The Freaks and Geeks Cast: Where Are They Now?
#10: Becky Ann Baker
Baker portrayed Jean Weir, the lovable and wonderfully innocent mother of Sam and Lindsay. Unlike many of the child and teenage actors from the show, Baker hasn’t attained the status of current Hollywood royalty. That said, she has still kept busy. In 2015 she appeared as a Bookstore Manager in the Jason Segel-led “The End of the Tour,” and in 2017 she played Carol in “Table 19.” But it’s TV where Becky has devoted a majority of her time. From 2012 to 2017 she starred as Loreen Horvath in “Girls,” and was even nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress. In 2019, she appeared in three episodes of HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” portraying Judge Marylin Cipriani.
#9: Joe Flaherty
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Starring alongside Becky Ann Baker was Joe Flaherty, the somewhat goofy and out-of-touch father. Despite his great performance, Flaherty has remained somewhat quiet since his time on “Freaks and Geeks” and hasn’t been seen in much as of late. Probably because he turned 78 years old in 2019. In 2011, he provided the voice of the Vatican Messenger in an episode of “Family Guy” and was credited in two episodes of the HBO animated comedy “The Life & Times of Tim.” His last major role was in 2012, when he played Mayor Andrews in an episode of the Canadian comedy “Call Me Fitz.” We suppose he’s just taking it easy and enjoying retirement. We don’t blame him.
#8: John Francis Daley
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Daley portrayed the main geek Sam Weir, the second main protagonist of the show. In 2007, seven years after “Freaks and Geeks,” Daley began playing Sweets in the Fox series “Bones,” a role he inhabited for another seven years and 138 episodes. He is now Mr. Hollywood Bigshot, as he and his writing partner Jonathan Goldstein have helmed the scripts to movies like “Horrible Bosses,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2,” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” In 2018 he both directed and appeared in “Game Night,” a movie that was lauded for its script and originality, and which earned over $100 million at the worldwide box office.
#7: Samm Levine
Of all the kids and teenagers, Samm Levine has had the quietest career. Perhaps his most substantial post-Neal Schweiber role is that of Hirschberg in “Inglourious Basterds.” He’s also enjoyed a ton of bit roles on TV, and in 2017 he appeared in five episodes of “Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later.” But unlike many of his co-stars, Levine has taken a somewhat unorthodox path. He was a regular guest, and occasional guest host, of the YouTube-streamed podcast “Kevin Pollack’s Chat Show.” He was also a regular on Collider’s trivia competition show “Movie Trivia Schmoedown.” In 2018 he appeared in the pilot episode for the YouTube Red comedy “I’m Poppy,” which the producers hope to make more of in the coming future.
#6: Martin Starr
Starr earned critical acclaim for his role as the geekiest geek, Bill Haverchuck. Starr has remained close with Seth Rogen’s gang, starring in movies like “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” and making a very brief cameo in the meta comedy “This Is the End.” He’s also remained in the circle of his co-star John Francis Daley, as he played Roger Harrington in both “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and its sequel, “Far From Home.” However, he’s also branched off and enjoyed his own success. In 2014, Starr began starr-ing as Bertram Gilfoyle in the HBO comedy “Silicon Valley.” He played Bertram for all six seasons of the show, which concluded in November 2019.
#5: Busy Philipps
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Philipps played Kim Kelly, the female member of the freaks and foil to fake-freak Lindsay Weir. Busy has remained…uh…busy in the television industry. From 2016 to 2017 she starred as Gale Liptrapp in the HBO series “Vice Principals,” a comedy starring Seth Rogen’s buddy Danny McBride. She also recently appeared in two episodes of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and in 2018 she landed her own talk show on E! called “Busy Tonight.” The series lasted one season and 105 episodes and concluded in May of 2019. Philipps has also become a political advocate and testified before the House Judiciary Committee in June 2019, defending the right for safe abortion practices.
#4: Jason Segel
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“Freaks and Geeks” was Segel’s first major role. He played the perpetually stoned, tragic, and yes, somewhat creepy Nick Andopolis. Five years after “Freaks and Geeks” ended, Segel began starring as Marshall Eriksen in “How I Met Your Mother,” a role he inhabited through to the show’s conclusion in 2014. Segel has remained somewhat quiet in recent years, starring in the independent movies “The End of the Tour,” “The Discovery,” and “Come Sunday.” However, that looks to change in 2020, as he created, produced, and will star in the AMC anthology series “Dispatches from Elsewhere.” The series began filming in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2019.
#3: James Franco
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Franco wowed audiences and critics alike with his performance as Daniel Desario, arguably the toughest freak who ended up befriending the geeks over Dungeons and Dragons. As you are well aware, James Franco has become a bonafide Academy Award-nominated, two-time Golden Globe-winning megastar. He remains an incredibly busy man, as he appeared in more than ten movies between 2017 and 2019, including “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and “The Disaster Artist.” He also directed five movies in that time, and he has two more in production as of 2019. And we haven’t even mentioned his role as Vincent and Frankie Martino in the HBO period drama “The Deuce.” We don’t think the guy sleeps.
#2: Seth Rogen
Who would have thought that the random Canadian playing Ken Miller in a little-known teen drama would grow up to lead his very own entertainment empire? Rogen is essentially Hollywood royalty at this point, as he acts, produces, writes, and directs. His acting resume has admittedly slowed a little in recent years, despite voicing Pumbaa in “The Lion King.” But that’s only because he has devoted much of his time to behind-the-scenes work. He and his business partner Evan Goldberg founded a production company in 2011 called Point Grey Pictures, which has produced recent movies and TV shows like “The Disaster Artist,” “Good Boys,” “Preacher” (which he and Goldberg developed), and Amazon’s “The Boys.” We don’t think he sleeps, either.
#1: Linda Cardellini
Despite being an ensemble show, Linda Cardellini was arguably the “star” of “Freaks and Geeks.” She played Lindsay Weir, a geek who desperately wanted to be cool. Linda has remained a busy actress. In recent years she’s starred in movies like “Daddy’s Home 2,” the Best Picture-winning “Green Book,” and “The Curse of La Llorona.” She has also remained a major player in the TV industry, starring as Meg Rayburn in Netflix’s “Bloodline.” In May 2019, she began starring as Judy Hale in Netflix’s “Dead to Me,” which has been renewed for a second season. It’s amazing how this little show birthed so many successful careers.
