“It was terrible. My first love was acting, but puberty had other ideas. It was a forced retirement. I didn’t give up acting. Acting gave me up.”
From left to right, Jeff Cohen, Sean Astin, Corey Feldman and Ke Huy Quan in a scene from the film ‘Goonies’, 1985. (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images)
So Jeff stepped away from the industry entirely, throwing himself into school, sports, and trying to find an identity beyond Chunk.
“I’m pretty good at exercising and watching my diet because I know I could slide back into Chunk. But I am very proud that I was a professional fat person. Anyone can be an amateur, but who can be a pro?”
Joined the football team
At UC Berkeley, he joined the football team, got through brutal hazing (“I was always knocked on my a**”), and even became the school mic man, where thousands chanted for him to perform the Truffle Shuffle. He finally did it once, and the crowd went ballistic.
There’s no doubt that Jeff Cohen and The Goonies director Richard Donner formed a strong bond during filming. Jeff has since praised Donner for his ability to draw out genuine emotions and natural performances from the kids, helping make the film a timeless classic.
But Donner’s support didn’t stop there. When Jeff asked him for a college recommendation, Donner not only wrote the letter, he was so moved by Jeff’s personal struggles that he generously covered the cost of his entire college education. Donner then helped him land behind-the-scenes jobs at studios.
Jeff recalls Donner booming at him:
“Hey kid, what do you want to do?”
“I want to be an actor.”
Donner wasn’t being cruel — it was tough love. And it worked.
Jeff earned a business degree at Berkeley, a law degree from UCLA, and entered the world of entertainment law.
A poetic twist
But the funny thing is that the former child star didn’t just become a lawyer.
He became one of the entertainment lawyers in Hollywood.
”I still wanted to contribute to entertainment because I always loved the entertainment industry,” Cohen once told The Journal News.
He co-founded Cohen & Gardner LLP, made Variety’s Dealmakers List, and The Hollywood Reporter’s Next Gen Executives.
His office is a shrine of his past life: He has Steven Spielberg-signed E.T. poster: “To Jeff (Chunk) Cohen, you are my favorite Goonie” and a Superman poster from Donner: “My man, with you anyone can fly.”
“My clients get a kick out of the fact their lawyer is Chunk. They dig it.”
And in a poetic twist? He negotiated the deal for his Goonies brother Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All at Once, the role that won Quan the Oscar.
Ke Huy Quan thanked him on stage: “My Goonies brother for life.”
Today, Jeff Cohen is 51 years old and he may no longer look like Chunk. He may never do the Truffle Shuffle without “three martinis” and careful lighting.
But he is proud, deeply proud, of where he’s landed.
”I think it’s crazy. I dig it and I’m very proud of ten-year-old me and that he was able to make such an impact,” Jeff shared.
Unlike so many child stars, Jeff Cohen came out of Hollywood unscathed—a rarity in the industry. Even at a young age, his natural comedic talent shone through, and today he channels that same wit as a successful Hollywood lawyer.
While it’s bittersweet that he stepped away from acting, staying connected to the industry in a new role was a smart move.
Despite the challenges Hollywood threw his way during puberty, he’s built an incredible life — helping talents like Ke Huy Quan secure major deals, remaining a genuinely great person, and leaving behind a timeless legacy with The Goonies. By any measure, that’s what success looks like!
