Noah Hathaway landed the iconic role of Atreyu in 1984's The NeverEnding Story, but then
he disappeared from Hollywood, leaving us with some never-ending questions.
Let's find out what he's been up to since then.
By the time Hathaway became Atreyu, he had already been acting for ten years, first as
a commercial actor, then with a big role in the original Battlestar Galactica series.
But the production of The NeverEnding Story took such a toll on him that he decided to
walk away from the acting game just two years later.
As he told The News Tribune in 2015,
"I worked the first 20-something years of my life as an actor.
I just wanted to drop off the radar and be a regular human being."
Hathaway followed up The NeverEnding Story with the 1986 cult classic Troll, and then
he took the next few decades to pursue other passions.
His pursuits included becoming a dance instructor, competing in amateur martial arts tournaments,
and racing motorcycles.
While training for The NeverEnding Story, Hathaway incurred a nasty injury.
To look like he knew what he was doing atop his loyal horse companion, Artax, he had to
learn how to ride.
During one of his training sessions, his horse tried to jump a fence, but it missed and fell
on top of him.
As a result, Hathaway cracked a couple of vertebrae, which has resulted in lifelong
back problems.
But that's not all.
In a 2006 interview with Galactica.tv, Hathaway revealed that he also, quote, "pretty much
drowned in the Swamp of Sadness" and "almost lost an eye in the fight scene with the Gmork."
When asked why there wasn't better stunt coordination, he noted that director Wolfgang Petersen was
"notorious" for having his actors do their own stunts.
Considering all that Hathaway endured, it's no wonder he decided to take a break.
Despite the drama of the past, Hathaway clearly still has a soft spot for Atreyu and The NeverEnding
Story.
In fact, he agreed to portray the character once more for a 2016 Spotify ad that highlighted
the fact that the film's theme song, after all these years, is still played daily on
the streaming music service.
In the ad, Hathaway portrays a bearded, grown-up Atreyu flying on the back of Falkor, brought
to life again by the original voice actor, Alan Oppenheimer.
In a behind-the-scenes video, Hathaway revealed:
"It's just strange, man, I feel like somebody needs to pinch me and go, 'Wake up!'"
So maybe returning to that to that fantasy world all those years later really was a dream
come true for Hathaway.
Or maybe Spotify just ponied up a huge sum of money for him.
Probably a little bit of both.
Hathaway's affinity for tattoos is literally written all over him.
He sports two full sleeves of ink and a huge back piece, but he's not just on the receiving
end of the needle.
He's been getting tattooed since he was 15, and after his ex-wife got an apprenticeship
with a tattoo artist, he took up the art form himself.
However, it hasn't quite turned into a viable career, as he's been too wrapped up in his
other work to fully pursue it.
As he told Mad Bros Media,
"It's like you gotta be committed to that type of art.
It is one hundred percent, or, you know, so I don't do it a whole lot anymore."
Despite that lack of commitment, Hathaway still has some fun tattoo stories.
He told TooFab about a woman who had an Auryn medallion tattooed on her posterior:
"A girl came in and had the whole side of her buttcheek was the Auryn.
So she pulled her pants off and asked if she could get a picture with me next to the Auryn."
Apparently that was something of a peak experience for Hathaway and Auryn tattoos, as he also
told The New Tribune,
"I wouldn't do another Auryn tattoo because I did 15 in three weeks.
It is very flattering though."
In 2012, Hathaway returned to the big screen in Sushi Girl, a noir thriller about a diamond
heist crew who turn on one another.
The film also stars Mark Hamill and martial arts legend Sonny Chiba, and it was the involvement
of those big names that drew Hathaway back into the spotlight.
In an interview with On the Spot, he said,
"It was the first project I've done, I came out of retirement to do this movie.
They said you're going to work with Sonny Chiba and Mark Hamill, and I was like, 'When
do I leave?'
And I literally was on a plane six hours later."
Since then, Hathaway has logged several more screen credits, but nothing too high-profile.
That might have something to do with his desire to break type.
Speaking with Fruitless Pursuits in 2012, he noted that he was bored by the heroic roles
he played as a kid and expressed his desire to play the bad guy:
"As an artist and an actor, I want to delve a lot more deep."
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite stars are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.