If you’ve seen any movie or TV show in the last 40 years, you know who Sean Astin is. He’s instantly recognizable as Samwise Gamgee in “Lord of the Rings,” Bob Newby in “Stranger Things,” an underdog football player in “Rudy,” or simply a Goonie.
He’s happy to talk about his career, meet fans with tattoos of his face at comic book conventions, weigh in on whether Sam should’ve carried the ring instead of Frodo, or discuss whether he’ll star in a sequel to “The Goonies.” Original producer Steven Spielberg and original screenwriter Chris Columbus are both reportedly developing “The Goonies 2,” but a cast, plot and director haven’t been announced yet.
“None of us knows what their plans are,” Astin told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard in a phone interview, referring to his co-stars in the 1985 movie like Josh Brolin, Martha Plimpton, Corey Feldman and recent Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan.
“I know that it’s been in the works forever,” Astin said, maybe with some skepticism. “I think they’ve developed lots of screenplays... but this seems like it’s as real as it can be. So we’ll see.”
Astin is also happy to talk about “Stranger Things,” which connected him to a new generation of fans. The fifth and final season is due to come out later this year on Netflix, but don’t expect to see his character, who was Winona Ryder’s love interest on season 2 — even in a new flashback scene or a supernatural twist.
“I’m not in it,” he confirmed. “I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen but I’m excited... they’re continuing to honor the fanbase as these kids get older and they’re not kids anymore. So we’ll see how they finish it up.”
But here’s something you might not know he also wants to talk about: Mental health.
The actor is coming to Syracuse on Tuesday to be the keynote speaker for the 2025 Integrated Care Conference. Presented by Helio Health, this year’s “Looking Forward” event will focus on substance abuse, mental health treatment, and innovations in technology and clinical approaches.
Astin, 54, grew up with his mother, Hollywood legend Patty Duke, and his adoptive father, original “The Addams Family” star John Astin. Duke suffered from undiagnosed bipolar disorder for much of Sean’s childhood, once overdosing on pills in front of Sean and his younger brother, “The Facts of Life” actor Mackenzie Astin.
After Duke was diagnosed in 1982, she stabilized with treatment. It led to her becoming one of the first celebrities to advocate for psychological health and destigmatizing mental illnesses, Sean Astin said.
“She really found herself when that sort of became her mission,” Astin told syracuse.com. “She wrote books about her experience. She made a movie about her experience. She was very forthcoming, traveled around the country giving speeches... and she was at Congress and you know she was kind of an indefatigable activist.”
Astin starred in 1985’s “The Goonies,” but reached a new level of fame when he played a heroic hobbit in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy in the early 2000s. Astin said he started getting invited to speak about his experiences with Duke, and soon became a nationally touring mental health advocate, continuing his mother’s work after her death.
“Thank goodness the national conversation has improved so much since my mom’s time when she was diagnosed,” Astin said. “She was concerned about what she had seen when she was a little girl in New York, where the idea of electroshock therapy or being being spirited away to, you know, padded rooms or being ostracized from your community or having medicines that numbed you or lobotomies... all the kind of stereotypical horrors that she had in her mind, and that’s gone now.”
Astin said he’s glad to see less stigma around mental health, as well as new medicines and wellness strategies. Talking about it helps, too, as “everyone’s kind of touched” by experiences with anxiety, depression and loneliness.
“I find these talks very uplifting even when you’re talking about moments of drama and pain in your family life,” Astin explained. “Using those experiences to share a story and to give people encouragement feels very purposeful.”
Astin has appeared in nearly 200 movies and TV shows, including “24,” “Encino Man,” “50 First Dates,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and the Oscar-nominated short film he directed, “Kangaroo Court.” He’s also voiced a variety of animated characters like Raphael from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and DC superhero Shazam to roles on “Captain Underpants,” “Kung Fu Panda” and “Special Agent Oso.”
He also has a few favorites that he wishes more people saw, like 2014’s “The Surface,” which was filmed on Lake Michigan. Astin’s character ventures out into the water, considering ending his life, when he finds a pilot who crashed and attempts to rescue him.
“It’s really a study about what friendship means, and what it means to want to be alive,” Astin said.
Astin has fond memories of filming 2005’s “Bigger Than the Sky,” which he describes as a “love letter to community theater,” with his mother. Astin also loves “The Color of Magic,” a 2008 comedy fantasy based on a Terry Pratchett book, co-starring Tim Curry, David Jason, Brian Cox, Jeremy Irons and Christopher Lee.
“Most of the things I did have not been seen by large audiences so... you have a particular passion for them, that special place in your heart for them because it’s the same amount of work that goes into those that go into the ones that kind of connect with the broad audience,” Astin noted. “They’re special. And I find that people who have seen them that come up to me, it’s almost conspiratorial. Like, ‘Hey I saw you in (1992’s) ”Where the Day Takes You,“’ where I played a drug addict. They’re like, ‘That was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.‘”
“Those, you know, deeper cuts have a very special place in my heart,” he added.
But even if there are movies missed by the masses, Astin knows there’s still an audience that will always appreciate it.
“As I get older, my three daughters... will have this little treasure trove of things to discover about their dad when I’m gone,” Astin said, referring to his filmography. “If I can bundle up all those performances, each one representing a different time in my life... some people have family albums and for my part, I’m like, ‘Well here kids you can have you can have this.‘”
The 2025 2025 Integrated Care Conference runs from Monday, April 7, to Tuesday, April 8, at The Oncenter Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center in Syracuse; Astin will appear Tuesday. Advance tickets are available for $299 for one day or $399 for both days at helio.health/integrated-care-conference; day-of registration costs $499.
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