Want to know what happened to Benny from The Sandlot? The character was portrayed by Mike Vitar, who now makes headlines not for acting but for his different profession. We shall get to that later. It was in 2007 when the recasting of his role: Benjamin Franklin “Benny the Jet” Rodriguez, happened. He somehow returned in 2005 for the sequel, The Sandlot 2. That was for a flashback scene. Now, the question is- why did he leave?
Mike Vitar is not into acting anymore. Hailing from Los Angeles, he is now 44 years old. When it comes to his acting, some of his notable works are- Chicago Hope, Sunset Grill, Brooklyn Bridge, NYPD Blue, etc.
Not to forget to mention he also earned enough appreciation for his portrayal as Luis Mendoza in The Mighty Ducks. What’s up with him now? Well, Mike Vitar is now a professional firefighter. It was in 1997 when he retired from acting. In the beginning, he worked for Gerber Ambulance in Torrance as an EMT.
Coming back to Benny from The Sandlot, the actor, Mike Vitar, didn’t even make it to the reunion. It aired in July 2020. He turned Patrick Renna down, but both are still on good terms. The firefighter also gave hope to his fans that someday, he may come back to the acting field. Who knows when it’s going to come? But what happened to him? Here is what we know about Mike- Benny the Jet from Sandlot.
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What Happened To Benny, Aka Mike Vitar From The Sandlot?
Why did Benny from The Sandlot, aka Mike Vitar stop acting? What was the reason behind his switch? Before this, you must know how he got into acting. Well, Mike was once spotted by a casting manager at his school carnival.
That was the time when he was offered, and he wanted to try his hands out there. No doubt, Mike Vitar is one of the coolest and most well-known child actors in the 1990s. It was in 1991 when Mike made his acting debut with the film, Diplomatic Immunity.
Moving on with Mike’s portrayal as Benny the Jet in The Sandlot, he even earned his first and only award in acting for this. To be more particular, he made it to the 1994 Young Artist’s Award for Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Motion Picture.
Concerning his departure from acting, several rumors surfaced stating that he was a troubled child whose start went bad. But that was not the case in reality. The major reason why Benny from The Sandlot stopped acting was his inclination toward firefighting. It was he who chose the profession and wanted to pursue it. His firefighting profession started in 2002. So it’s been more than a couple of decades.
Not everyone knows that Mike’s firefighting career also faced a downfall. The incident took place in 2015. On the event of Halloween, he and an off-duty firefighter saw a man, Samuel Chang, whom they suspected to be handing out drugs disguised as candy to the kids. Following this, both chased Samuel and had an ugly physical fight.
The suspect was injured badly and was hospitalized for more than a week. Unfortunately, the incident turned into a court case. At that time, the real-life Benny from The Sandlot was charged with felony assault. It was later changed to misdemeanor battery. Mike wasn’t imprisoned but was suspended from the firefighting force without pay for six months. That’s how it got affected.
Look at him, now! Mike Vitar is back in the firefighting profession and is doing well. Since that scandal, he has fortunately faced no other issues.
Best wishes to him!
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