By the late 1990s, Devin Ratray fell off the map after a series of child roles didn’t do much for his career. He was still predominantly known as “Kevin’s older brother” from “Home Alone,” which meant that the actor needed to reinvent himself — and prove he could take on different roles — while taking some time off. Returning to the big screen in 2004, Ratray landed a role in the Julia Stiles rom-com “The Prince and Me,” where he played Scotty, Edvard’s (Luke Mably) roommate. From there, Ratray continued to land small parts in bigger features, such as the forgotten Bruce Willis action flick “Surrogates,” where he played Bobby.
For a while, Ratray played the line between serious and comedic roles pretty well. Throughout the early 2000s and into the 2010s, he continued to appear in movies like the supernatural comedy “R.I.P.D.,” the Zach Galifianakis-led “Masterminds,” and the crime drama “Blue Ruin.” Perhaps his most notable feature film role during this stage in his career, though, is the 2013 black and white road picture “Nebraska,” where he played Cole, the nephew of Bruce Dern’s Woody Grant.
Even though Ratray wasn’t cast as the leading star in any of the films he landed parts in, for a time he didn’t let this deter him. As recently as 2022, Ratray appeared in the Steven Soderberg-directed “Kimi,” which was headlined by Zoë Kravitz. Ratray is no stranger to acting opposite big-name stars, but there always seemed to be something getting in the way of him becoming one himself.
