In "Stand By Me," he was River Phoenix's best friend. He got a leech stuck on a particularly unsavory part of his body. And he told a hell of a story about Lard Ass. His name is Wil Wheaton, and you can see a snippet of his fine work here:
Wheaton became instantly famous at age 14 after playing Gordie Lachance in the aforementioned modern classic. That led to another high-profile part for him on "Star Trek: Generations," where he starred as Wesley Crusher for several seasons. A string of roles in minor movies and occasional guest-starring gigs on TV shows -- as well as a brief stint as a computer programmer in Topeka, Kan. -- followed, but many "Stand By Me" fans may have found themselves asking: What the heck happened to Gordie?
If you keep close tabs on the blogosphere, you probably already know that Wheaton is a longtime blogger who posts at Wil Wheaton Dot Net, a site he created back in 2001 and continues to maintain all by himself. (A fellow blogger? I like him already.) He has written three books, including the recent "The Happiest Days of Our Lives." And he also does occasional acting -- he appeared last year in an episode of "Numb3rs" -- as well as some voice work, including vocals for (!!) "Grand Theft Auto IV."
On top of all that, he is married and has two stepchildren. But my favorite part of this story? The fact that the kid who played Gordie, a boy who wanted to be a writer when he grew up, grew up to become a writer himself.
