Chauncey Leopardi, an actor best known for his role at eleven years old as Michael “Squints” Palledorous in the 1993 film The Sandlot , is reportedly getting a divorce.
Leopardi, who is now 31, married his wife Stefani back in 2000 and the two welcomed a little girl into the world three years later.
According to TMZ , the couple split a short time after their daughter’s birth and have been living apart ever since. Stefani officially filed for divorce in March of this year.
TMZ notes that Stefani is asking for joint legal, but primary physical custody of their child, who is now 10-years-old.
Leopardi’s divorce news comes on the heels of another big day in the actor’s life. As noted by Huff Po , Sunday marked the 20th anniversary of The Sandlot’s original release.
In the film, Chauncey’s character Squints has a memorable scene in which he deliberately dives into the deep end of the community pool to get his lifeguard crush, Wendy Peffercorn, to rescue him.
While Wendy is performing mouth to mouth resuscitation on Squints, he pulls her in for a long kiss. She is offended by this and permanently bans the boy from the pool.
However, the act also cements Squints and Wendy’s relationship as the two (according to movie’s script) end up getting married and having nine children together.
Here is a clip of The Sandlot pool scene:
Besides the Sandlot, Leopardi has appeared in various other films and television series, including Boy Meets World , NBC’s Freaks and Geeks and CW network’s Gilmore Girls .
In 2007, he reprised his Squints role in the third installment of The Sandlot series, fourteen years after the original movie.