‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ Stars Talk Collaborating with Rick Moranis (Exclusive)

For Honey, I shrunk the kids Teen star Amy O’Neill and costar Rick Moranis were, just like in the film, a father figure on set, right down to the “dad look.”

“Rick was always warm but respectful, always friendly, professional and on his game. I’m so proud to have called him Dad,” O’Neill — who played Amy, the daughter of Moranis’ character Wayne Szalinski — tells PEOPLE as the Family Adventure Film turns 35.

That fatherly presence even extended to their time together during a press trip to Japan for the 1989 classic. As O’Neill, now 52, ​​recalls to PEOPLE, “After a long day of doing press panels and radio interviews, We got back to the hotel. (Fellow Teen costar) Jared (Rushton) and I went to the cocktail lounge to see if they served us a cocktail.”

“Rick Moranis walked in and he gave me a fatherly look that inspired me and Jared to go to the hotel coffee shop instead,” says the actress.

“We got caught by my screen dad! He kept an eye on us. He’s a real class act on and off the set,” O’Neill adds.

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Moranis, 71, retired from live-action acting more than 25 years ago, following the tragic death of his wife Ann Belsky from breast cancer.

Although the Small shop full of horrors star slowly stepped away from public life to focus on being a single father to daughter Rachel Moranis and son Mitchell Moranis, who are now in their 30s. He never retired from the business, as he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015.

“I took a break, which turned into a longer break,” Moranis said at the time. “But I’m interested in anything that I find interesting. Every now and then I get asked about a movie or TV role, and when it comes along, my interest is piqued.”

Thomas Wilson Brown, who played O’Neill’s love interest Russ Honey, I shrunk the kidstells PEOPLE that he considers Moranis “an inspiration as an actor, as a family man and as a father.”

“What he accomplished professionally is surpassed only by what he did for his children and his late wife,” Brown, 51, added of Moranis.

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Both O’Neill and Brown have a lot of praise for the “down-to-earth” and “highly intelligent” Moranis, who Brown, according to PEOPLE, has a knack for “comedy that can come to life at the push of a button.”

“One minute you might think he’s the studio’s accountant, with his reserved, quiet nature, but then suddenly he’s all over it and makes a joke that makes everyone laugh,” Brown adds.

O’Neill says she hasn’t seen Moranis since Honey, I shrunk the kids press tour in Japan, but to this day admires “how he carefully and thoroughly shaped the character of Wayne Szalinski, and with awesome physical comedy and comedic timing.”

“He would make the English- and Spanish-speaking crew members laugh just with his movements and facial expressions,” she recalls. “Maybe that’s one reason why he’s one of our highly respected comedy giants: he’s funny even when you don’t understand what he’s saying.”

And while Brown also “sadly” lost touch with Moranis after their time on the film, he says, “I miss him personally, but also on the big screen. We need more Rick Moranis in this world.”

Honey, I shrunk the kids is streaming on Disney+.