Where Are They Now: Chris Castile

Famous Christians, fished from obscurity

As a friendly American, I really hope that Canadians had access to the 1990s primetime sitcom “Step by Step.” If you didn’t, I’m worried you won’t appreciate that its breakout star, fêted by North American evangelicals for his outspoken affiliation, may now be residing quietly within your borders.

Remember Chris Castile?

I wasn’t allowed to watch “Step by Step,” for reasons most likely arbitrary. So when my Brio magazine showed up one month emblazoned with Chris’ bespectacled mug, I wasn’t only confused that my Christian teen girls’ magazine would feature a boy on the cover. I was also wondering what charitable cause or under-served community he might represent.

Not long after, I remember watching the show at a friend’s house, and being shocked by a scene wherein Chris dances down the stairs lip-synching to “I’m Too Sexy.” It was one of those situations where, as a sheltered Christian kid, you wonder if Hollywood has finally corrupted the outspoken Christian, or his profession of faith was never anything but a sham.

But since I didn’t watch the show, I didn’t have much of a personal stake in his holiness. So I let him off the hook.

(Apparently, only the former Soviet bloc felt this moment was worth preserving.
Unless you speak Czech, I suggest starting the video at 2:04) 

To his credit, Chris Castile seems to have trod the straight and narrow right out of Hollywood and into regular civilian life. After “Step by Step” ended in 1998, he did a couple more roles in movies and TV, then went to school at Cal State Long Beach. During this time, he lent his talents to the Focus on the Family radio drama “Adventures in Odyssey,” with recurring roles from 1997-2005.
Since then, he married his high school sweetheart, got himself a pilot’s license and a master’s degree, and became an adjunct professor of political science at Biola University, one of the better-known Christian schools in the US. One internet source says he now lives in Edmonton, Alberta, but a 2012 blog post from a high school in Downey, Calif. says they’ve got him teaching US history there.

His wish to lead a quiet life beyond the confines of stardom has drawn a veil of mystery that may frustrate his fans. If you’re dying to know, you can catch him tweeting as @ChrisCastile.

But true fans are likelier to find the poignant, personal details they crave in the autobiography that he “wrote” at the age of 15, called “Being You is Most Definitely Cool.”

This book, an inspirational tell-all about the experience of growing up as a child actor forced to wear glasses, is co-authored by none other than Brio editor Susie Shellenberger.