What The Cast Of The Boondock Saints Looks Like Today

Although it was unable to find a wide theatrical release when it first premiered—earning only $30,000 total from five theaters nationwide—The Boondock Saints later went on to become a cult classic for many cinephiles in the early 2000s, when it was released as a Blockbuster exclusive video rental. Its popularity on the home market belatedly propelled the film into the spotlight and spawned a 2009 sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day. Let's take a look back at our favorite characters from the original, and see what they look like (and what they're up to) today.

There's no question that acclaimed actor Willem Dafoe stole the show in 1999's The Boondock Saints with his performance as brilliant (and eccentric) FBI detective Paul Smecker. Because the first men killed by the MacManus brothers were tied to the Russian Mafia, Smecker was brought in to handle the case in coordination with the Boston Police; his wild flashes of inspiration led him to discover the Saints' true identities, often leaving the bumbling Boston PD detectives scratching their heads at how he figured it out. Eventually, Smecker comes to believe that the Saints are necessary, and even assists them on their final mission.

Since his appearance in The Boondock Saints, Dafoe has had roles in dozens of films, including the Spider-Man trilogy (2002-2007), John Wick (2014), The Fault in Our Stars (2014), and his Oscar-nominated performance in 2000's Shadow of the Vampire. In 2009, he reprised his role as Smecker in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. Recently, Dafoe was tapped to play the character of Nuidis Vulko in the 2017 film Justice League and 2018's Aquaman. Additionally, he's landed a role in the 2017 adaptation of Agatha Christie's classic mystery Murder on the Orient Express.

Sean Patrick Flanery starred in The Boondock Saints as Connor MacManus, who lives and works in Boston along with his fraternal twin brother, Murphy. After the twins are forced to kill a pair of Russian mobsters in self-defense, they initially turn themselves into the police, but they have a dream in which the voice of God tells them to rid the world of evil men, so they embark on a campaign of vigilante justice to take out the worst of Boston's criminals.

Both before and after The Boondock Saints, Flanery hasn't lacked for acting roles. Notably, he played Vice President Greg Stillson in the TV series The Dead Zone for 19 episodes, and appeared in Saw 3D. Flanery also reprised his role as Connor in the 2009 sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. In addition to his acting chops, he's a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu and owns his own training studio in Los Angeles. While he and Norman Reedus (Murphy MacManus) seemed eager at first to come back for a third Saints installment, in May 2017 the pair announced they would not be involved with the upcoming Boondock Saints III movie or television series because of "incredibly unethical" events that Flanery claimed were going on behind the scenes.

While Murphy MacManus (Norman Reedus) sometimes came off as the more hot-headed of the twins, there's no question he was incredibly quick-thinking in a tight spot. Connor saved Murphy from execution when he dropped a toilet on a Russian mobster's head from an upper-level fire escape, and jumped onto another mobster's back—but the multi-story fall knocked Connor out cold. Within seconds, Murphy had dispatched the other mobster with the toilet's tank lid and staged the scene to look like it had been a robbery. He then hoisted his twin onto his shoulders and carried him to get medical attention.

When Norman Reedus was cast as Murphy MacManus in The Boondock Saints, it was only his second starring role in a feature film. The former model had previously starred in the 1997 crime drama Six Ways to Sunday alongside Debbie Harry and Adrien Brody, and otherwise had only a handful of other small roles and music videos to his name. The Boondock Saints clearly helped Reedus' career take off; he's since starred or appeared in many films and television shows, such as Blade II, 8mm, and his most famous role as Daryl Dixon in the hit TV series The Walking Dead. Like his on-screen "twin" Sean Patrick Flanery, Reedus also has some interesting hobbies—he's an accomplished photographer, sculptor, and painter, with his works displayed in galleries around the world.

After the twins decide to take up arms as the vigilante justice team dubbed "The Saints," they bring in their friend Rocco, a low-level package boy for the Italian Yakavetta crime family who's sent by a capo to carry out his first hit at a hotel. Unbeknownst to Rocco, Connor and Murphy took out the eight Russian mobsters in the room before he arrived. The MacManus brothers point out that there were eight men in the room, and Rocco's boss had only given him a six-shooter to carry out the job. In other words, the Yakavetta family wanted him killed. Incensed, Rocco aids the Saints with his detailed knowledge of the "bad guys" in Boston, and even takes some personal revenge on the slimy Yakavetta under-boss Vincenzo Lapazzi (Ron Jeremy).

Unlike most of his fellow Saints stars, David Della Rocco wasn't a professional actor when he was cast in the film; he became friends with writer/director Troy Duffy when they worked together at a Los Angeles bar, and Duffy wrote the role of Rocco for him after he auditioned. Even though the character was killed at the end of the original film, Della Rocco briefly reprised the part for a dream sequence scene in the 2009 sequel. He's also landed roles in a few other films over the years and makes frequent appearances on the fan convention circuit.

In both Boondock Saints moves, Scottish actor Billy Connolly played Noah MacManus—the absentee hitman father of Connor and Murphy MacManus—who's widely known in crime circles by his nickname "Il Duce" (The Duke). For a number of years, Noah served time in a maximum-security prison, but mafioso boss "Papa Joe" Yakavetta pulled strings to have him released after he grew concerned that "The Saints" were taking out too many members of his organization and could be coming for him next. Set on the Saints' trail and at first unaware that the twins were his sons, Noah had a violent shootout with the brothers—but after the pair were captured by Yakavetta, he heard them reciting their family prayer and realized their identity. He abandoned his contract and joined his sons in killing Yakavetta in a packed courtroom, with the assistance of Detective Smecker.

Overcoming a troubled childhood, Billy Connolly became not only an accomplished actor—with roles in films like Indecent Proposal  and The Hobbit—he's also a talented singer and comedian. He became a folk singer in the 1960s, and eventually his comedic monologues helped him transition into becoming a comedian with a large following in the U.K. In 2002, he received a BAFTA Lifetime Achievement award for his work, and he was knighted in 2017 for his "services to Entertainment and Charity."

When the brilliant FBI detective Paul Smecker comes to Boston to help solve the recent string of mob-related murders, he's saddled with three fairly incompetent Boston Police Department detectives. Of the three, Detective David Greenly (Bob Marley) manages to make a fool of himself the most—especially with his know-it-all attitude and outlandish (and unlikely) crime scene theories. As a result, Greenly often finds himself fetching coffees and bagels for Smecker as a punishment for his horrible ideas.

Primarily a stand-up comedian, Bob Marley's part as Detective Greenly in The Boondock Saints was his first feature role. He's appeared in a handful of films since, including the Saints sequel. He still makes regular appearances performing stand-up in comedy clubs around the country, and he even broke a Guinness World Record in 2010 by performing a stand-up routine for 40 consecutive hours, with the first 17 hours having no repeated jokes or bits.  

Although he never made as many boneheaded moves as Detective Greenly, Detective Dolly (David Ferry) still managed to make a fool of himself when he asked Smecker to explain the "symbology" behind the pennies left in the eyes of the Saints' murder victims. After pointing out that the actual word Dolly was looking for is "symbolism," Smecker also managed to impress the Greek cop by correctly pronouncing his last name: Dollypoposkallius.

Since his teenage years, Ferry has been heavily involved in the Canadian theatre—as an actor as well as a director and writer. In 2008, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts recognized Ferry with a Dora Award for Outstanding Direction for his production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. He also won a Dora for his acting in the play Someone to Watch Over Me and has received an additional seven Dora nominations, as well as a 2014 Broadway World award win for his performance in Blackbird. Canadian fans may also remember Ferry in the lead role of the cab driver in the CBC radio drama Midnight Cab during the '90s. Since his part in The Boondock Saints, Ferry has also appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as providing the voice of Benjamin Disraeli in the 2015 video game Assassin's Creed: Syndicate.

Of the three Boston Police Department cops on the trail of the Saints, Detective Duffy (Brian Mahoney) was definitely the sharpest. He managed to not embarrass himself too badly in front of Detective Smecker, and even deduced that the tall Russian underboss was the true target of the murders at the Copley Plaza hotel—because he was the only one who had been executed properly: "double-tap, back of the head." Duffy also correctly pointed out that some cultures still put pennies or coins over the eyes of the dead, like the Greeks, the Italians, and the Sicilians.

Before he became an actor in his 30s, Brian Mahoney had a very different career—as an attack helicopter pilot in the United States Army, logging flights using night-vision goggles and spending hours flying in Europe and Central America. According to Mahoney, piloting was all "think—do not feel," which is the opposite mindset required of an actor. 

A Boston native, Mahoney had no trouble with the accent required for the role of Detective Duffy. Since then, he's appeared in a number of feature films, including The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (which expanded Duffy's role), The Boy Next Door, and also in 2015's Furious 7.

As the Don of the Yakavetta crime organization, Giuseppe "Papa Joe" Yakavetta (Carlo Rota) had a wide network of criminals at his disposal within the greater Boston area, including underboss Vincenzo Lapazzi (Ron Jeremy) and package boy Rocco (David Della Rocco). When the Saints started to target members of his syndicate, Yakavetta contracted the notorious Il Duce (Billy Connolly) to hunt them down, and was later killed by the Saints when Il Duce joined them in their mission—murdering Yakavetta in the middle of his own farcical murder trial.  

Like Brian Mahoney, Carlo Rota didn't get started in acting until he was in his 30s. Prior to that, he followed in his father's footsteps with a culinary career. After becoming an actor, Rota was tapped to host The Great Canadian Food Show, for which he received a prestigious James Beard nomination for culinary journalism. He's also appeared in many other television shows, including the La Femme Nikita series and as the recurring character Morris O'Brian on 24.

The role of the slimy Lapazzi seemed to come naturally for actor Ron Jeremy, who is perhaps best known for his multi-decade career as a pornographic actor and director—with over 2,300 acting credits and nearly 300 directing credits to his name. In addition to his career in the world of pornography, Jeremy has taken on a more traditional acting role with appearances and cameos in dozens of music videos, television series, reality shows, and films.

Audiences are introduced to Doc (Gerard Parkes) at the start of the film, when we learn that he's the owner of the Irish pub McGinty's, which the MacManus brothers frequent. Doc suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, and as a result is sometimes playfully referred to as "F*** Ass" because of his explosive and repetitive use of those words during his outbursts. It is at Doc's bar that The Saints' tale truly begins, because McGinty's is about to be forced out of business by the Russian mob if Doc doesn't pay into their protection racket. This eventually leads to a brawl in the bar between the Russians and McGinty's patrons—led by Connor and Murphy MacManus.

As a longtime veteran of stage and screen, Parkes had played a "doc" before Boondock Saints: he was "Dr. Arthur Lowe" on the Canadian drama series Home Fires and the friendly human inventor Doc on the popular children's show Fraggle Rock. Parkes appeared in a number of movies and TV shows after Saints, including Shining Time Station and The Adjuster, and reprised his role in The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. Unfortunately, the sequel turned out to be his final film; the Irish-Canadian actor passed away in 2014 at the age of 90.