You'll Never Guess What 'Weird Science' Teen Star Ilan Mitchell-Smith Is Doing Now

Weird Science is the kind of goofy, creative teen comedy that could only have existed in the '80s. The 1985 John Hughes film starred Brat Pack regular Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith as two high school outcasts who use their scientific abilities to create the perfect women.

While Hall was established as the '80s nerd extraordinaire thanks to his roles in the Hughes classics Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, Mitchell-Smith wasn't as well-known, and the comic chemistry between the two geeky friends in a highly improbable situation made him a star, albeit not for very long.

Ilan Mitchell-Smith has taken an unconventional career path since then. Read on to learn what he's been up to in the decades since Weird Science.

Ilan Mitchell-Smith: A look at his acting career

Born in New York City in 1969, Mitchell-Smith started out studying at the prestigious School of American Ballet as a child, and was soon spotted by a casting director. He made his debut in the 1983 film Daniel, playing the young version of Timothy Hutton's character. He then starred in the 1984 comedy The Wild Life, which led to his role in Weird Science the next year.

The casting process for the movie was a whirlwind, and Mitchell-Smith recalled that in working with Hughes and Hall, "I was learning from them. I also felt a little bit out of my depth, and a little bit like a third wheel sometimes, but not in a horrible way. They made me feel included. I was also the youngest person on set. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a little bit by design with the casting."

Mitchell-Smith continued acting through the end of the '80s, with roles in Journey to the Center of the Earth (1988), The Chocolate War (1988) and Identity Crisis (1989), though none of those films were as successful as Weird Science.

From 1989 to 1991, Mitchell-Smith played Clark Kent's roommate on Superboy. He then made his final appearance for many years in an episode of Silk Stalkings.

Mitchell-Smith did not return to acting until 2015, when he contributed voiceover work to the cartoon Axe Cop. In 2017, he made a guest appearance in the '80s-set series The Goldbergs, playing a teacher in an episode based on Weird Science.

What the former actor has been up to lately

The Goldbergs is Mitchell-Smith's last credit to date. He's taken quite the eccentric direction since leaving the film industry. The actor had a fascination with medieval history since childhood, and after stepping out of the spotlight, he decided to pursue his passion and go back to school for a degree in Medieval Studies. He received an AB in the subject from University of California, Davis and an MA from Fordham. In 2005 he earned his doctorate from Texas A&M University.

Mitchell-Smith (or shall we say, Dr. Mitchell-Smith) wrote a dissertation titled Between Mars and Venus: Balance and Excess in the Chivalry of the Late-Medieval English Romance and is currently a professor of Medieval Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

According to his academic profile, "His research focuses on later Middle English chivalric romances, and he also writes on race, identity, and nationalism in contemporary recreations of the Middle Ages." He's also covered pop cultural subjects like Disney Princesses and Dungeons & Dragons in his work.

So, would Ilan Mitchell-Smith ever go back to acting? He seems perfectly content with his life as an academic and dad of two, saying, "I have no regrets at all, and in general I am a happy man . . . in general I am out of the business, and I love my job as a professor."

Clearly, Mitchell-Smith lived out all his nerdy dreams and forged a singular path. Going from teen actor to Medieval Studies professor is some next-level weird science in real life.