From nepo babies to one-hit wonders: What the cast of Dead Poets Society are doing now.

This year, the cult classic coming-of-age film Dead Poets Society celebrates 35 years since its release – which, we admit, makes us feel kinda old but also a wee bit gooey and giddy with nostalgia, you know?

For anyone who hasn’t managed to find time over the past three-and-a-half decades to see the classic flick, let us give you a quick rundown.

The film is set in 1959 at the fictional Welton Academy, an elite all-boys' school, where eccentric English teacher John Keating (Robin Williams) captivates his rebellious, chain-smoking students with notable poems by famous authors – all with a flare of drama. 

Watch: Dead Poets Society - Carp. Post continues after video.

In a nutshell, the inspiring prof makes his once-skeptical students fall in love with the English language – which, according to one student’s father (Kurtwood Smith), is sending his son down a career path of which he definitely does not approve. (Because it was the late '50s and heaven forbid any man like anything sensitive and creative and whatnot.)

Based on the school years of its screenwriter, Tom Schulman, the 1989 drama (directed by Peter Weir) was ahead of its time in addressing issues such as teen suicide. However, the then-taboo subject matter led to the film's ban in China and Singapore.

Dead Poets Society was a jumping-off board for some of the best-known actors today. Case in point? The then-largely unknown Ethan Hawke, who told Script magazine the day he was cast in the film changed the course of his life forever, and for the better. 

“It remains one of the most significant days of my life,” he said. “It was the first time I really felt the experience of being an actor, where I could lose myself inside a story, and lose myself inside a collective imagination.”

Of course, Robin Williams shone, too, cementing himself as a comedian who could pull off a serious and inspiring role. While the late actor said very little about his iconic part over the years, a quote from his character has gone down as one of the greatest lines in Hollywood’s history: 

“Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary!”

Robin Williams as John Keating.

Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society.

 “Oh Captain! My captain!” is an iconic one-liner (borrowed from poet Walt Whitman) thanks largely to Williams’ character, John Keating. Dead Poets Society marked comedian Williams' transition to serious actor – but it almost didn’t happen. According to Schulman, Williams didn’t show up for the first day of filming.

“They cancelled the production, burned the sets. We actually had dailies of the sets burning. And I thought, 'Well that's the end of that,'” he recalled in an interview with Script To Screen. It took Aussie director Peter Weir joining the party to convince Williams to stay on – and the rest is history.

The actor was already a big name at the time of filming, but Poets flung Williams into the stratosphere and on to star in movies like Aladdin, Mrs Doubtfire, Hook, Jumanji, Good Will Hunting (further proof of his dramatic chops), Patch Adams, Night At The Museum... the list goes on.

Williams had suffered from mental health issues for many years, and in 2014, he took his own life at his California home. Following his autopsy, it was discovered he was suffering from a severe case of undiagnosed brain illness, Lewy body disease. The father-of-two was 63.

Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson.

Ethan Hawke in Dead Poets Society.

Hawke was just 18 when the movie premiered, and his career has been on the up since. His turn in Poets earned him four Oscar nominations (and he's seen plenty more in the years since). 

The star married Uma Thurman in 1998, but after seven years of marriage, the couple divorced in 2005. They have two children together, one of whom is Stranger Things actress and singer Maya Hawke.

“In the years after my divorce, I doubled down on the life of an actor. I did Hurly Burly, I did The Coast of Utopia, I did The Bridge Project and took Chekhov and Shakespeare around the world for a year,” Hawke told Indi Wire. 

“I just decided that no amount of bad press will turn me into a bad actor if I don't let it.”

Robert Sean Leonard as Neill Perry.

Robert Sean Leonard in Dead Poets Society.

 Then-20-year-old Leonard played Neill Perry, a student who wanted to be a theatre actor – against his father’s wishes. Since Poets, Leonard has starred in various films, but most notably took on TV roles in House alongside Hugh Lawrie, Fallings Skies, Law and Order: SVU, The Good Doctor, The First Lady and The Gilded Age. 

While Leonard likes to keep his private life private, he did once share that he had dated Gwyneth Paltrow, and called their split the “funniest breakup I’ve ever had”. 

In 2013, Leonard took a hiatus from acting to start a family with his equestrian wife, Gabriella Salick. They share two daughters. 

“I wanted to be that guy who watches his other actors on the Golden Globes from the series from home and goes ‘whoo-hoo’ while eating popcorn, and that's exactly what happened,” he said.

Gale Hansen as Charlie Dalton.

Gale Hansen in Dead Poets Society.Hansen portrayed free-spirited Charlie Dalton in the film, which was one of his first and last screen appearances. He swapped scripts for the boardroom when he retired from acting in 1998 to become a film executive. 

If you've seen movies like The Holiday, The Pursuit of Happiness, American Gangster, Mamma Mia! and Couples Retreat, you're officially familiar with his work – they’re just a few of the films Hansen's been responsible for in the years since his role in Poets.

Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet.

Josh Charles in Dead Poets Society.

 Charles became a fan favourite as the romantic Knox Overstreet. Charles kept a fairly low profile after Poets, until 2009 when he was cast as Will Gardner in The Good Wife. He most recently played corrupt policeman Daniel Hersl on David Simon’s TV miniseries, We Own This City. 

Charles has said he loves TV, but Poets will always hold a special place in his heart. 

“I got some great friends out of it,” he told Entertainment Weekly. 

“I got to go to Europe for the first time and room with Ethan… and walk down the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival, and have a standing ovation and be 18. It did a lot of things for me that go beyond the actual making of the film. It was a lot of my college.” 

In 2013, Charles married author Sophie Flack. They have two children.

Dylan Kussman as Richard Cameron.

Dylan Kussman in Dead Poets Society.

Kussman grew up in a showbiz family, and has more than 40 acting roles and credits to his name, enjoying a prolific career since playing Richard Cameron, Welton Academy’s Judas. 

He’s starred in X-Men 2, Leatherheads, Jack Reacher, House, and Without A Trace – and most recently Clint Eastwood’s The Mule. He was also one of the writers on Tom Cruise’s The Mummy.

He’s also a man of many talents – away from film and TV sets he sings and plays guitar in a four-piece island party band, Tropic Sol.

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Kurtwood Smith as Mr Perry.

Kurtwood Smith in Dead Poets Society. 

 Smith is the kind of actor who’s been in, well… everything. 

Since starring in Poets as Neill’s overbearing father, he’s been in numerous Star Trek programs, voiced characters in Family Guy, showed up in Green Lantern alongside Ryan Reynolds, Justice League, Batman and Men In Black. And that’s just a drop in the ocean for the man with one of the most unmistakable voices in the world. 

These days, he’s best known for playing TV’s grumpiest dad, Red Foreman, in That ‘70s Show, with Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher – a role he’s now reprised in the series’ sequel, That ‘90s Show alongside OG alums Laura Prepon and Topher Grace. 

On being one of the most recognisable faces in Hollywood, he told NBC, “It's weird, and a lot of times it doesn't really register with me.”

Feature Image: Getty.