Every gang of misfits needs a bully to run from, and Butch was ours. This week Blake and Jordan reunite with their old castmate Sam Saletta, the leather-jacketed troublemaker who made the Rascals' lives miserable in the 1994 classic. Sam was the "voiceover kid" out of Chicago before he ever met Steven Spielberg, and he walked out of his screen test 90% sure he had the part. He did, and nearly thirty years later the three of them pick right back up like no time has passed.

Sam finally spills the story of how Blake and Jordan actually got their roles: the original Woim got sent home for calling a kid "fuckface" on the playground, and the original Froggy flipped a Connect 4 board in the school trailer. From there the guys trace Sam's whole run, the TV circuit and Seventh Heaven alongside sister Nikki, three or four years as Sam Dullard on Rocket Power under cartoon legend Charlie Adler, and the voice change that quietly ended his cartoon career. He talks about stage-parent Karen (pushy in the good way), chasing normalcy as an independent kid who watched Hollywood chew people up, and the high school music program that launched a second career as a professional musician.

The back half gets into the real stuff and the ridiculous stuff in equal measure. Sam explains how his family handled the money, why he knew about and signed off on the investment in moving to LA, and the residual-check absurdity that ends in a check for literally zero dollars. He shares how first-season American Idol wanted a contract owning his past, present, and future, why he walked, and how he made peace with Butch after years of people trying to test him for playing one of the most legendary bullies in cinema history. Plus the pig pucky rankings you've been waiting for (oatmeal and dirt, dead last).

And yes, the guys build out the full Butch cinematic universe: he buys the clubhouse, tears it down, puts up luxury condos, and hires Woim as his loyal maintenance man. From our childhood to yours, this is The Not So Little Rascals.

🎥 What happens in this episode?

00:00 Cold Open: Pig Pucky, Ranked

00:47 Reunion: Butch and Woim Back Together

01:28 The Chicago Voiceover Kid and Meeting Spielberg

04:36 The Replacement Rascals: How Blake and Jordan Really Got In

06:49 Typecast as the Bully, and the People Who Try You

09:30 The TV Circuit, Seventh Heaven, and Sister Nikki

10:20 Rocket Power, Sam Dullard, and Charlie Adler

13:52 When the Voice Changed

15:00 Stage-Parent Karen and the Sibling Dynamic

18:14 Favorite Rascals Memories and School as a Kid Actor

21:10 Burroughs, Music, and Chasing Normalcy

26:02 The Third Act: COVID, Real Estate, and Buying a House from a Little Rascal

28:51 How the Money Was Handled, and Residual-Check Hell

34:20 Perform Forever? His Son, and Watching the Movie Together

38:17 Pig Pucky Rankings and Butch's Hypothetical Future

44:06 Anonymity, American Idol Season One, and Making Peace with Butch

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We sit down with Kiami Davael, who a whole generation knows as Lavender, Matilda's loyal best friend in the 1996 classic. Kiami's "first call" story starts with a dream she'd had since age three, and a mom who told her that while there was only one Whitney Houston, she could be the best Kiami there ever was.

Kiami takes us from a small town in Kentucky to Los Angeles, where an agent fought to get her in the room for a role that wasn't written for a girl who looked like her, until Mara Wilson's mom took one look and told Danny DeVito, "that's your Lavender." She shares what it was like to grow up on that set with "Uncle Danny," turning nine over a giant birthday cake, and what it means now when grown women tell her Lavender was the first time they ever saw themselves on screen.

We get into the honest stuff too, the sting of rejection as she aged out of the roles she used to book, the loneliness of high school, and the "create your own yes" mindset that turned her into a writer, director, and producer. She's open about a mom who did the research, protected every dollar, and made decisions with her instead of for her, one of the most refreshing money stories we've heard. And she tells us about the documentary she's making about her own life, on her own terms.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.

🎥 What happens in this episode?

00:00 – Cold open, and welcoming Kiami

01:21 – Booking Matilda: "that's your Lavender"

04:21 – Kentucky, Whitney Houston, and "be the best Kiami"

07:44 – The move to LA and the first auditions

10:16 – Did she know Matilda would be huge? Why Lavender is her

14:08 – On set with Uncle Danny and a birthday cake

16:37 – Oldest of seven, and different households

21:00 – "The first time they saw themselves on screen"

23:34 – Handling the trolls and owning her place in history

25:33 – After Matilda, and aging into the awkward years

31:11 – Rejection, and "create your own yes"

34:44 – High school, bullying, and turning that tassel

41:55 – Choosing college, going home, and Starbucks

48:12 – The money: a mom who did the research

51:03 – The chocolate cake scene and the reunion

54:10 – The documentary, identity, and the proud/grateful close

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We sit down with Justin Cooper, the kid who played Max Reede, Jim Carrey's son in the 1997 blockbuster Liar Liar. Justin's "first call" story is a good one: he was standing in line at a Kinko's when his mom got word that Jim Carrey wanted to meet him first, just to make sure the two of them clicked before the cameras rolled.

