They say '90s nostalgia is in full-swing, and with the continued success of many of the era's most prominent stars, along with loads of highly anticipated reboots, they may be right.
Many of the '90's most popular stars, from teen heartthrob actors to sensational pop singers, have continued to knock it out of the park with their incredibly long-lasting careers in the entertainment business.
Many former teen stars have been given the titles of one-hit-wonders or has-beens. However, in the case of the actors on this list, that assumption is totally wrong.
Lots of our favorite '90s performers have continued to appear in many of our favorite pop culture franchises, occasionally shifting gears into entirely new professions like producing, writing, or voice acting.
Often, our favorite child actors are secretly performing in today's most popular children's cartoons, creating family-friendly fare for a while new generation.
From Haley Joel Osment's incredibly versatile acting range to Mandy Moore's Disney princess status and Jodie Sweetin's triumphant Full House return, here are 15 '90s Stars You Would Never Recognize Today.
Tara Reid
Tara Reid came to prominence as the quintessential Girl Next Door with roles in comedies like American Pie, Josie and the Pussycats, and Scrubs.
For a short while in the late 1990s to early 2000s, Reid flipped her All-American image on its head, appearing party shows for MTV such as MTV Fashionably Loud: Spring Break, Cancun 2000, and Taradise.
Reid has been crushing it in the meta/parody SyFy Sharknado series as the kick-butt survivor, April Wexler alongside Ian Ziering since 2013. Reid credits her character's popularity with Twitter users for her return in Sharknado: The 4th Awakens.
SyFy asked Twitter users to vote on whether or not April would survive the cliffhanger ending of the third movie. A bionic-armed, time-traveling Reid is set to appear in the recently confirmed Sharknado 6.
Jodie Sweetin
With only a handful of guest appearances and one uncredited voice-over gig to her name, Jodie Sweetin's first major role was that of Stephanie Tanner in the beloved family sitcom, Full House.
Just five years old at the start of the series, Sweetin's peppy catchphrases were utterly adorable, though Stephanie struggled to stand out in a series overloaded with cute thanks to the Olsen twins and John Stamos' hair.
Flash forward a couple decades and Sweetin has easily become the stand-out star of Netflix's revival series, Fuller House. Along with her role of Auntie to sister DJ's adorable children, Stephanie Tanner has grown from obnoxious little sister to an awesome music deejay and performer.
Sweetin can next be seen in the upcoming pilot for the TV thriller, Strange Ones.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Who could ever forget the roguish yet somehow androgynous Leo DiCaprio who took the world by storm with his breakout role of Jack in James Cameron's Titanic in 1997?
DiCaprio's 22-year-old baby face catapulted him to the cover of teen magazines around the world. However, it's his incredible acting prowess that cemented his fame for good.
Baby-faced no more, DiCaprio has traded in smooth skin and shaggy blonde bobs for a dark, grizzly beard. (Those baby blue eyes still shine bright, though).
The grown-up look is paid off, though. DiCaprio won his first Academy Award for Best Actor (after six nominations) for The Revenant with Tom Hardy, which required a very "lost in the woods" sort of appearance. We're sure that aforementioned acting prowess helped, too.
Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan has been a steady presence in Hollywood for years now. From her work in the sassy yet influential horror comedy Scream to her work in the sassy yet feminist Charmed to the sassy yet nostalgic Grindhouse (did we mention how many of her projects were full of the sass?), McGowan was everywhere in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Now 44 years old, McGowan has switched gears from big Hollywood fare to short films and voiceover work in the last few years, along with her passionate work as a women's rights activist.
Her most recent project is the documentary, Citizen Rose, that follows the making of her memoir, Brave, and her efforts to heal from her alleged assault by former producer Harvey Weinstein.
Haley Joel Osment
It may feel as though M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense was only yesterday, but it's actually been 19 years since the ghostly movie first graced theaters.
Now, nearly two decades later, the movie's precocious child star, Haley Joel Osment, is all grown up and still plugging away in Hollywood.
You may not realize it, but Osment has been present in many of your favorite movies, TV series, and even video game franchises. The 29-year-old actor has starred in everything from raunchy comedies like Family Guy and Comedy Bang! Bang! to Disney's Final Fantasy crossover video game hit, Kingdom Hearts as the protagonist, Sora.
Osment can be seen in the upcoming movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, about the true crimes of Ted Bundy.
Tori Spelling
We're betting that the earliest Tori Spelling role that you likely remember was her iconic character Donna Martin in Beverly Hills, 90210 beginning in 1990. She also later appeared in a couple episodes of Melrose Place in 1992.
However, Spelling had put in appearances in many high profile projects before her teen drama days throughout the 1990s, including multiple guest stints on Saved by the Bell, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island.
Spelling began dabbling in voice work, finding small gigs in projects such as Family Guy and American Dad before landing a recurring role in the popular child series Jake and the Never Land Pirates.
The 44-year-old actress is currently said to be to reprising her 90210 role alongside co-star Jennie Garth in an upcoming reboot.
Jared Leto
Jared Leto made a name for himself as the ultimate teenage heartthrob with the angsty teen drama My So-Called Life in the mid-1990s. However, behind his pretty boy facade was a talented actor whose passion for the business could not be tamed.
Leto went on to star in well-respected movies like Fight Club, Girl, Interrupted, Requiem for a Dream, and Dallas Buyers Club. Leto has also taken his skills behind the camera, serving as a producer for multiple short videos and writing for a documentary series.
Leto may grow a grizzly beard in his downtime, but he cleaned up drastically for his role of the Joker in Suicide Squad.
The blue-eyed method actor rumored to be reprising his role as the Clown Prince of Gotham in the upcoming Gotham City Sirens, Suicide Squad 2, and an untitled Harley Quinn project.
