The Cast Of Matilda: Then And Now

Then: A bona fide child star at that point, she played the cutest kid ever in ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ and ‘Miracle on 34th Street’.

Now: She went to New York University where she studied sociology and filmmaking and is now a writer – her memoir is out in September. She also opened up about her sexuality on Twitter after the Orlando shootings, saying she was embracing the “Bi/Queer label”.

Then: At the time she shot ‘Matilda’, the now-68-year-old Ferris was best known as Ma Larkin in bucolic telly series ‘The Darling Buds of May’.

Now: She was Aunt Marge in the third ‘Harry Potter’ movie and has been in two of the ‘Nativity’ franchise. But she’s mostly recognisable as a TV regular again, playing Sister Evagelina in ‘Call the Midwife’.

Then: ‘Matilda’ was then-portly Jimmy’s first screen appearance, which he followed two years later with a brief role in ‘The Wedding Singer’ and an episode of ‘ER’.

Now: Karz dropped out of Hollywood and now aged 32, having tried his luck behind the camera as a production staffer at MTV, he’s studying to be an osteopath in Philadelphia.

Then: Playing Lavender was Kiami’s first job in Hollywood.

Now: After a few TV episodes, she pursued real life, studying psychology at the University of Kentucky. According to IMDB, she’s an actress, model, singer, songwriter and screenwriter, but her only recent credit is as the writer of a 2012 short film. She’s still bezzas with Mara Wilson though, which is awesome.

Then: Another one for whom going to Trunchbull’s school was her first acting gig, she’s the one who gets twirled around by her pigtails.

Now: After studying linguistics at UCLA, Steiger moved behind the camera, working as a producer on various indie shorts while this year she’s the production co-ordinator on an animated horror movie featuring the voices of William Shatner and Morena Baccarin (‘Deadpool’).

Then: Matilda’s classmate had one previous credit before the movie, in the excellently-titled ‘There’s No Such Thing as a Chanukah Bush, Sandy Goldstein’.

Now: She’s a journalist and TV host of the travel show we can’t believe we haven’t seen, ‘Islands Without Cars with Kira Hesser’. She also has a masters degree in modern literature.

Then: Playing Matilda aged four is Magdalin’s sole performing credit.

Now: Aged 26, she’s been a teacher in Arizona, as well as an administrator at a law firm. She’s currently in California studying for a post-graduate degree in nutrition and dietetics.

Then: As the mean older brother of our heroine, Brian was one of the more seasoned child actors, having appeared in ‘Predator 2’ and ‘Roseanne’.

Now: Levinson is now 33 and dropped out of Hollywood the year after ‘Matilda’, only showing up in a 1997 episode of ‘Seinfeld’. He’s stayed out of the public eye, but is married and seems to like fishing.

Then: Born in Indiana to South African parents, Davidtz was partly raised in her parents’ homeland, impressing in ‘Schindler’s List’ and ‘Murder in the First’ before becoming Matilda’s kindly teacher.

Now: Davidtz has worked non-stop, playing everything from a snotty socialite in ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ to Peter Parker’s mum in both Andrew Garfield ‘Spider-man’ films. She’s married to a lawyer and has two children.

Then: ‘Matilda’ was one of DeVito’s disappointingly rare directorial efforts, having made his way behind the camera after starring in films like ‘Romancing the Stone’ and ‘Batman Returns’.

Now: Currently enjoying himself immensely on cult sitcom ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, he was recently the cinematic voice of ‘The Lorax’ and is also an esteemed independent producer behind movies like ‘Out of Sight’ and ‘Garden State’.

Then: As well as being married to DeVito in real life, Perlman was a TV mega-star as Carla in ‘Cheers’.

Now: She works consistently in television and did a stint in London’s West End in comedy play ‘Boeing Boeing’. Most recently, she’s been playing the mother of one of the lead characters in ‘The Mindy Project’.