Rick Moranis’ acting hiatus is over, as the actor closed a deal to reprise his role in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids reboot.
The revival, which will star Josh Gad as his character’s son years later, makes for Moranis’ first big-screen role since 1996’s Big Bully. Moranis portrayed scientist Wayne Szalinski in the 1989 Disney classic and its 1992 sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. He also appeared as Wayne in 1997’s direct-to-video sequel Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.
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Moranis decided to go on a long-standing Hollywood hiatus a year after his wife, costume designer Ann Belsky, passed away in February 1991 of breast cancer. Moranis and Belsky shared two children – Rachel and Mitchell.
The 66-year-old actor slowly disappeared from the public eye after Belsky’s passing to focus on being a single father, but Moranis never retired from acting, he shared with The Hollywood Reporter in 2015.
“I took a break, which turned into a longer break,” he told the outlet. “But I’m interested in anything that I would find interesting. I still get the occasional query about a film or television role and as soon as one comes along that piques my interest.”
“Stuff happens to people all the time, and people make adjustments, change careers, move to another city,” Moranis added. “Really, that’s all I did.”
Even though the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids actor took a break from Hollywood to focus on parenting his two children, he didn’t regret his decision to take a break from acting.
I was working with really interesting people, wonderful people,” Moranis said. “I went from that to being at home with a couple of little kids, which is a very different lifestyle. But it was important to me.”
“I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. My life is wonderful,” he added.
In 2015, the actor expressed he was surprised that a Honey, I Shrunk the Kids hadn’t been rebooted.
“I’m surprised that Disney hasn’t done Honey, I Shrunk the Grandkids,” he quipped at the time. “But I’m happy with the things I said yes to, and I’m very happy with the many things I’ve said no to. Yes, I am picky, and I’ll continue to be picky. Picky has worked for me.”
Moranis’ return to acting comes only months before Ghostbusters: Afterlife premieres in theaters, another franchise in which Moranis plays a fan-favorite character.