You remember the Shiva. You probably still find yourself accidentally using words like "eskimo brother" or "shiva-blast" in polite company, only to realize nobody under thirty has any clue what you’re talking about. For seven seasons, The League was the undisputed king of semi-improvised, borderline-sociopathic comedy. It wasn't really about fantasy football; it was about a group of people who genuinely seemed to loathe each other's success.
But then 2015 hit. The show wrapped up its run on FXX, and the actors from The League scattered into the Hollywood winds. Some became titans of the industry. One became a cautionary tale of the internet era. Others just sort of leaned into being the "that guy" of every prestige dramedy on your watchlist.
Honestly, looking back from 2026, the trajectory of this cast is wilder than any "Taco Corporation" business venture.
The Nick Kroll Takeover
If you bet on anyone becoming a mogul, it was probably Rodney Ruxin. Or rather, Nick Kroll. It’s hard to overstate how much Ruxin’s frantic, litigious energy mirrored Kroll’s real-world work ethic.
He didn't just stay in the comedy lane. He basically built a highway. Big Mouth became a massive, multi-season juggernaut on Netflix, spinning off into Human Resources and cementing Kroll as the voice of puberty-induced trauma for an entire generation. He’s currently coming off the high of History of the World, Part II and recently finished filming Red One alongside Dwayne Johnson.
You’ve likely seen him popping up in everything from What We Do in the Shadows as Simon the Devious to serious-ish roles in films like Don’t Worry Darling. He’s essentially the center of the modern comedy universe now.
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That Steve Rannazzisi Controversy
We have to talk about it. You can't discuss the actors from The League without mentioning the Kevin MacArthur in the room. Just as the show was reaching its finish line in 2015, a New York Times report dropped that effectively nuked Steve Rannazzisi’s career momentum.
For years, Rannazzisi had told a harrowing story about escaping the South Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11. He said he was working for Merrill Lynch on the 54th floor. It was a lie. He was actually working in Midtown that day and had never even been employed by Merrill Lynch.
The fallout was instant. Buffalo Wild Wings pulled his ad campaign. His stand-up specials were scrutinized. While he’s popped up in small guest spots on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm or New Girl over the years, the massive leading-man trajectory he seemed to be on basically evaporated. He still tours for stand-up, but in the hierarchy of the cast, he’s definitely stayed in the "Kevin" tier—the one everyone else is slightly annoyed with.
Mark Duplass and Katie Aselton: The Indie Power Couple
Pete and Jenny were the "sane" ones, relatively speaking. In real life, Mark Duplass and Katie Aselton are basically the king and queen of the mumblecore-to-mainstream pipeline.
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Mark is everywhere. If you haven't seen him in The Morning Show on Apple TV+, you’re missing out on some of his best work. He and his brother Jay have a massive production deal with HBO that has birthed shows like Room 104 and Togetherness.
- Mark's current vibe: He’s still doing the high-low mix. One day he’s an Emmy-nominated actor, the next he’s producing a weird documentary like Wild Wild Country.
- Katie’s evolution: She’s moved way beyond just being "the wife" on a sitcom. She’s directing now. Her recent project Magic Hour (which she wrote and directed) premiered at SXSW 2025 and basically proved she’s a formidable filmmaker in her own right.
They are still married, by the way. Twenty years and counting. In Hollywood years, that’s basically a century.
The Chaos Energy of Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas
Andre was the group's punching bag, but Paul Scheer is actually the most productive man in show business. If you listen to podcasts, you know How Did This Get Made?. It’s a literal institution at this point.
Scheer has spent the last decade being the best supporting actor in every show you love, from Veep to Black Monday. He also recently released a memoir, Joyful Recollections of Trauma, which is a lot heavier and more insightful than you'd expect from a guy who once wore a transparent plastic suit on television.
Then there’s Rafi.
Jason Mantzoukas is a human lightning bolt. He didn’t just play a guest character; he created a cultural icon of filth. Since the show ended, Mantzoukas has become the premier voice actor in the business. Invincible, Star Trek: Prodigy, and of course, Jay Bilzerian in Big Mouth. He’s even hitting the Broadway stage in 2026 for a play called All Out.
What About Taco?
Jon Lajoie is the most fascinating case study of the bunch. On the show, Taco was the high-functioning (okay, low-functioning) stoner. After the show, Lajoie did something nobody expected: he got serious.
He still does comedy, but he’s shifted a huge part of his focus to indie folk music under the name Wolfie’s Just Fine. It’s actually... really good? It’s sentimental, melancholic, and sounds nothing like "The Birthday Song." He released a new album in 2023 called Everyone Is Dead Except Us and has been doing more voice work, including a stint in Transformers: BotBots.
The Legacy of the 2026 Perspective
Looking back, the actors from The League succeeded because they weren't just "playing" friends; they were part of a specific UCB-adjacent comedy scene that prioritized chemistry over script.
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If you're looking to follow their current work, here's the move:
- Watch The Morning Show for Mark Duplass’s best dramatic turn.
- Listen to How Did This Get Made? for your weekly dose of Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas.
- Check out Wolfie’s Just Fine on Spotify if you want to see the "real" Jon Lajoie.
- Catch Nick Kroll's History of the World, Part II for that classic Ruxin-style absurdity.
The show might be over, and the fantasy football craze has definitely mutated into something much more corporate, but the cast is doing just fine. Well, most of them.
To get the most out of your rewatch, keep an eye on the background actors. You’ll see early appearances by everyone from Brie Larson to Meghan Markle before they were household names. It’s a time capsule of a very specific era in comedy that probably couldn't be made today.