Bug Hall, a Hollywood star known for his child role as Alfalfa in Steven Spielberg’s The Little Rascals, who last made headlines in 2020 for his arrest over huffing air duster cans from a dumpster, has revealed that he has traded his showbiz life for a quiet living in Arkansas.
In a January 28 interview, Hall identified himself as “a radical Catholic extremist” who has taken a “vow of poverty” and moved his wife and kids to a small area near Mountain Home in the southern U.S. state.
The internet has reacted to Hall’s decision with both support and ridicule, with critics asking what the term really means.
The Little Rascals actor revealed he ditched Hollywood to live off the grid
Image credits: Bug_Hall/X
According to the Daily Mail, 40-year-old Bug Hall has moved his wife, Jill, whom he married in 2017, and five kids, to an 80-acre plot in Arkansas.
Per the outlet, the Hall family currently resides in a campervan with a water well and a generator, but the former actor plans to build them a house within six months.
Image credits: Universal Pictures
Hall informed that his family’s only bills are for gas to power the generator and their car, and $100 for him and his wife to have cellphones.
He has reportedly donated the fortune he collected as a child star, revealing that his goal is to “maintain a life as free of any need for an income as possible.”
Image credits: Bug_Hall/X
“If there’s any financial need that comes up, I’ll go take some work or do an odd job for cash to fulfill that need.”
“He seems happy,” wrote a social media user in support of Hall’s decision, while a second probed, “I have never heard of a radical Catholic extremist. Even nuns and priests are not labeled as such.”
Hall’s extended family, which includes his younger brother Gemini, their mother Twila, and his stepfather Mark, has also moved to Arkansas and bought plots.
While Hall has left Hollywood, he still documents his life on X.
He regularly posts pictures of his wife and their kids as they celebrate holidays, indulge in nature walks, and more.
Image credits: Bug_Hall/X
In September 2024, Hall made headlines for celebrating the birth of his son, Mark Athanasius Chad Anthony Hall-Barnett, by calling him his “heir” on the micro-blogging platform.
When some on the internet pointed out that he already had four daughters, Hall replied, “I said heir, not dishwasher.”
Bug Hall said his decision to leave Hollywood stems from his 2020 arrest
Image credits: Bug_Hall/X
Hall’s arrest for inhaling air duster cans on the Fort Worth Highway in Weatherford, Texas, nearly six years ago, did not culminate in charges, but it served as a wake-up call, he revealed in his interview.
The cans, notably, contain chemicals like difluoroethane and tetrafluoroethane, which cause dizziness, euphoria, and hallucination.
They are considered severely harmful, even for a single use, as they can cause sudden heart failure, brain damage, or suffocation.
In his latest press interaction, Hall described his very public arrest as the best thing that ever happened to him.
“I loved making movies. I loved writing, producing, and acting. So God had to shake me up a little harder,” he said.
Hall believes his arrest led to an epiphany that he no longer wanted to work a job he described as “basically meaningless, making widgets to entertain people or distract people.”
Image credits: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Besides The Little Rascals, Hall is best known for the 2002 Disney film Get a Clue. In 2022, he earned a Children’s Emmy nomination for A Tale Dark and Grimm.
He is also known for co-writing This is the Year, produced by Selena Gomez.
Bug Hall’s most famous role came from The Little Rascals, but it also allegedly caused him trauma
Image credits: Weatherford Police Department
A January 2024 article for The Altavista Journal by Alice Prival, an acquaintance of Hall, claims that the former actor was exploited by two men on the set of the film when he was only eight years old.
It further detailed that the molestation continued from film to film, leading Hall to pick up substance and alc*hol use.
Some netizens believe Hall’s current actions of trying to live a quiet life result from what stardom dealt him very early on in life.
Image credits: Universal Pictures
“I read an article years ago. He disclosed that he was violated on that set. So whatever he does after that probably stems from the psychological damage that child ab*se inflicts on a person,” one commented, while another wrote, “Are there any child actors who turned out okay?”
Hall’s case mirrors that of Tylor Chase from Nickelodeon’s Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, as both of their lives unraveled amid struggles with substance and alc*hol misuse in the aftermath of childhood fame.
Image credits: Universal Pictures
The latter former child star grabbed attention for living in homelessness in Southern California and battling substance dependency in September 2025.
In a video shared by influencer Lethal Lalli, whose real name is Citlalli Wilson, 36-year-old Chase looked disheveled, with his hair messed up and clothes visibly torn and soiled.
“Who knows what life gave him to handle,” a netizen commented about Hall’s journey
