What The Cast Of Unforgiven Looks Like Today

Besides being a masterpiece Western, "Unforgiven" seemed to announce two things about Clint Eastwood's career: that he was winding down his time as an action lead while also confirming that his secondary career as a master director was just getting started. The film felt like a grand farewell to both the genre and the type of character that made him famous, and it's hard to imagine a more flawless sendoff. Not only did it give Eastwood his first Best Director Oscar, but Gene Hackman earned his long-overdue second (and likely final) acting Oscar for his work in the film. It's also difficult to argue with "Unforgiven" taking home that year's Best Picture Oscar, but it was still something of a surprise to see it beat out a movie like "Howard's End." The latter is the exact type of sweeping romantic period drama that the Academy usually can't seem to resist giving the award to.

In addition to Eastwood and Hackman, the talented cast of "Unforgiven" also included Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Frances Fisher, Saul Rubinek, Anna Thomson, Beverley Elliott, and many others. Some — including Harris — have since passed away. But of the noteworthy cast members from "Unforgiven" who are still alive, here is what they all look like these days, or at least how they looked the last time they were in the public eye in any major way. 

Unfortunately, in the era of the American West, women who didn't find themselves with kids to raise and a farm to tend were left with very few options — and for many that ultimately meant a career in sex work. Ladies of the night have long rounded out the casts of Westerns, and "Unforgiven" was no exception. However, the woman known as Strawberry Alice — played by Frances Fisher — subverted some of the stereotypes often associated with the prostitute role, being willing to stand up to the sheriff and becoming a driving force in several key events in the film up through its climax.

FIsher was already a prolific movie and television performer by the time she appeared in "Unforgiven," and in fact had previously shared the screen with Clint Eastwood in 1989's "Pink Cadillac." She also doesn't seem to have a preference between film and TV, working steadily in both mediums from the beginning of her career to today. On the movie side, between the years 1987 and 2022, there are only three years in which she doesn't have at least one credit. In television, in addition to many single-episode appearances, she has been a recurring cast member or had extended stints on shows like "Watchmen," "The Sinner," "Masters of Sex," "The Shield," and "Becker," to name a few.

In a story full of aging outlaws and lawmen, the Schofield Kid is one of the few younger men in the cast of "Unforgiven," at least in terms of characters who aren't completely despicable. He enters the movie looking to claim the bounty on the men who attacked Delilah Fitzgerald, and ends up enlisting the aid of William Munny and Ned Logan for the job. Arguably the biggest part in the movie that isn't played by an existing Hollywood veteran, the Schofield Kid was definitely a breakthrough role for a previously unknown young actor named Jaimz Woolvett.

Indeed, "Unforgiven" accelerated Woolvett's career and he remained busy throughout the '90s in film, on television, and even branching out into voicework for several video games. But his screen credits stop after a small role in the 2008 film "Winged Creatures" (sometimes known as "Fragments"), due in part to medical issues that included having a brain tumor removed and being diagnosed with a chronic bone disease. In a 2007 interview where he opened up about his health struggles, he claimed to be recovering and planned to return to acting, but as of yet that doesn't seem to have happened. The picture for this entry comes from his 2003 appearance in "Charmed," one of his last big roles.

While "Unforgiven" is about a lot of things and a lot of characters, much of it is wrapped around the terrible attack on Delilah Fitzgerald — played by Anna Thomson — the reaction to that attack, and the vengeance that is put into action because of that attack. One of the most enduring and powerful images from the film is Delilah's scarred face. And the actor behind that face delivered what was arguably one of the most underappreciated performances in the movie, often lost behind all the much bigger and more iconic names in the cast.

Thomson's career was red hot around the time of and especially following "Unforgiven," with the next few years seeing her appear in "True Romance," "The Crow," and "Bad Boys." She worked steadily until the early 2000s, with only two more credits in 2007 and 2012 before she seemingly gave up acting and public life in general. 

What ultimately puts the events of "Unforgiven" in motion is the mutilation of Delilah Fitzgerald by two men that she insulted. Things are further exacerbated by the men facing the rather meager punishment of having to give up their horses to compensate Delilah's employer for the revenue he will lose from her facial disfigurement. Having those two men — Davey Bunting and Quick Mike — face much more severe punishment for their cruel actions becomes a driving force for several characters in the film.

Davey Bunting was played by actor Rob Campbell, with "Unforgiven" being his first credited screen role. Campbell stayed in a similar time period for his next movie, "Ethan Frome," and would also revisit Westerns a few more times throughout his career. He did plenty of branching out too, however, appearing in movies as varied as the rock musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and the Tina Fey/Paul Rudd rom-com "Admission." On television, Campbell showed up on series like "Law and Order" and "Sex and the City," and was most recently part of the cast of ABC's "The Crossing" for its one and only season in 2018. In addition, Campbell has dabbled in live theater, being in the original casts of three different productions between 1995 and 2014.

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Clint Eastwood seemed to be closing the door on one phase of his career with "Unforgiven" while opening the door on another. It served as a beautiful farewell to his literal decades of playing gruff cowboys on the big screen, as well as a winding down of playing big action leads in general, something he'd only do a few more times after this. But as a director, "Unforgiven" saw Eastwood still very much on the ascent, continuing to hone his craft and solidify himself as one of Hollywood's most prolific and acclaimed directors for basically the next 30 years and counting.

Even at 91, Eastwood seems to show no signs of slowing down. He directed four movies in the last four years, even starring in two of them. With 2021's "Cry Macho," he even returned to the Western genre, something he has rarely done since "Unforgiven" as either a director or an actor. Granted, the movie got a much more divisive response then Eastwood's films typically got in the '90s and 2000s — which has been true of a lot of his work of the last decade or so — but he still deserves respect for continuing to steadily act in, direct, and produce interesting and challenging films even as his career approaches its 70th anniversary.