Justin was working before most kids can read, starting with a Domino's commercial at four and rolling into his own series The Boys Are Back, two years on General Hospital, a Full House episode, and his own TGIF sitcom Brother's Keeper, all before his teens. He takes us behind the scenes of Liar Liar, from the Batmobile in Jim Carrey's backyard to a hidden Fire Marshal Bill cameo tucked into one of the movie's most emotional scenes, and the one bit that actually got overwhelming as a kid: the claw.

We get into the honest stuff too, the awkward jump from private school to public school, hiding his past to try to blend in, a protective mom who quietly intercepted some genuinely startling fan mail, and the slow decision to walk away as auditions started to feel like work. Then the reinvention: cold-emailing his way into an internship that became a 14-year career producing an overnight sports radio show, and finding a version of the business that finally fit.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.

🎥 What happens in this episode?

00:00 – Cold open: the prison mail

00:54 – The call at the Kinko's, and meeting Jim Carrey

03:41 – The Riddler costume and the Batmobile in the backyard

07:13 – How it started: Disneyland, headshots, and a Domino's commercial

14:09 – Full House, Brother's Keeper, and life on a sitcom

18:38 – After Liar Liar: buffet lines, prison mail, and a protective mom

24:08 – Jennifer Tilly, poker, and Meadows Oaks camp

28:46 – Private school, public school, and the bullying

35:42 – Sports radio, the listeners, and the claw

38:50 – Stepping away, the grind, and the awkward years

42:04 – Family, the money, and the Coogan account

47:27 – From intern to producer

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We sit down with Miko Hughes, who started working younger than anyone we've talked to yet, having been just over two years old when he played Gage Creed in the 1989 horror classic Pet Sematary.

His story starts before he could even walk, when his mom heard him spell a word from his car seat and decided, on the spot, to take him to Hollywood. She spent nine months getting past the front desk of the biggest kids' agency in town, and once she did, Miko booked the first three things he ever went out for. What followed was a run most actors dream of: the Kindergarten Cop line everyone still quotes (if you know, you know), Michelle's most out-of-pocket classmate on Full House, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Spawn, and screen time with Danny DeVito, Tom Hanks, and Bruce Willis, all before he finished growing up.

We get into what it's like to have your earliest memories be movie sets, growing up on horror sets and sitcom sets, and the harder stuff too, a family that got rocky as the work became its livelihood, and money that vanished the way it did for so many kids of that era. Miko is open and clear-eyed about all of it, and about why he'd still do the whole thing over exactly the same way.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.

P.S: This was the first guest episode we ever recorded, and it showed. The audio was a mess and our 'production design' was two guys and a prayer. We spent the time and remnants of our child acting money to fix it because the conversation with Miko was just too good to bury. Thanks for bearing with us, rascals.

Fun Fact - The word “Like” is used 526 times in this episode.

🎥 What happens in this episode?

00:00 – Cold open, and welcoming Miko

01:21 – The call at 27 months old, and returning to the Pet Sematary house

04:09 – Realizing acting wasn't what every kid did

06:34 – Nine months at the agency door: the "MOBIL" story

09:46 – The audition grind, getting into character, and stretched resumes

17:46 – Siblings, homeschool, and growing up around adults

19:30 – Aging out, a rocky home, and stepping away

25:11 – Why this podcast exists, and working-man child actors

27:28 – Horror fandom, the cons, and a Gage Funko

30:26 – Are you proud of your body of work?

32:50 – The Kindergarten Cop line and the prop feeling

36:00 – His dad, the Coogan meetings, and the money that vanished

40:09 – Advice for a parent, and the last era of child actors

44:00 – Wes Craven, a good set, and finding his way back behind the camera

53:41 – Are you proud, and goodbye

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We sit down with Natanya Ross, known to a generation as Robyn Russo, the dark, sharp, unforgettable heart of The Secret World of Alex Mack.

