Jamal and Jared Mixon, the brothers who once stole the spotlight from Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor, have vanished from Hollywood. Their story is a devastating look at the hidden costs of child stardom, revealing how sudden fame, inescapable typecasting, and a failed comeback led to a silent tragedy marked by illness, depression, and financial hardship.

The Trap of the “Funny Fat Kid”

The Mixon twins—Jamal (Ernie Klump Jr., famously chanting “Hercules, Hercules!”) and Jared (Wes in Old School, shouting “We’re going streaking”)—peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s, becoming beloved symbols of family comedy. However, their physical appearance immediately led to a brutal typecasting trap.

Hollywood “loved the laughter they brought but never respected them as artists.” They were continuously cast as the “chubby goofy lovable boyfriend” or the “oversized comic relief”, locking every other career door. Jamal once lamented in an interview, “I know I can do more than that. But people only see a chubby kid who makes jokes, nothing more.” This fixation on their appearance ultimately “killed the bigger dream” of being recognized as true actors.

The Fractured Brotherhood and Failed Comeback

By their 20s, with Hollywood roles drying up, the brothers gambled everything on one last chance to reinvent themselves: an independent film called White Tea (2013). The film was meant to be a serious message about transformation, but it failed to secure distribution, leading to a financial nightmare.

Worse than the financial loss was the “fracture in their brotherhood.” Jared, who handled the production, felt Jamal didn’t do enough to promote it, while Jamal felt exploited. The film, born out of a desire to unite them, became “the blade that split them apart,” leaving behind a silence between the once inseparable twins.

Tragedy of Health, Mind, and Financial Oblivion

After their acting careers were over, the brothers faced immense personal suffering.

Health and Depression: Jared began experiencing health scares, receiving stark warnings from doctors about developing Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure—a physical toll from a career where his body was his brand. He later fell into depression, relying on sedatives to sleep.
Social Media Cruelty: The internet, which once preserved their memories, turned cruel. Old clips became mocking memes and ridicule drove Jamal to delete his social media accounts. In the late 2010s, Jared was even subjected to a baseless death rumor that he had died from diabetes complications.
Financial Reality: The silence that swallowed their careers was reflected in their finances. By 2025, Jared’s estimated net worth was around $600,000, and Jamal’s was around $400,000. These are “painfully modest numbers” for men who were once childhood icons, illustrating that Hollywood “drained them dry, then abandoned them without reward.”

The tragedy of the Mixon Twins is not one of explosive downfall but of “silent oblivion.” They are men carrying the invisible scars of bodies that betrayed them, minds trapped in despair, and the crushing weight of being forgotten by the industry that once exploited their laughter.