Devon Sawa Was ‘Haunted’ for Years by ‘Creepy’ Rumor of Full Frontal Nude Scene in 1995’s Now and Then

Devon Sawa’s time as a teen heartthrob led to one strange rumor. 

Sawa, 47, opened up about his past as a teen star in an interview published Oct. 22 in The New York Times. Sawa became a schoolgirl crush for thousands after he played the human version of the title ghost in 1995’s Casper, opposite Christina Ricci. 

He then immediately reunited with Ricci for 1995’s Now and Then. The movie followed four female friends in the summer of 1970, with Ricci playing Roberta. Sawa played Scott Wormer, the leader of a group of antagonistic brothers who ultimately falls for Roberta. “We were looking for that boy that all the girls would be dreamy for,” Suzanne Todd, who produced the movie, told the Times. “He was great looking, but in an accessible way. Not so beautiful that girls have to be afraid.”

But the movie contains a skinny-dipping scene that had Sawa strip down before jumping in the lake. The girls ogle the boys and steal their clothes, and Todd said the filmmakers thought it would be an “Oh, gross!” moment.

Instead, young girls who watched the movie were excited by it, and a rumor spread that if you paused the movie, you could see Sawa’s genitalia. 

Sawa soon heard about the rumor. “It was creepy,” he said. “It spread from mall to mall.” He told the outlet he was “haunted” by the idea the rumor was true, even though he’d worn a modesty garment during filming. He also called the shoot “very safe.”

Both Casper and Now and Then turned 30 this year, and Sawa confessed to the Times that it took a long time for him to accept his child star, teen heartthrob past. 

“There was a certain amount of years I just didn’t want to talk about it anymore,” he said. “Now, I’ve come to peace with it. It’s never going to go away.” He joked that during the height of her teenage fame, he used teen magazine covers to monitor his fame. “I knew Jonathan Taylor Thomas was edging me out because his head was always bigger,” he said.

Sawa, who was born and raised in Vancouver, had only acted in Canadian productions when he was cast in Casper. “It’s one of the movies that I have the most memories of. It was my first big Hollywood film. It was the first time I ever flew in first class,” he told PEOPLE in May. “Walking onto Universal and into this sound stage that they had built an entire house on and meeting Steven Spielberg — I didn’t know I was going to do that.”

“It was such a small amount of time that created so many amazing memories,” he said. “And 30 years, that’s crazy that we’re at 30 years now.”

Sawa’s career has included a lot of spooky and horror roles, including 1999’s Idle Hands, 2000’s Final Destination, 2025’s Heart Eyes and the TV series Chucky. Ricci, 45, has also played her fair share of darker roles. “We were dark kids, I think,” Sawa told PEOPLE. 

The duo are still in touch and have reunited at fan events. “I bump into her every once in a while, and it’s like we haven’t skipped a beat,” he said. “She’s great and I’m so proud of her for all the amazing things she’s doing.”