Jeff Cohen, who played Chunk in the 1985 film The Goonies, left acting and built a career as an entertainment lawyer. He earned degrees at UC Berkeley and UCLA, co-founded a law firm in 2002, and later represented his former co-star Ke Huy Quan on Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Why did Jeff Cohen leave acting?
Cohen has described puberty as a turning point in his acting career. In a 2016 interview with The Guardian, he said, “Puberty is the ultimate nemesis for a child actor – and puberty kicked me in the gut.” He recalled that changes to his body and voice made it harder to find acting work as a teenager.
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That is Cohen’s account of the transition, not a complete independent record of every factor or the exact year he stopped acting. His best-known role remains Chunk, the comic, food-loving member of the young friends at the center of Richard Donner’s The Goonies, released in 1985.
How did he become a lawyer?
Cohen shifted from performing to the business and legal side of entertainment. His biography at Cohen Gardner LLP says he earned an undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a J.D. from UCLA Law, with an emphasis in business law. A 2025 UC Davis School of Law event page gives the same broad account of his education and career.
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In an interview with Chambers Associate, Cohen recalled an early opportunity to negotiate a sitcom-writing deal for a comedian friend. He said the work appealed to him because it could help an artist gain creative freedom and improve their circumstances. That dealmaking role became a route back into entertainment, this time behind the scenes.
What does Jeff Cohen do now?
Cohen co-founded Cohen Gardner LLP with Jonathan Gardner in 2002. The firm describes his practice as transactional representation for clients in entertainment, media, and technology. In practical terms, that means advising clients on business agreements and deals rather than pursuing an acting career.
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He also wrote The Dealmaker’s Ten Commandments: Ten Essential Tools for Business Forged in the Trenches of Hollywood, published by the American Bar Association imprint Ankerwycke in 2015, according to the firm biography.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How is he still connected to The Goonies cast?
One of Cohen’s most visible links to his former castmates came through Ke Huy Quan. The Associated Press reported in March 2023 that Cohen represented Quan and drew up the contract for Quan’s role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Quan thanked his “Goonies” friend during his Oscar acceptance speech. The story neatly joins Cohen’s two careers: the child actor from the 1985 film and the lawyer negotiating entertainment deals.
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For a documentary-minded account of what followed The Goonies, Cohen’s story is less a return to the screen than a change in role: he remained in the entertainment business, but moved from performing in front of the camera to helping artists make and negotiate their work.
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