What The Cast Of Where The Heart Is Looks Like Today

Author Billie Letts published "Where the Heart Is" in 1995. The story is about a pregnant teenager who is left at a Walmart and decides to live there while she has her baby. "They originally said that the book did not reflect well on Walmart," Letts reflected to Entertainment Weekly. However, Oprah's Book Club picked up the novel, making it a hit and leaving Walmart with no choice but to carry it. As Letts put it, "Oprah has some clout."

Five years later, director Matt Williams adapted it. Williams was best known for creating shows like "Roseanne" and "Home Improvement," and the all-star cast he assembled for "Where the Heart Is" included Sally Field, Stockard Channing, and Ashley Judd. The lead role went to a young actor who was still at the start of her career: Natalie Portman. Unlike, well, most people in America, Portman claimed to be unfamiliar with the store where the book's most memorable passages took place. "I had never been to a Walmart before the film, and I fell in love with them," Portman told EW. "They're the greatest places."

More than two decades later, "Where the Heart Is" still has its fans. Actor James Frain told The AV Club that studio execs may not realize how beloved the film was. "There are things that [fans] take to their heart that people forget about," he said. If you haven't forgotten "Where the Heart Is," read on to check in with what the cast looks like today!

Though she previously acted in hits like "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace," Natalie Portman's first starring role was in "Where the Heart Is." She played Novalee Nation, a pregnant teenager who lives at Walmart. The film spans several years, meaning the teenage Portman eventually plays a character in her early 20s. "[P]hysically, they gave me some boobs," she told Hollywood.com, explaining how the makeup team transformed her into a slightly older version of the character. "They gave me different hairstyles, more mature makeup. When people physically buy that you're older than you are, it helps a lot in your confidence and acting more mature."

The future Oscar winner told Entertainment Weekly that she was struggling with her newfound fame. "[I]t's a really uncomfortable feeling, being stared at," she said. "It makes me really, really uncomfortable." That may have been the case in 2000, but more than two decades later, Portman is now one of Hollywood's most celebrated actors. She won acclaim for films like "V for Vendetta," "Black Swan," and "Jackie," and in 2023, she stars in "May December." In that film, directed by Todd Haynes, Portman plays an actor who becomes interested in the woman she's portraying. She also produced the film, telling Vogue that she loved the script. "I sent it to Todd Haynes, whom I've admired for so long and, luckily, he was interested," she said. "It was extraordinary to get to work with him on it."

According to IMDb, James Frain is best known for his roles in "Tron: Legacy" and on "The Tudors," "True Blood, and "Star Trek Discovery." According to Frain, however, a lot of people seem to know him from "Where the Heart Is." Frain played Forney Hull, the charismatic local who helps Novalee deliver her baby at Walmart. Of course, they fall in love. "Little girls have grown up with it," he told The AV Club almost two decades after the film's premiere. "So I meet a lot of people in their 20s and 30s who are like, 'I've been watching you since I was 5 years old!'"

In 2021, Frain starred on "Showtrial," a BBC miniseries about a court case. Speaking with the BBC, Frain called his character a "humble billionaire," pointing out that he played the father of the girl who is on trial. "The story is finding out if she's guilty of what she's accused of, but the real story is who are all these people and what makes them tick," he explained.

Frain hasn't acted on-screen since 2021, but he has been very active on social media in supporting the SAG-AFTRA strikes that shut down Hollywood in 2023. In September, for example, he posted a photo of picket line signs to Instagram. The Brit used the caption to help educate people in his homeland, writing, "FYI for UK friends there's no strike pay & zero benefits for striking workers." 

After Novalee gives birth at Walmart, she and her newborn daughter are taken in by an eccentric woman named Sister Husband. That character was played by "Grease" legend Stockard Channing, who had nothing but glowing things to say about her co-star. After praising Natalie Portman's talent and intelligence, Channing told Hollywood.com, "[S]he's also a 17-, 18-year-old young woman. She likes clothes, she likes gossip and music. She's very normal in that way, and that normalcy is — sort abnormal considering the huge success she's had."

Channing also had kind words for her director. Speaking with The New York Times, she complimented Matt Williams. "He's so calm under fire," Channing said. "He really held his ground, and that is a good 90% of being a director." 

After "Where the Heart Is," Channing continued to enjoy a successful career. She played Abbey Bartlet on 69 episodes of "The West Wing," starred as the lead character's mother on "The Good Wife," and showed up in movies like "Must Love Dogs." In 2023, Channing starred in an ITV drama called "Maryland," playing the drug-dealing best friend of a recently deceased woman. She told WhatToWatch that her versatility has helped her have such a long career. "I'm lucky enough because I go back and forth between film, TV, and stage," she said. "And I haven't done anything massively dramatic — I haven't been attached to some sort of scandal that I've had to overcome!"

Ashley Judd became famous in the 1990s for thrillers like "Heat," "Kiss the Girls," and "Double Jeopardy." In "Where the Heart Is," on the other hand, she played Lexie, the nurse who befriends the teen mom who gave birth at Walmart. The film represents a softer side of Judd's filmography, and it's one for which she wishes people would give her more credit. "It's a little irritating, in a weird way, that [the thrillers are] the movies that people pay the most attention to," she told a press junket in 2004. "I'm certainly very proud of what I did [in 'Someone Like You'] as well as 'Where the Heart Is' and all that stuff, so I think there's actually a really balanced mix there."

