Devon Sawa’s “Can I keep you?” from 1995’s Casper turned into a line he can’t outrun, and for years he resented that.
“There was a time in my life I was like, ‘I don’t wanna talk about Casper. How dare you? I’m a thespian,’ you know?” the 48-year-old says. “But… I gotta embrace it. It’s why I’m here. It’s what got me here.”
Sawa played the human form of the friendly ghost opposite Christina Ricci in the family fantasy, appearing in the final sequence for a role that helped make him a teen star. The film earned nearly $291 million worldwide and got a theatrical re-release in 2025 for its 30th anniversary.
Sawa later sought out edgier roles to move past his teen-heartthrob image, including Idle Hands (1999) and Final Destination (2000). Final Destination earned him a Saturn Award and caught Dr. Dre’s attention. After seeing the film, Dre cast him as the obsessive fan in Eminem’s 2000 “Stan” video.
His career also included a period when his drinking spiraled and his agents told him to quit acting and return to Canada. After arriving drunk at a family Christmas, he attended 90 meetings in 90 days. He’s been sober for roughly 18 to 19 years.
He met Canadian producer Dawni Sahanovitch during that period. They married in 2013 and have 2 children, Hudson and Scarlett.
He’s made “peace” with the idea that Casper follows him everywhere. “Doesn’t matter what I do nowadays. It doesn’t matter how cool the project is, I will always have to say, ‘Can I keep you?’ to somebody at some point. There will always be Casper stuff.”
Now he’s back in a supernatural story as Mr. Cole, a warlock professor on the Disney series Coven Academy, alongside Tiffani Thiessen. He hopes the part sticks the same way: “I think [Coven Academy] is going to be one of those [shows] that hopefully in 20 years, people will be like, ‘Oh, Mr. Cole.’ And I won’t be able to shake that either.”
Coven Academy is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