Jaleel White
You may be surprised to learn the man behind Family Matters' obnoxiously nerdy Urkel, Jaleel White, has been working on various comedy TV shows and movies for decades... possibly even some of your own favorites.
He just isn't the skinny, glasses-wearing slapstick machine he used to be, so you may not have recognized this comedy powerhouse. However, his body of work following the iconic family comedy is still full of laughs.
Now a handsome 41-year-old comedian, White has made guest appearances in a slew of hilarious projects like Drunk History, Children's Hospital, and Psych.
He has also tried his hand at voice acting, performing in an episode of Cartoon Network's The Regular Show as well as becoming the voice of everyone's favorite speedy hedgehog in Sonic Underground.
Mandy Moore
When you think Mandy Moore, you probably think of long, blonde hair, bright, bubblegum colors, cheery pop tunes... and that one super sad cancer movie, A Walk to Remember.
However, the talented actress and singer has proven her incomparable skills in a variety of movies and TV series from the family-friendly to the utterly devastating.
She may have gone brunette, but the blonde is still around in spirit.
Moore has been the voice of Disney's best-coifed princess, Rapunzel, in the Tangled franchise since 2010.
Since then, Moore has continued to lend her voice to many of Disney's most popular children's fare, including TRON: Uprising and the incredibly popular Sheriff Callie's Wild West. Aside from her child-friendly projects, Moore stars in the heartbreaking This Is Us as Rebecca Pearson.
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin was a successful child actor before his iconic role of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone in 1990, but that hilarious role propelled him to a bona fide child star.
Culkin followed up with a series of well-loved '90s movies like The Pagemaster and Richie Rich before shifting into more obscure, cult fare like Robot Chicken and Party Monster alongside good friend Seth Green.
Written, directed by, and starring Seth Green, Culkin can next be seen in the upcoming Changeland, currently in post-production.
Along with his acting credits, Culkin has pioneered a new parody website that features articles that give the reader humorous lifestyle advice. Bunny Ears comes with a matching podcast that features Culkin and Matt Cohen chatting about various topics on a weekly basis.
Linda Cardellini
Linda Cardellini will forever be remembered as Cool Girl Lindsay Weir in 1999's cult TV series Freaks and Geeks. However, she had put in appearances in multiple '90s TV shows before that iconic role, including Bone Chillers, Guys Like Us, and Boy Meets World.
Cardellini followed up Freaks and Geeks by taking on the nerdy role of Velma in the 2002 live-action movie Scooby-Doo alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar's Daphne.
Even as the brainy Velma, Cardellini's natural cool shone through, making her rendition of the glasses-wearing cartoon character a fan favorite to this day.
Cardellini has also performed voice work for extremely popular animated series such as Gravity Falls, Robot Chicken, and The Regular Show along with her work in more serious fare like Mad Men and Bloodline. She can next be seen the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War.
Jonathan Lipnicki
Some actors toil away in the cutthroat entertainment business for decades before they ever land their big break. Others catch a lucky role a few years into their acting career and never look back.
The even luckier few make their Hollywood debut in award-winning dramedies alongside Hollywood royalty like Tom Cruise when they're just five years old. Such was the case with the precociously adorable Jonathan Lipnicki in Jerry Maguire in 1996.
With his big glasses and even bigger smile, Lipnicki went on to co-star in a variety of projects for all ages from Stuart Little to Dawson's Creek. Lipnicki has since become a staple in television comedies, working on multiple series throughout the years, including MotherLover, Interns of F.I.E.L.D, and Mr. Student Body President.
Coolio
Coolio burst onto the rap scene in 1995 with his extremely popular track "Gangsta's Paradise" making him a bona fide hit.
Unfortunately, history seems to have latched onto that one overwhelmingly popular song, leading Collio to often be falsely described as a one-hit-wonder.
Coolio continued to make albums for over a decade, racking up multiple hit singles with six at the top of the Billboard charts and nine in the top ten.
Throughout the years, Coolio has also tried his hand at acting. The 54-year-old actor and rapper has appeared in many bit parts and cameos, often playing a version of himself.
Coolio has appeared in everything from horror movies to cartoons, with the likes of Gravity Falls, Dracula 3000, and Charmed turning up on his diverse résumé.
Sinead O’Connor
Sinead O'Connor proved herself to be a force to be reckoned with her shocking antics at the height of her fame.
Spitting on her "Nothing Compares 2 U" songwriter Prince and ripping up a photo of the Pope during her musical guest performance on Saturday Night Live, it's easy to see why so much focus has been given to O'Connor's mishaps with the media and her struggle with her mental health.
However, it's all too often forgotten what an enduring career this powerhouse singer still enjoys.
O'Connor's soulful music has continued to be used in soundtracks in a myriad of Hollywood projects from forgettable sequels to blockbuster comedies and everything in between.
O'Connor has been featured on the soundtracks of You've Got Mail, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Jericho, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. She also worked as a composer for several movies, including 2007's Water Horse and 2018's short film Waves.
Jim Carrey
It makes sense for the comedian with a face made of rubber to change his look and his entire career on a whim.
Jim Carrey made his mark as the slapsticky comedian with a versatile face loaded with an arsenal of silly looks after his breakout role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective in 1994. Carrey's flexible face muscles were then put to the test again and again with movies like The Mask and The Grinch.
Despite his wacky onscreen hijinks, Carrey has proven himself to have a wide acting range on many occasions.
His poignant turn as Truman Burbank in The Truman Show is often cited as one of his best performances.
His dedication to his portrayal of Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon garnered its own documentary. Carrey has turned his attention to painting over the years, proving to be successful and talented in that medium, as well.
---
Can you think of any other '90s stars who are completely unrecognizable today? Sound off in the comments!