Before the age of the internet, young people were not interested in Instagram stars but in actors and actresses that they saw in movies and TV series. We are always ready to watch some of the old movies again, like Leon, Beethoven, Home Alone, Ghostbusters, and others. But what are the actors that played our favorite characters doing now?
Bright Side decided to answer this question and find out what happened to our favorite actors’ lives and careers.
1. Alisan Porter
If you don’t know the movie Curly Sue, it means you didn’t live in the 90s. Alisan Porter played the role of this charming girl at the age of 10, but it wasn’t her favorite movie role, because by that time she had already starred in several movies and TV series. But after this iconic role, Porter vanished from the big screen after she did several guest roles. She ended up loving her school theater and decided that her place was on the stage.
And later she developed a completely different hobby. In 2016, Alisan made a splash on the American TV show The Voice, she was on Christina Aguilera’s team and was the winner of that season. Porter has been doing music for a long time: she has her own band and she is a songwriter herself. This is how the little Curly Sue became a real star. Now, Alisan continues to develop her music career and is married and has 2 children.
2. Kelly McGillis
Her most famous movies were made at the end of the 80s. She was in Witness together with Harrison Ford and the role that made her truly famous was when she played in Top Gun with Tom Cruise. She went on to act in about a dozen more roles but soon after that decided to stop her career and spend more time with her family.
In the 2000s, she played in several movies, TV series, and also acted in some plays on Broadway. Now, McGillis, who has 2 adult daughters, rarely appears in public.
3. Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan was a star of romantic comedies and dramas of the 90s. Fans love her for her roles in Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, Addicted to Love, Kate & Leopold, and a few other movies. Her career was progressing very fast, but in the 2000s something went wrong and her movies started to get bad reviews. Her roles started to get taken by other young actresses.
Sometimes Meg attends celebrity events and also takes part in projects like being the voice for one of the characters in Inside Out.
4. Christopher Castile
Do you remember this boy from Beethoven? After the end of the shooting, Castile took part in several films for TV but later decided to not work in cinema. Christopher got his bachelor’s degree at Biola University in California and now works as a history teacher. The Downey Legend did an interview with him where Castile said that working as an actor is much more tiring than working as a teacher. He loves teaching and seeing his students’ faces every day. It’s great that he found something he really loves doing in his life.
5. Nicholle Tom
Nicholle is famous for her roles in The Nanny and Beverly Hills, 90210, but people only knew her for her role in Beethoven. Unlike her colleague, Nicholle didn’t stop her career as an actress: she’s continued working in movies and on TV series but hasn’t done many roles recently. Now, Nicholle is 40 years old and she looks amazing. Judging by her Instagram account, she, like her character from Beethoven, loves dogs: she has a charming poodle and posts her pet’s photos regularly.
6. Marlon Wayans
It looks like we’ve found another Keanu Reeves. Judging by his photos, this actor, who was popular in the 90s, hasn’t changed much for the past 20 years. He has done many movies which are popular among young people, like Senseless, Scary Movie, Requiem for a Dream, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, and others. He not only acts in movies, but also works as a scriptwriter, director, and producer.
Now, Marlon is 46 years old, he continues his movie career, and he is happily married with 2 children.
7. Matthew Lillard
People remember this actor well thanks to his roles where he played rebels in Scream, Senseless, SLC Punk!, and others. Lillard is still making many movies. In 2017, he appeared in several episodes of the new Twin Peaks season where he played the school’s principal. In 2012, he directed the comedy film Fat Kid Rules the World. He has been married since 2000 and has 3 children.
8. Bill Murray
This great actor’s career was at its peak in the 90s. Both children and parents love his movies. He played a scientist in Ghostbusters and a meteorologist in Groundhog Day. Soon, Murray started choosing more dramatic roles and became an irreplaceable actor in Wes Anderson movies: he’s played in almost all of his works. One of his more iconic roles was in Lost in Translation directed by Sofia Coppola.
Now Murray is 67 years old, he doesn’t play in movies as often as he used to but he doesn’t refuse interesting roles either. He also made a small cameo appearance in the reboot of Ghostbusters in 2016.
9. Alicia Silverstone
Do you remember the main character of one of the most famous comedies of the 90s, Clueless? This role instantly made Alicia Silverstone famous. Alicia also starred in several clips of an Aerosmith video and was even kind of a symbol of the band. Silverstone played in some really successful movies, like Batman and Robin (with Arnold Schwarzenegger), Excess Baggage (with Benicio Del Toro), and Blast from the Past.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have a very successful career later on. Silverstone starred in movies and TV series but her works were never very successful. Alicia is a famous animal activist and is also a vegetarian.
10. Jean Reno
We would say that Jean Reno deserves to be remembered forever just for the role in Leon alone. It was one of the best movies of the 90s. The character he portrayed became iconic and made the French actor popular among Hollywood producers. In the US, he made movies like The Da Vinci Code, Ronin, Godzilla, and others. By the way, Reno turned down the role of Agent Smith in The Matrix for the role in Godzilla. Now, the actor doesn’t do many roles and if he does, they are usually small. Last summer, he turned 70.
11. Andie MacDowell
Andie started her career as a really successful model and only after that did she start starring in movies. The viewers of the 90s probably remember her well for the movies Green Card, Groundhog Day, and Four Weddings and a Funeral. But most of the projects she did later were not successful and soon MacDowell only worked on smaller projects.
In the 2000s, Andie returned to working as a model and she is one of the main faces of L’Oréal. She has 3 adult children: her son is far from show business and her daughters are trying their luck in movies and the modeling business.
12. Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage’s career was also at its peak in the 90s. He played in The Rock, Face/Off, Con Air, Gone in Sixty Seconds, and many others. Despite the great amounts of money Cage used to make, he was in financial trouble because of long lawsuits with his ex-wives and his love for a cool life.
In the 2000s, his career fell off the rails and his movies began to fail one after another. But it seems that despite all the fails, Cage managed to overcome these difficulties. In 2018, the horror film Mandy was released where Nicolas played the main role. This one of his movies finally got very good reviews, Thrillist even called Mandy Nicolas Cage’s best movie in the recent past. In the movie, the main character’s life is ruined and he becomes obsessed with revenge. We hope that the actor has a lot of really good roles ahead of him. Good luck, Nicolas!
13. Jeff Daniels
Do you remember Jim Carrey’s partner from Dumb & Dumber? This is the movie that made Jeff Daniels widely popular. In the 90s, he took part in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, My Favorite Martian, and Pleasantville. At the beginning of his career he mostly played roles in comedies, now he chooses more dramatic parts, like his roles in Steve Jobs and My Favorite Martian. The actor is still very popular in movies, he is happily married and has 3 children.
Bonus: Maggie Wheeler, Janice from “Friends”
The 90s were also all about the show Friends. We’ve followed the lives and careers of the people who played the main roles, but on that show there was at least one more interesting character who everyone remembers. Of course we mean Janice, Chandler’s ex-girlfriend. Admit it, you can hear her laughter right when you see her picture.
Maggie Wheeler is the name of the actress who played the character Janice. It’s amazing that it’s been more than 20 years since she started playing this character and she basically hasn’t changed a bit. Now, she is 57 years old. You can find her in several shows: How I Met Your Mother, Californication, Shameless, and others. But we think she hasn’t managed to play someone funnier than Janice. She is married and has 2 daughters.
Whose transformation amazed you the most? Tell us in the comment section below.
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