Hollywood icon Rick Moranis has carved out a reclusive life inside a private New York apartment after walking away from a multimillion-dollar film career.
The 73-year-old Ghostbusters star, who sits on a $15m ($US10m) fortune, chose Manhattan over Los Angeles after making a life-changing choice.
Following the death of his wife, costume designer Ann Belsky, in 1991, the actor stepped away from the spotlight to raise his children, Rachel and Mitchell.
“I pulled out of making movies in about ’96 or ’97. I’m a single parent, and I just found that it was too difficult to manage raising my kids and doing the travelling involved in making movies,” he told USA Today in 2005.
“So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn’t miss it
“In the last few years, I’ve been offered a number of parts in movies, and I’ve just turned them down. I don’t know whether I’ll go back to it or not.
“I’ve been doing a lot of writing and a lot of parenting, and now I’m doing this.”
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Rick Moranis in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Picture: Supplied
Moranis and Steve Martin in the 1989 film Parenthood.
The transition from a life making movies to focusing on his children was a very different lifestyle, but it was one he said he did not regret.
“I was working with really interesting people, wonderful people,” Moranis told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015.
“I went from that to being at home with a couple of little kids, which is a very different lifestyle.
“But it was important to me. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. My life is wonderful.”
For decades, Moranis has occasionally appeared for brief voice projects or commercials.
Though many assumed he had fully retired, Moranis later clarified he was simply being highly selective.
He remained active behind the scenes, even while declining to join original cast members Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Sigourney Weaver for the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot.
Moranis with George Wyner and Mel Brooks in the 1987 film Spaceballs. Picture: Supplied
Moranis and Lewis Pullman speak during CinemaCon 2026. Picture: Getty
Now, he has a brand-new movie on the horizon, marking his first official return to the live-action acting world in more than two decades.
He is set to reprise his famous role as Dark Helmet in the upcoming Spaceballs sequel, entitled Spaceballs: The New One.
The project follows his 2020 announcement that he had also agreed to return for a new Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise entry entitled Shrunk.
The actor made a rare public appearance to promote the upcoming Spaceballs film at CinemaCon 2026 in April.
The first trailer was shown to fans ahead of the movie landing in cinemas next year.
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