Where Is Austin O'Brien Now? The Action Hero Who Found a New Lens
He was the kid who got pulled into the movie — literally. Austin O'Brien played Danny Madigan, the boy who climbs through the screen into Arnold Schwarzenegger's action universe in Last Action Hero (1993), holding his own against the biggest star on the planet at age twelve. Then he did what Danny never could: he climbed back out — into photography, into design, into a life behind the lens instead of in front of it.
O'Brien is now a UX product designer and former wedding photographer. This is the verified story of where Austin O'Brien is now.
The Peak: Danny Madigan and the Magic Ticket (1992–1999)
Born Austin Taylor O'Brien on May 11, 1981, in Eugene, Oregon, he was famous before the movies — the kid from the Circuit City commercial who, told he'd saved money, just said "Cool" to the employee. The feature debut: The Lawnmower Man (1992) as Peter Parkette. Then the big one: Last Action Hero (1993), John McTiernan's $85-million meta-action-comedy, with O'Brien as the co-lead opposite Schwarzenegger — the audience surrogate, the kid who knows every action cliché because he's watched them all.
The film underperformed against Jurassic Park — "it's not difficult to see why it had trouble competing with some of those other huge films from 1993," as Ned Hardy put it — but Danny Madigan endured: the performance is the film's heart, and the cult reevaluation has been kind. The run continued: My Girl 2 (1994) as Nick Zsigmond (the romantic turn), The Baby-Sitters Club (1995) as Logan Bruno, Apollo 13 (1995, credited as Whiz Kid though he doesn't actually appear), Lawnmower Man 2 (1996), ER (1995) — and the steady TV gig: Promised Land (1996–99), 69 episodes as Josh Greene in the Touched by an Angel spinoff.
After the '90s, the roles thinned: a Bones episode (2008), indie films, and the final credit — the short All Our Yesterdays (2015). Twenty-three years in the business, from the Circuit City "Cool" to the last short. Then the second act began.
The Photographer: A. O'Brien Photography (2007–)
In 2007, O'Brien founded A. O'Brien Photography — weddings, portraits, headshots, fine art — specializing in Chicago-area weddings (Instagram: @aobrienphotography), with "many creative shots in famous Chicago locations, including Fulton Market, Grant Park, the Wrigley Building, and more." The actor became the observer: the kid who was photographed for a living now doing the photographing.
The transition, as 3DVF put it, "was not so much a departure as it was a redefinition of creative expression" — the storytelling instinct, rerouted. "He explores how moments, ordinary or grand, can be preserved through the camera. Today, his work showcases his growth as an artist willing to embrace change. Whether chronicling personal projects or capturing clients' big moments, O'Brien has found meaning beyond the glitz and glamour of Hollywood."
There's a poetry to the specific niche: weddings. The former child star — the professional witness to other people's scripted moments — now witnesses unscripted ones: the vows, the first dance, the real thing. Danny Madigan climbed into the movie; Austin O'Brien climbed out and started documenting reality instead.
The Designer: Great American Insurance Group (2022–)
The third act is the most 2020s: per his LinkedIn, O'Brien has worked as a UX product designer at Great American Insurance Group since December 2022 — the former child star designing the digital products of an insurance conglomerate. It's the least glamorous sentence in this series and one of the most admirable: the complete, unembarrassed embrace of a skilled trade.
UX design is, in its way, the synthesis of everything before: the storytelling (narrative flow, user journeys), the visual composition (photography's framing, the actor's sense of the shot), the empathy (what does the audience need? what does the user feel?). The kid who understood action-movie structure at twelve now structures insurance software. The through-line is design thinking — he just stopped performing it and started shipping it.
He's in his 40s, married to Kristin Wurgler since 2006, one child, private. The résumé — actor, photographer, UX designer — reads like three different people, but it's one: the kid from Eugene who kept learning new crafts and never needed the spotlight to do it.
The Meaning: The Ticket Worked Both Ways
Last Action Hero's premise was a magic ticket that pulls a boy into the movies. O'Brien's life is the reverse shot: the boy who was in the movies, using the ticket to get out — into the real world, the real craft, the real work. The film's cult status means Danny Madigan is immortal; the man's mortality — the weddings, the wireframes, the school pickups — is the better story.
And the Circuit City "Cool" holds up as the thesis: the laconic kid, unimpressed by the hype, saving his money. He saved the career earnings, skipped the flameout, and bought himself three careers. Cool, indeed.
Where Is Austin O'Brien Now?
As of 2026, Austin O'Brien is a UX product designer at Great American Insurance Group (since December 2022) and the founder of A. O'Brien Photography (weddings/portraits, Chicago/L.A.). Married to Kristin Wurgler since 2006, one child. Last acting credit: All Our Yesterdays (2015).
Danny Madigan climbed into the screen. Austin O'Brien climbed out — and built a life on the other side.
The Cult of Last Action Hero: The Flop That Wouldn't Die
Last Action Hero opened June 18, 1993 — one week after Jurassic Park — and got eaten alive: $50 million domestic on an $85-million budget, the summer's defining disappointment. The reviews were savage, the postmortems smug. And then the strangest thing happened: the movie wouldn't die.
The VHS generation adopted it — the kids who watched the tape a hundred times, who got the jokes the critics missed, who understood that a movie about action-movie clichés was smarter than the action movies it was mocking. The reevaluation has been steady and complete: what played as failure in 1993 reads as prophecy now — the meta-comedy before meta was the mode, the blockbuster deconstruction before Deadpool made it a business model. Danny Madigan, the kid who knows every trope because he's the audience, is the film's thesis made flesh.
O'Brien's performance is central to the cult case. The child actor who could hold the screen against Schwarzenegger — who could sell wonder, sarcasm, and genuine emotion in the same scene — is why the movie works at all. Take Danny out and it's a sketch; with him, it's a story. The twelve-year-old carried an $85-million picture, and the picture's afterlife is his afterlife too.
He doesn't trade on it — no convention circuit, no anniversary tours, no "Danny Madigan today" content farm. The cult exists without him, which is the classiest possible relationship to a cult: the work stands, the man moved on, and the fans get to keep the movie while he keeps the life. The ticket worked both ways, and he tore his in half.
Then vs Now: Two Chapters
| Then (1992–2015) | Now (2020s) |
|---|---|
| Danny Madigan in Last Action Hero (1993); Circuit City "Cool" | UX product designer, Great American Insurance Group (since 2022) |
| My Girl 2, Baby-Sitters Club, Promised Land (69 eps) | A. O'Brien Photography (2007–): weddings, Chicago/L.A. |
| Bones (2008); last credit All Our Yesterdays (2015) | Married Kristin Wurgler (2006); one child; private |
| The kid pulled into the movie | The man who climbed out — photographer, designer, father |
Austin O'Brien's magic ticket worked in reverse: it got him out of the movies and into a life.
Frequently asked questions
Who played Danny in Last Action Hero?
Austin O'Brien played Danny Madigan — the boy pulled into the movie — as the co-lead opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Last Action Hero (1993), at age twelve.
What does Austin O'Brien do now?
He is a UX product designer at Great American Insurance Group (since December 2022) and the founder of A. O'Brien Photography — weddings, portraits, and headshots in the Chicago/L.A. areas.
Is Austin O'Brien still acting?
No. After roles thinned in the 2000s (a Bones episode in 2008), his last acting credit was the short All Our Yesterdays (2015).
What else was Austin O'Brien in?
The Lawnmower Man (1992), My Girl 2 (1994) as Nick Zsigmond, The Baby-Sitters Club (1995) as Logan Bruno, ER (1995), and 69 episodes of Promised Land (1996-99) as Josh Greene — plus the famous Circuit City "Cool" commercial.
Is Austin O'Brien married?
Yes — to Kristin Wurgler since 2006. They have one child and he maintains a private life.
When did he become a photographer?
He founded A. O'Brien Photography in 2007, specializing in weddings (Chicago area, per his @aobrienphotography Instagram), portraits, headshots, and fine art.
How old is Austin O'Brien?
He was born May 11, 1981, in Eugene, Oregon — 44-45 in 2026.
Where is Austin O'Brien now?
As of 2026, he designs UX products for an insurance group and runs his photography business — married, one child, out of acting since 2015.