If you grew up in the ’80s, you know Chunk.
The Hawaiian shirt.
The legendary Truffle Shuffle.
And loveable chaos machine who stole scenes in The Goonies without even trying.
But what happened to the kid behind the icon —Jeff Cohen — might be one of the most surprising Hollywood story of all.
Behind-the-scenes
Jeff Cohen’s rise (and crash) from child stardom happened almost overnight.
Born Jeffrey Bertan McMahon on June 25, 1974, in Los Angeles, he watched his family shift early in life. When he was around seven or eight, his parents separated, a moment that marked him deeply.
Not long after, he chose a new identity for the screen, adopting “Cohen” as his stage surname, a tribute to his mother Elaine’s maiden name.
Before his breakout role in The Goonies, Cohen was already popping up on television. In 1982–83, he appeared as one of the kids who helped explain clues to players on the CBS game show Child’s Play.
A few years later, in the summer of 1985, he returned to TV as a young celebrity guest on the game show Body Language.
While filming the legendary The Goonies, Cohen cemented his place in pop-culture history with the unforgettable Truffle Shuffle, bringing infectious energy to the role of the lovable misfit, Chunk.
With Richard Donner at the helm and Steven Spielberg producing, the adventure-comedy told the story of a ragtag bunch of kids embarking on a high-stakes quest for lost treasure in hopes of saving their neighborhood.
A funny behind-the-scenes tidbit that many fans might have missed: Jeff Cohen was actually covered in chickenpox while filming Goonies. Worried he might get replaced, he kept it a secret and showed up on set anyway. According to the DVD commentary, sharp-eyed viewers can even spot the chickenpox on his chest during the iconic “Truffle Shuffle” scene.
Director Richard Donner once said that Jeff’s acting had a real, genuine quality — he was just himself on screen.
This is how Cohen has described getting the role of Chunk:
“There were basically about four fat kids in town, so every time there was a fat kid role you saw the same people at the audition,” he told the Daily Mail.
“It was survival of the fattest.”
”Acting gave me up”
After the success of The Goonies, Jeff Cohen would have loved to continue acting, but one thing stood in his way.
”When I hit puberty, it was a career-ender for me. I was transforming from Chunk to hunk, and I couldn’t get roles anymore,” he said.
Then came the line that broke every Goonies fan a little:
“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.”
So Jeff stepped away from the industry entirely, throwing himself into school, sports, and trying to find an identity beyond Chunk.
He joked later:
“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.”
“That’s stupid. You’re not going to be an actor. You’ve got to know about the business.”
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.”
During an interview with Daily Mail, he laughed:
“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!
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