We get into the call that changed her life & pulled her family west, the audition that was only supposed to last three episodes and turned into one of Nickelodeon's most beloved characters, and what it was like to grow up on camera, as the show became part of a generation's childhood.
We get into all of it, the family she was raised in, a momager who managed a remarkable career and the money that came with it, and the harder chapters that followed once the show ended and the anchor it gave her was gone. Natanya is open in a way few people ever are about the years she lost, the people she lost along the way, and the long road back. What she built on the other side of it, a life in recovery and mental health advocacy, is the part she's proudest of, and the part that almost never gets told.
There are lighter moments too, shut-down amusement parks for wrap parties, the cast that's still family decades later, a 90s love story with another familiar face, and a few set secrets she's never shared. We talk about owning your past instead of hiding from it, why the loudest stories about child actors are so often the wrong ones, and what it really means to still be here.
It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting, and more human, than anything that made it on screen.
🎥 What happens in this episode?
00:00 – Cold open: "We're so back"
00:31 – Welcome, and the Robyn Russo reaction
03:51 – From Asbury Park to Broadway to the call that moved her west
07:01 – Becoming Robyn: three episodes that turned into an icon
13:43 – The cast that became family
14:29 – Growing up edgy in young Hollywood
18:32 – The momager, the Coogan account, and a complicated home
24:00 – Acting as the first escape
32:13 – The end of Alex Mack and getting herself back on the show
37:01 – Life after the show and holding on
40:15 – The eight mile audition and losing everything
45:29 – The hardest years, and the moment things turned
46:57 – Treatment, purpose, and a career in recovery
49:21 – "Nothing cooler than being kind"
55:00 – A 90s love story
57:26 – "We're Still Here, Babe" and rewriting the narrative
1:00:21 – The documentaries, the safe set, and the real story
1:05:31 – Would you do it all again?
1:06:00 – Set secrets and one last Polaroid
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We sit down with Marty York, known to a generation as Yeah-Yeah from the 1993 classic The Sandlot.

Marty takes us back to how it all started, the audition that changed direction at the last minute, and what it was really like being part of a movie that became a phenomenon long after the cameras stopped rolling. We get into the highs, the harder chapters, the money, the reinvention, and the long road that led him back to telling his own story on his own terms.
It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.
Send us Your Feedback!
Follow, like, subscribe, and leave us comments!  Check out more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheNotSoLittleRascals
SOCIALS:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenotsolittlerascals/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenotsolittlerascals

We welcome our first guest and it's someone we go way back with. Blake McIver Ewing, known to most as Waldo from The Little Rascals, sits down with us to talk about a career that started before most kids learn to ride a bike.
Blake's story begins with Star Search, where he talked his way onto the main stage at six years old and won. From there, it was Full House, The Little Rascals, a groundbreaking run in Ragtime, and a path through Hollywood that most people never hear the full version of.
We get into all of it, the audition grind, what it was really like in that final callback room with Spielberg, and how being under contract to Full House almost kept him out of the movie entirely. Blake opens up about the moment he walked away from acting (turning down what turned out to be High School Musical), the years he spent figuring out who he was outside of the industry, and what eventually brought him back to performing, on his own terms.
There are stories about go-go dancing on vocal rest, getting recognized while folding gym towels, and a full-circle reunion with his Ragtime castmate decades later in upstate New York. We talk about rejection, taxes, the Coogan law, what it's like when your on-screen dad becomes a controversial figure, and why theater, especially the immersive kind, might be the future of live performance.
It's funny, it's honest, and it's a conversation that reminds you why this podcast exists: because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are way more interesting than anything that made it on screen.
Send us Your Feedback!
Follow, like, subscribe, and leave us comments!  Check out more content on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheNotSoLittleRascals
SOCIALS:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenotsolittlerascals/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_not_so_lil_rascals
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenotsolittlerascals