Rhianna Benson
This week marked the long-awaited release of Eminem's brand new documentary Stans - and surprising fans, 'Stan' himself made an appearance at the feature-length film's official premiere.
We are, of course, talking about Devon Sawa.
Back in 2000, the Canadian star famously played the rapper's unhinged, die-hard fan 'Stan' in the music video for his titular track, 'Stan'.
For anyone in need of a reminder, the single tells the tale of Stanley 'Stan' Mitchell, a father-to-be who writes Eminem ceaseless letters, professing to be his no. 1 fan.
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Throughout the video, Sawa, now 45, copies all of the rapper's iconic tendencies - wearing white vests, baggy blue jeans and dying his hair ice blonde.
In lyrics performed by the musician (real name Marshall Mathers III), the character becomes increasingly agitated by Eminem's lack of replies, with the third verse taking on the guise of a voice recording, hearing 'Stan' threaten to drive his pregnant girlfriend off a bridge before doing so.
The final verse of the song hears Eminem as himself responding to Stan's letters, urging him not to overthink the meaning behind his lyrics, so as not to turn out like a man he'd witnessed on the news, who'd just driven his pregnant partner off a bridge.
I know, pretty clever stuff.
Anyway, not only did Sawa's music video character see the phrase 'stan' added to the dictionary to describe someone excessively enthusiastic and devoted to a certain person/thing, but it also solidified his status as an actor.
Taking to Instagram this week, the father-of-two shared a photo of his own son posing beside the 52-year-old rapper for his documentary's new premiere, captioned: "25 years ago I worked with one of the greatest musicians of all time.
"Today he met my son. What a ride."
After the sweet snap was shared to Reddit, fans of both Eminem and his unnerving track began realising where they'd seen Sawa before.
"I had the biggest crush on him as Casper the ghost as a child. Adult Devon," one wrote.
Another added: "Shut up! I didnt know that was him? My millenial mind is blown!"
"Yesss I thirsted after him in Casper," a third added. "And I will thirst after him now because he still looks yummyy."
And yes, it's true. In 1995, Sawa received wide recognition for playing the titular role as the human boy version in Casper - a part that Malachai Pearson also voiced.
Some fans, meanwhile, recognised the actor from another, slightly gorier project.
"Final destination, dont know why i never connected the two!" another wrote on the discussion forum.
A fifth wanted to double-check: "Isn’t this the guy from final destination 1?"
And again, yes, he is. Sawa played the lead role of Alex Browning in the 2000 hit, where he starred alongside the likes of Legally Blonde's Ali Larter and American Pie's Seann William Scott.
The more you know, eh?
According to Sawa, his role as Alex is what helped him land the part in 'Stan' as Dr Dre, who is Eminem's frequent collaborator and producer, had seen Final Destination and 'was a fan'.
In fact, he wasn't the first choice for the role of Stan, as he says they 'went out to Macaulay Culkin first'. But when this reportedly didn't work out, Dre suggested Sawa instead.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in 2024, he said: "There happened to be somebody in the casting office that knew somebody who was friends with me, and they called me that way … and it ended up working out pretty good."
More recently, the star has appeared in Syfy's TV series Chucky, about the notorious killer doll, playing two recurring roles before landing a main role as James Collins/Randall Jenkins. And last year, he starred in the horror film Heart Eyes.
According to Sawa, 'Stan' is 'one of the proudest things' he's ever been a part of, adding: "I’ll never forget, they told me on the day that I was going to lip-synch it. I remember, after the first take I did, Dre running in and being like, ‘It was good, but can you try it with some rhythm this time?’
"And I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ And that was kind of how the day went.”