From the Olsen twins to the cast of 90210 — where our 90s stars are now
They were some of Hollywood’s most famous faces in the 90s and early 2000s. But many have completely transformed their looks ... and careers.
From actors-turned-reality TV stars to others who are now better known for their personal struggles, the A-list can quickly become D-list.
There have been mugshots and scandals played out in the public eye, while others have forged new careers entirely, and achieved success — including a $400 million bank balance — in completely different industries.
Here how some of the forgotten stars of recent times are faring in 2019.
LINDSAY LOHAN
Despite showing huge acting potential and power in her early years with roles in The Parent Trap, Mean Girls and Freak Friday, former child star Lindsay Lohan has spent the better part of the last decade plagued by drama and failed attempts to rehabilitate her career.
After spending time behind bars and multiple trips to rehab centres for drug and alcohol addiction, Lohan, 33, recently attempted a comeback with short-lived MTV series Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club, about her club in Mykonos.
Lohan is now in Australia as a celebrity judge on new reality talent show, The Masked Singer.
She made headlines for coming to the defence of disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and live-streaming what some alleged to be her attempted “kidnapping” of a Syrian refugee child in Moscow, which she broadcast on Instagram Live.
“You want to come with me? Come with me, I’ll take care of you guys,” Lohan said in the video.
This week, the Hollywood starlet has raised eyebrows for bailing on an episode of Ten’s Have You Been Paying Attention?, and instead filming herself washing her hair. She is also reportedly being courted by a Saudi Prince.
THE CAST OF 90210
They found fame in the ’90s on teen drama Beverly Hills 90210. And while most of their careers stalled after they left the show, the cast — Jason Priestley (Brandon Walsh), Jennie Garth (Kelly Taylor), Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders), Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea Zuckerman), Brian Austin Green (David Silver) and Tori Spelling (Donna Martin) — have reunited for a reboot.
The spin-off series — which debuted in the US this week — features the actors playing semi-fictionalised versions of themselves.
“Having gone their separate ways since the original series ended 19 years ago, Jason [Priestly], Jennie [Garth], Ian [Ziering], Gabrielle [Carteris], Brian [Austin Green] and Tori [Spelling] reunite when one of them suggest it’s time to get a Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot up and running,” a synopsis stated.
“But getting it going may make for an even more delicious soap than the reboot itself.
“What will happen when first loves, old romances, friends and frenemies come back together, as this iconic cast … attempts to continue from where they left off?”
THE OLSEN TWINS
Once child stars playing Michelle Tanner in Full House and later, teen comedies New York Minute and Passport In Paris, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen left Hollywood behind for the fashion industry in 2006.
Now aged 33, the twins co-own two well-respected luxury fashion brands, The Row, and Elizabeth and James.
As style icons, they were considered pioneers of the “boho chic” trend, popularised in the mid-2000s.
Building their fashion empire, the twins didn’t even need to trade off their celebrity — the brands, stocked on high-end sites such as NET-A-PORTER and matchesfashion.com, have their own credibility.
Women’s Wear D aily reported that The Row alone was making $50 million in annual sales back in 2015, while the twins’ joint personal net worth is estimated at $400 million.
In May, Mary-Kate — who is married to French banker Olivier Sarkozy, 50, the half-brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy — stunned fans with her appearance at a Spanish horseback riding competition.
Ashley is said to be dating artist Louis Eisner, 31, and recently fuelled engagement rumours after she was seen sporting a ring.
JESSICA AND ASHLEE SIMPSON
She was a pop star who confessed to being a virgin before she married her now-ex, Nick Lachey. Jessica Simpson, 39, went from singer, to reality TV star (on MTV reality show, Newlyweds) and then tried her hand at acting (The Dukes of Hazzard remake) and hosting (The Price of Beauty).
She married NFL star Eric Johnson in 2014, and the couple has three children.
But Simpson faced a career change when she left Hollywood behind (apart from the odd cameo, including in Entourage) and built a fashion empire, including a budget line, Jessica Simpson Collection, of swimwear, shoes, bags and perfume.
This month, she announced her expansion into activewear.
“It has always been important to me to help women of all ages, shapes and sizes feel great,” Simpson told WWD.
“And for me, a healthy and active lifestyle is one of the keys to feeling like my best self.”
Her sister Ashlee Simpson, 34, had a pop career in the mid-2000s (her album, Autobiography, including the hit Pieces of Me) and her own reality show, The Ashlee Simpson Show.
She recently had a resurgence with another TV series, this time on E! and with her husband Evan Ross, titled Ashlee & Evan.
It traced the couple’s return to music, with the release of their song I Do.
HEATHER LOCKLEAR
She was once one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, with a role as resident siren Amanda Woodward in ’90s drama Melrose Place (Locklear even appeared in the show’s short-lived reboot in 2009).
Now 57, Locklear has mostly made headlines for her personal struggles. She’s been in and out of rehab for treatment around alcohol and pill addition, and was arrested for domestic violence and assaulting a police officer in February.
Last year, she was placed under psychiatric hold after enduring a breakdown.
“Addiction is a ferocious and will try to take you down,” she previously said in a social media post. “Recovery is the best revenge.”
AVRIL LAVIGNE
“Why’d you have to make things so complicated?”
That is an understatement for Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne, now, 34.
She was the poster girl of pop punk in the early 2000s, with songs Complicated and Sk8er Boi, making overdone black eyeliner and neck ties worn over singlet tops, trends.
In later years, Lavigne — who once owned a budget fashion line called Abbey Dawn — became more known for her personal relationships than singing career.
This included failed marriages to Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley (2006—2010) and Nickleback singer Chad Kroeger (2013-2015), and a broken engagement to reality TV star, Brody Jenner (2010).
In 2015, she went public about her battle with Lyme disease.
MACAULAY CULKIN
After rising to fame starring in some of John Hughes’ most iconic films including Home Alone, child superstar Macaulay Culkin notably fell off the radar for almost a decade.
He returned to Hollywood in 2004, with a role in 2004 American satirical comedy, Saved!. Culkin, now 38, famously revealed he turned down a role (and huge paycheck) in the Big Bang Theory three times.
“I couldn’t see myself doing a sitcom or a television show kind of thing,” Culkin said last year in an interview on the podcast, Joe Rogan Experience.
“They pursued me for The Big Bang Theory,” Culkin said. “And I said, like, ‘No’ … ‘cause it was kinda, like the way the pitch was, was kinda just like, ‘Alright, these two like, astrophysicist nerds and then a pretty girl lives with them — yoinks!’
“That was the pitch … I said, ‘Yeah, no, I’m cool, thanks.’ And then they came back at me again, and I said, ‘No, no, no. Again, flattered, but like, no.’ Then they came back at me again, and even my manager was like twisting my arm.”
Still worth $15 million, Culkin has also battled personal problems and a high-profile relationship breakup (he dated Mila Kunis for nine years before their split in 2011).
He most recently returned to acting with a role in the Seth Green-directed movie, Changeland.
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