Why 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' Star Rick Moranis Left the Spotlight: I Have 'No Regrets'

Whatever happened to Rick Moranis?

The Honey, I Shrunk the Kids star, 66, was a box office star in the 1980s and 1990s with hits like Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs and The Flintstones.

Moranis left it all behind in 1997 when he made the decision to take a long hiatus.

So, what changed?

The actor lost his wife, costume designer Ann Belsky, in February 1991 to breast cancer, with whom he had two children. Moranis slowly left public life to focus on being a single father, but he’s never retired from the business, as he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015.

“I took a break, which turned into a longer break,” he told THR at the time. “But I’m interested in anything that I would find interesting. I still get the occasional query about a film or television role and as soon as one comes along that piques my interest.”

The comedian has already been invited back into the Hollywood fold, most notably for a role in 2016’s female-driven Ghostbusters reboot, which included his former costars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Sigourney Weaver.

Moranis turned down the role, though.

“I wish them well,” he told the publication. “I hope it’s terrific. But it just makes no sense to me. Why would I do just one day of shooting on something I did 30 years ago?”

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While Moranis left Hollywood to focus on being present for his children, he didn’t express regret at his decision.

“I was working with really interesting people, wonderful people,” he said. “I went from that to being at home with a couple of little kids, which is a very different lifestyle. But it was important to me.”

He added, “I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. My life is wonderful.”

Moranis has continued working despite his low profile. Even if audiences aren’t seeing his face onscreen, they might have heard his voice, such as in the 2003 animated film Brother Bear in which he played Rutt.

He voiced Rutt again in the 2006 sequel Brother Bear 2 and has been steadily working in TV shows such as The Goldbergs, Ash vs Evil Dead and Family Guy.

“Stuff happens to people all the time, and people make adjustments, change careers, move to another city,” he told THR. “Really, that’s all I did.”

Another one of Moranis’s films, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, is getting a reboot by Disney which will star Josh Gad. Moranis starred as Wayne Szalinski as he accidentally shrunk his young kids and their neighbors.

Gad will pick up the mantle as Wayne’s adult son, Nick, who accidentally shrinks his own children.

In 2015, Moranis expressed surprise that film hadn’t been rebooted yet.

“I’m surprised that Disney hasn’t done Honey, I Shrunk the Grandkids,” he joked. “But I’m happy with the things I said yes to, and I’m very happy with the many things I’ve said no to. Yes, I am picky, and I’ll continue to be picky. Picky has worked for me.”