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Kerri Green
Kerri Lee Green is an American actress born in in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA, on 14th January 1967. Best-known for her roles in “Lucas”, “The Goonies”, and “Summer Rental”, Kerri matriculated from Pascack Hills High School and later furthered her studies at Vassar College. Prior to her breakthrough role, Kerri worked at a restaurant and did TV commercials for brands such as Bold 3 detergent.
The brunette grew up in a two-parent household with her younger sister; despite the lack of details about her parents, we can confirm that her father worked for Chemical Bank.
Kerri became interested in acting in junior high school and had leading roles in various middle school plays. Thanks to a friend of her mother’s, she began appearing in TV commercials after being put in touch with a manager who worked with young actors and actresses. During her time at Pascack High, Kerri dabbled in cheerleading, until she decided to take acting more seriously.
Acting
Kerri became well-known thanks to her roles in teen movies of the 1980s, such as her portrayal of Jennifer Chester in “Summer Rental”. Her breakout role was playing Andrea Carmichael in “The Goonies”; she later received critical acclaim thanks to her stellar performance in “Lucas”, with her character being tangled up in a love triangle between Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen’s characters.
Kerri’s next film, “Three for the Road” in 1987, was a commercial failure despite featuring Alan Ruck, Charlie Sheen, and other promising newcomers of the time. Kerri then decided to take a break from acting and study a college degree. When she returned to the entertainment industry in 1990, Kerri appeared in episodes of “ABC Afterschool Special” and “In the Heat of the Night”, and was in the TV movie “The Burden of Proof”; however, her career lost its momentum and the gaps between projects became progressively larger.
Eventually, Kerri and Bonnie Dickenson founded their own film production company, Independent Women Artists. Kerri and Bonnie wrote and directed the film adaptation of a play about teen pregnancy, “Bellyfruit”, which was released in 1999.
It remains unclear why Kerri left acting behind for good, but online sources confirm that she’s married with two children, so we can perhaps surmise that she preferred a more stable career to help provide for her family – and to put her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree to good use. Speaking to People Magazine in 2010, the former actress also described having her first on-screen kiss as “totally embarrassing” and “humiliating”.
“The Goonies”
The legendary director Steven Spielberg reportedly took notice of Kerri and let her audition for the role of Andrea Carmichael in “The Goonies”, his coming-of-age classic. Coincidentally, Kerri had forgone summer camp that year to get a job at Roy Rogers and fund her acting pursuits. After landing the role, Kerri immediately began filming with her costars Corey Feldman, Jeff Cohen, Josh Brolin and Sean Astin.
The main characters of the film found an ancient map and went on a journey seeking lost treasure. Despite its simple premise, adolescent and pre-teen viewers around the world were enthralled by the movie. Due to Kerri’s young age, she was accompanied to the set by her mother; although most of the filming for “The Goonies” took place in Oregon, some of the production was also carried out in Burbank, California.
“Lucas”
The romantic comedy-drama movie “Lucas” was written and directed by David Seltzer. The plot saw Lucas Blye, a 14-year-old high school student in suburban Chicago played by Corey Haim, become acquainted with Kerri’s character Maggie, the attractive, slightly older new girl in town. Maggie and Lucas spent plenty of time together in the weeks of summer and developed a close bond despite their differences; however, Maggie was more interested in Lucas’s friend, and an inevitable love triangle became the main storyline of the film.
Despite the movie not doing well at the box office, Corey and Kerri were both nominated for Young Artist Awards thanks to their performances.
“Summer Rental”
Despite a promising cast and plotline, Carl Reiner’s 1985 comedy film “Summer Rental” was met with negative reviews. The movie was written by Mark Reisman and Jeremy Stevens and starred Richard Crenna and John Candy, with supporting roles by Pierrino Mascarino, Richard Herd, John Larroquette, and a number of other respected names in the entertainment industry.
“Summer Rental” tells the story of Jack Chester, an overworked air traffic controller who takes his family to the vibrant resort town of Citrus Cove, Florida, after being put on five weeks’ paid leave. Although Jack is at first reluctant to spend so much time at home, the alternative is to be fired after almost causing a mid-air collision on the job.
Jack, his wife Sandy, and their children Jennifer, Bobby, and Laurie, were met by a barrage of problems during their time in the resort of Citrus Cove. However, the bond between the family was strengthened by the setbacks they faced, and they ended the holiday feeling much closer to each other.
“Bellyfruit”
Kerri’s 1999 version of “Bellyfruit” is an adaptation of the original stage play of the same name, which premiered in March 1996 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. The play was born of the written works and theatrical performances developed from students at Ramona High School and participants of the Pacoima Young Mothers writing program.
The main cast members were Kelly Vint Castro as Christina, Tonatzin Mondragon as Aracely, T.E Russell as Damon, and Michael Peña as Oscar. Variety described the film as “a sympathetic portrait of the girls that, thankfully, remains free from sentiment… ‘Bellyfruit’, mounted first as a play, has a gritty look and feel that serve its material well.”
The independent drama film was written by Maria Bernhard, Susannah Blinkoff, and Janet Borrus; as we mentioned before, Kerri was responsible for directing and co-writing the movie. It remains unclear if “Bellyfruit”, which had a reported $1 million budget, made a profit or was a commercial failure.
Despite her somewhat checkered career, Kerri’s net worth is still estimated at over $2 million, as of mid-2023.
