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Fast Times at Ridgemont High helped redefine the coming-of-age movie.
The teen comedy, which premiered 43 years ago on Aug. 13, 1982, follows a group of high school students navigating the ups and downs of adolescent life in Southern California. The film, based on Cameron Crowe’s book of the same name, centers around several characters, including stoned surfer Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn), underclassman Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and her popular older brother Brad Hamilton (Judge Reinhold)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High was an instant hit, earning more than $27 million globally at the box office, per Box Office Mojo. In September 2020, the film was suddenly back on everyone’s radar when Dane Cook hosted a star-studded table read of the script, which included exes Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.
Earlier that same year, Penn recalled landing his breakout role as Spicoli, telling Jimmy Fallon that the audition went “terribly.”
“The way I remember it was that I — long before I had a penny in my pocket — had a kind of feeling of entitlement as an actor, not because I thought I was so good, but because I thought that the rest were not so good,” he during a June 2020 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “And that gave me an awful lot of confidence.”
Penn has gone on to become an Oscar-winning actor along with several of his Fast Times costars, such as Nicolas Cage and Forest Whitaker. Here’s everything to know about where the cast of Fast Times at Ridgemont High is now.
Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli
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Penn played Ridgemont High’s resident stoner, Jeff Spicoli.
The role gradually opened many doors for Penn, who went on to star in Dead Man Walking (1995), earning him his first Oscar nomination. Later, his performances in Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008) secured him two Academy Awards. Penn’s most recent movies include Asphalt City and Daddio.
As for his personal life, the actor is currently dating model Valeria Nicov. Penn shares two children with actress Robin Wright, whom he was married to from 1996 to 2010.
Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stacy Hamilton
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Leigh portrayed the innocent, sweet and curious Stacy Hamilton.
Leigh has been acting for decades, but these days, she’s best known for her role in 2015’s The Hateful Eight, which earned her an Oscar nomination, and Netflix’s Atypical.
The actress was married to filmmaker Noah Baumbach from 2005 to 2013. They share one son.
Judge Reinhold as Brad Hamilton
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Reinhold played Ridgemont High’s king of the jocks, Brad Hamilton.
He went on to appear in 1984’s Gremlins and played Detective Billy Rosewood in Beverly Hills Cop that same year, a role he reprised in the franchise’s three sequels. In 1994, Reinhold earned an Emmy nomination for his role as Aaron in Seinfeld and began his years-long journey of playing Neil in The Santa Clause franchise.
The actor has been married to his wife, Amy Reinhold, since 2000, per Instagram. They share one daughter.
Robert Romanus as Mike Damone
Robert Romanus portrayed Mike Damone, a gambler and notorious ladies’ man.
Following the teen comedy, he landed a recurring role on Days of Our Lives before appearing TV series like Fame and 21 Jump Street. He’s since gone on to star in several horror flicks, including The Searching and In the Shadows.
Today, Romanus performs in a band called Poppa’s Kitchen, he told the Trainwreck’d Society in May 2013. He used to own a coffee shop called Bob’s Espresso in Los Angeles, which has closed.
Romanus also has a daughter, he told the site.
Brian Backer as Mark “Rat” Ratner
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Brian Backer portrayed one of Stacy Hamilton’s love interests, Mark “Rat” Ratner.
The actor later appeared in films such as Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987) and Loser (2000), and made guest appearances on TV shows including Charles in Charge, Growing Pains and Santa Barbara.
Phoebe Cates as Linda Barrett
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Phoebe Cates played the experienced underclassman Linda Barrett in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Like Reinhold, she was also cast in Gremlins, and went on to reprise her role as Kate in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). She took a hiatus from acting after 1994’s Princess Caraboo to raise her children, returning to star in 2001’s The Anniversary Party, which was co-written and co-directed by Leigh.
Cates is married to actor Kevin Kline. The couple wed in 1989 and now share a son and daughter.
Forest Whitaker as Charles Jefferson
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Whitaker portrayed Ridgemont High’s football star, Charles Jefferson.
While he’s been working steadily since the 1982 teen comedy premiered, Whitaker’s career has skyrocketed in the past two decades. He won an Academy Award for portraying real-life dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (2006) and two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, for The Last King of Scotland and Black Panther (2018).
His film credits also include standout roles in Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013), Arrival (2016), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Respect (2021).
Whitaker has four children. He welcomed two daughters with his late ex-wife, Keisha Nash. His oldest child and only son, Ocean, came from a previous relationship. Nash had a daughter, Autumn, from a previous relationship, whom Whitaker raised as his own.
Ray Walston as Mr. Hand
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Ray Walston played Mr. Hand, Ridgemont High’s no-nonsense history teacher.
The actor returned to his role as Mr. Hand in the Fast Times TV series and later won two Emmys for his work in the hit show Picket Fences. Walston’s final on-screen performances came in the early 2000s with guest spots on Touched by an Angel and 7th Heaven.
Walston died on Jan. 1, 2001, at age 86, per Variety. He was married to his wife, Ruth Calvert, for nearly 60 years. They shared one daughter.
Nicolas Cage as Brad’s Bud
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Fast Times at Ridgemont High marked Cage’s first movie role, in which he played an unnamed friend of Brad Hamilton.
The actor’s career reached new heights in 1995 when he landed the lead role in Leaving Las Vegas — a performance that earned him an Academy Award. Over the next few years, Cage appeared in blockbuster hit after blockbuster hit, including The Rock (1996), Con Air (1997), City of Angels (1998), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) and Adaptation (2002). More recently, he starred in the 2024 thriller Longlegs (2024) and the 2025 western Gunslingers.
Cage has been married five times and is a father of three. He shares a daughter with his current wife, Riko Shibata, whom he wed in 2021. He also has a son with former girlfriend Christina Fulton and another son with his third wife, Alice Kim.