Natanya's story starts earlier than almost anyone's, on stage as a baby and on Broadway before she ever set foot in Hollywood. We get into the call that changed her life & pulled her family west, the audition that was only supposed to last three episodes and turned into one of Nickelodeon's most beloved characters, and what it was like to grow up on camera, as the show became part of a generation's childhood.

We get into all of it, the family she was raised in, a momager who managed a remarkable career and the money that came with it, and the harder chapters that followed once the show ended and the anchor it gave her was gone. Natanya is open in a way few people ever are about the years she lost, the people she lost along the way, and the long road back. What she built on the other side of it, a life in recovery and mental health advocacy, is the part she's proudest of, and the part that almost never gets told.

There are lighter moments too, shut-down amusement parks for wrap parties, the cast that's still family decades later, a 90s love story with another familiar face, and a few set secrets she's never shared. We talk about owning your past instead of hiding from it, why the loudest stories about child actors are so often the wrong ones, and what it really means to still be here.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of exactly why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting, and more human, than anything that made it on screen.

🎥 What happens in this episode?

00:00 – Cold open: "We're so back"

00:31 – Welcome, and the Robyn Russo reaction

03:51 – From Asbury Park to Broadway to the call that moved her west

07:01 – Becoming Robyn: three episodes that turned into an icon

13:43 – The cast that became family

14:29 – Growing up edgy in young Hollywood

18:32 – The momager, the Coogan account, and a complicated home

24:00 – Acting as the first escape

32:13 – The end of Alex Mack and getting herself back on the show

37:01 – Life after the show and holding on

40:15 – The eight mile audition and losing everything

45:29 – The hardest years, and the moment things turned

46:57 – Treatment, purpose, and a career in recovery

49:21 – "Nothing cooler than being kind"

55:00 – A 90s love story

57:26 – "We're Still Here, Babe" and rewriting the narrative

1:00:21 – The documentaries, the safe set, and the real story

1:05:31 – Would you do it all again?

1:06:00 – Set secrets and one last Polaroid

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We sit down with Marty York, known to a generation as Yeah-Yeah from the 1993 classic The Sandlot.

Marty takes us back to how it all started, the audition that changed direction at the last minute, and what it was really like being part of a movie that became a phenomenon long after the cameras stopped rolling. We get into the highs, the harder chapters, the money, the reinvention, and the long road that led him back to telling his own story on his own terms.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a reminder of why this podcast exists, because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are always more interesting than anything that made it on screen.

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We welcome our first guest and it's someone we go way back with. Blake McIver Ewing, known to most as Waldo from The Little Rascals, sits down with us to talk about a career that started before most kids learn to ride a bike.

Blake's story begins with Star Search, where he talked his way onto the main stage at six years old and won. From there, it was Full House, The Little Rascals, a groundbreaking run in Ragtime, and a path through Hollywood that most people never hear the full version of.

We get into all of it, the audition grind, what it was really like in that final callback room with Spielberg, and how being under contract to Full House almost kept him out of the movie entirely. Blake opens up about the moment he walked away from acting (turning down what turned out to be High School Musical), the years he spent figuring out who he was outside of the industry, and what eventually brought him back to performing, on his own terms.

There are stories about go-go dancing on vocal rest, getting recognized while folding gym towels, and a full-circle reunion with his Ragtime castmate decades later in upstate New York. We talk about rejection, taxes, the Coogan law, what it's like when your on-screen dad becomes a controversial figure, and why theater, especially the immersive kind, might be the future of live performance.

It's funny, it's honest, and it's a conversation that reminds you why this podcast exists: because the real stories behind the kids you grew up watching are way more interesting than anything that made it on screen.

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Before the guests start coming on, we figured the best place to begin… was with us.

Jordan Warkol & Blake Collins sit down and chat with each other about a friendship that’s lasted more than 30 years—starting with the moment that changed everything: getting the call that led to The Little Rascals.

We go back to what it was actually like being kids thrown into Hollywood—what we understood at the time, what we didn’t, and how different it all looks now with a few decades of perspective. From auditions and life on set, to what happened after the cameras stopped rolling, we unpack the real experience of growing up as child actors.

Along the way, we share stories we’ve never told publicly, moments we forgot we remembered, and the kinds of behind-the-scenes experiences that only make sense looking back. There’s a mix of nostalgia, honesty, and a lot of laughs—because some of it was surreal, and some of it was just being kids.

This episode sets the tone for everything this podcast is about: real conversations with former child actors about what it was like then—and how it shapes who we are now.

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