The iconic Hawaiian shirt is gone, the legendary Truffle Shuffle is a distant memory, and the lovable chaos of the 1980s has been replaced by the razor-sharp precision of a high-powered Hollywood boardroom. Jeff Cohen, the child star who etched his name into pop-culture immortality as Chunk in The Goonies, was faced with a brutal reality when puberty struck: his career as a professional fat kid was effectively over. Most child actors would have spiraled into the void of obscurity or washed out in a blaze of tragedy. Instead, Cohen orchestrated one of the most brilliant, unpredictable pivots in the history of the entertainment industry.
Born Jeffrey Bertan McMahon in 1974, his early life was marked by the quiet instability of his parents’ separation. Seeking a new start, he adopted the stage surname Cohen, a heartfelt tribute to his mother’s maiden name. Before he was ever lost in the caves of Astoria, Oregon, searching for One-Eyed Willy’s treasure, he was already cutting his teeth in the competitive world of television. He appeared on game shows like Child’s Play and Body Language, displaying a natural charisma that caught the attention of casting directors. However, no one could have predicted the sheer magnitude of the cultural phenomenon he was about to join.
When he auditioned for the role of Chunk, the competition was as fierce as it was cynical. Cohen famously described the process as a brutal contest of survival of the fattest, noting that the same few actors were always competing for the same limited pool of roles. He secured the part not because of a gimmick, but because of an infectious, genuine energy that captured the heart of director Richard Donner. A hidden detail that remains a testament to his sheer grit on set is that he was suffering from a severe case of chickenpox throughout the filming. Terrified that the production would replace him, he kept his condition a secret, and if you watch the iconic Truffle Shuffle scene closely, you can actually see the marks on his chest.
