It’s been 30 years since A League of Their Own was released in 1992, and since then, it’s become a movie beloved by multiple generations. And while you might know where many of the stars of the film ended up—Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna, to name a few—the ensemble cast featured many talented actors who you’ve perhaps lost track of over the years, including Megan Cavanagh, who played Marla Hooch.
Marla, the second baseperson, is remembered for her skills on the field, her surprising rendition of “It Had to Be You,” and leaving the league to marry her boyfriend, Nelson. And when it comes to the actor who played her, there’s a good chance you’ve spotted her in many TV shows and movies outside of A League of Their Own. Read on to find out more about Cavanagh’s career and her life today.
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A League of Their Own was Cavanagh’s debut. “This was my first film,” she told Houston Life in August 2022. “I didn’t have an agent. Everything fell into place so perfectly for me to be in this movie. It’s remarkable.” She said that she even did her own hitting after doing a lot of training ahead of the movie.
The actor is proud to be in a film that has had such a lasting impact. “It’s become very much an iconic film,” she said. “The iconic movie for me growing up was It’s a Wonderful Life, and I feel like this has become the It’s a Wonderful Life for this new audience.” Cavanagh added, “It’s made so many girls play ball, that’s the best part.”
After A League of Their Own, Cavanagh moved on to many other movie and TV roles. She was in the films Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, For Richer or Poorer, That Darn Cat, and Miss Congeniality 2. She appeared in episodes of Friends, ER, Will & Grace, Home Improvement, and Just Shoot Me!, and starred on the series Exes & Ohs. Cavanagh is also known for voicing Judy Neutron in the Jimmy Neutron franchise.
Cavanagh is a theater actor, as well, and most notably has starred in the long-running show Menopause The Musical.
“We do parodies of songs we grew up with with menopausal lyrics. Or sometimes the same lyrics, if they’re fitting,” Cavanagh told The Daily Independent of the musical. “The feeling the audience is left with is that you’re beautiful and amazing. Society might tell us we’re old and we should hang it up, but don’t listen to that. Our bodies might not be working just like they used to, but our brains are.”
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In a 2019 episode of the Comedy Central series Drunk History, Cavanagh played A League of Their Own director Penny Marshall in a segment about the film and the real-life story behind it. Cavanagh was joined by actors Rachel Bilson and Vanessa Hudgens. She wrote in a post on Instagram, “Had such a blast being a part of tonight’s episode.”
In August 2022, a TV show adaptation of A League of Their Own was released on Amazon Prime. The new series does not feature the same characters as the movie, but it’s still about the Rockford Peaches team of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. In the interview with Houston Life, Cavanagh said that she loves the new show and that she attended both of its premieres.
“I did the premiere in Rockford [Illinois] and the one in LA—they invited me to both of them,” she said. “I moderated a talk-back when we watched it in Rockford and we had this discussion with the cast and crew and it was amazing. It is so good. I’m almost going to start crying. It takes it to another level. It’s not playing the characters that we played, but there are homages to the movie.”