Judd proved her versatility in the years following "Where the Heart Is." She starred in everything from "Bug" to "Tooth Fairy" to "Dolphin Tale" to the "Divergent" series. In 2022, Judd played herself in "She Said," a film about the sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Judd was pivotal in bringing Weinstein's crimes to light, and she was glad that her role was recognized in the movie's portrayal of the reporters who broke the story wide open. "It was very validating when someone finally wanted to listen and do something about it," she said during a New York Film Festival Q&A. "It's so important to be in our truth and to have our righteousness in our story."

While "Where the Heart Is" focuses on Novalee Nation and her newborn daughter, the film does eventually check back in with Willy Jack Pickens, her baby's father. He was quite the burnout in the beginning of the film, but a few years into the story, he pursued a music career. Joan Cusack played Ruth Meyers, an agent interested in his talent.

Cusack played a relatively small role in "Where the Heart Is" and didn't promote the film much. However, she'd also just starred in a different music-related film, "High Fidelity," alongside her brother John. She told NPR that she is always happy to work with her famous sibling, even though he's usually the lead, while she tends to play supporting roles. "I just believe in him so much that I — it's — I'm happy to be there and just be another ear too," she said.

The "Addams Family Values" star has been busy since "Where the Heart Is," acting in hit films like "School of Rock," "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," and "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping." In 2020, she appeared on Amazon Prime Video's thriller series "Homecoming." Kyle Patrick Alvarez, a director of the series, was impressed by the work she put into her character. "What makes her so good at what she does and her career lasting is because she isn't eccentric," he told The Playlist. "It's not strange for strange sake, she's playing a person she's built and she earns it."

At the beginning of "Where the Heart Is," Novalee Nation realizes she is pregnant by her boyfriend, Willy Jack Pickens. The character was played by Dylan Bruno, and even though his actions are pretty despicable — he leaves his pregnant girlfriend at Walmart! — Bruno told Ridge Merino that he finds sympathy for every character he plays. "I honestly have never played a character that hasn't been a favorite for one reason or another," he explained. "I don't know if that is luck of the draw or simply a mindset that an actor has to carry into his work."

Bruno is best known for his work on "Numb3rs," a procedural about a math genius who helps solve crimes. Bruno joined the cast in the show's second season as Colby Granger, an FBI agent. He also appeared on "Narcos" as Barry Seal, a character based on the real-life drug smuggler and informant whom Tom Cruise also played in "American Made."

In 2020, Bruno directed and starred in "Thumb Runner," a web series about a guy whose wife is kidnapped by the mob. The show played at the Mammoth Film Festival, where Bruno spoke with Popcorn Talk. "We made 'Thumb Runner' kind of on a whim, just sort of trying to have fun together," he said, explaining that he wanted to experiment. "[O]verall, we end up with this dark action, comedy, thriller, weird, twisted — you know?"

Over the course of "Where the Heart Is," Novalee develops an interest in photography. She studies under the guidance of Moses Whitecotten, an employee at the Walmart's photo studio. The character was played by Keith David, a Juilliard-trained actor who is known for a wide variety of starring roles, including in "The Thing," "They Live," "The Princess and the Frog," and on "Community."

However, as he told Daily Actor, he approaches all of his roles the same way. First, he'll research a time period, and then he'll try to develop his own backstory for the character. Still, he relies heavily on the script. "The root of my imagination is in what the playwright has given, and then I let my imagination go from there," he explained. "I try to figure out my relationship to the other people, and I also try to figure out: What is my role in the piece overall?"

David is a very prolific actor still, including in his voice work. He's had 10 projects released in 2023 so far, including voice-over roles on "Transformers: Earthspark" and "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder." In 2022, he appeared in Jordan Peele's "Nope," playing Otis Haywood Sr., a rancher who provides horses for film productions. David has worked with iconic directors like John Carpenter, and he had high praise for Peele. "[H]e's a really wonderful writer," David told Dead Talk Live. "He's a really wonderful director. And he's an even better human being."

The central conflict of "Where the Heart Is" stems from the fact that Novalee Nation has no one to rely on, so she needs to rely on the kindness of strangers. When she gives birth at Walmart and becomes a minor celebrity, however, her mother comes out of the woodwork. Mama Lil was played by Sally Field, whose usually brunette hair was dyed blond for the role.

2000 was a busy year for Field. A few months after Field appeared in "Where the Heart Is," her big-screen directorial debut, "Beautiful," hit theaters. The film starred Minnie Driver as a mean beauty queen. Field told The Morning Call that she started directing because she found that roles for a woman her age were drying up. "You start by raising your fist and railing against it. But all you get is a sore arm and a lot of people looking at you like you're a big whiner," she said. "So you move on."

Nowadays, thankfully, the two-time Oscar winner has been able to continue working. In 2023, she starred in "80 for Brady," a film about women of a certain age attending the Super Bowl. In an interview with Variety, Field reflected on what a rarity that role was. "Women and older women are so much more than men and the children in their lives," she said, praising "80 for Brady" for giving its older cast (including Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) something more to do.