Where Is The Cast Of I Know What You Did Last Summer Today?
For those of us struggling to comprehend our own respective ageing, the fact that I Know What You Did Last Summer is over 20 years old is a tough cookie to chew on. The '90s teen-horror hit helped to launch the career of its main stars, many of whom still hold a special place in many a fan's heart. However, a lot of people probably haven't been keeping up with what those actors are doing now (particularly as all that does is remind us about how impossibly fast life keeps moving). But regardless, this stuff is worth catching up on, people!
The cast members of I Know What You Did Last Summer have made some interesting personal and professional decisions over the years, with some of them doing stuff that likely nobody saw happening for them. So, put on your finest fisherman slicker and prepare to get your hook into something truly meaty (what are you waiting for, huh?) because this is a deep, murky dive into what the stars of I Know What You Did Last Summer are doing today.
Jennifer Love Hewitt has been doing a lot of TV work since I Know What You Did Last Summer
For the latter half of the '90s, Jennifer Love Hewitt was one of the reigning stars of the Hollywood teen roster. Her appearances in beloved teen fodder like Party of Five, Boy Meets World, and Can't Hardly Wait established her as a fortified babe with a charismatic screen presence. But I Know What You Did Last Summer gave Hewitt another layer of intrigue, transforming her from teen dream to scream queen.
After some major cinematic flops (the less said about Garfield, the better) and a short-lived pop music career, Hewitt found her feet again on the small screen, landing long-term and successful leading roles in shows like Ghost Whisperer, The Client List, and Criminal Minds. In 2015, however, the actress chose to take some time out from her career following the birth of her second child with actor Brian Hallisay, telling People that she "needed to be a person" for a while after "almost 29 years" in the industry.
That mini-break only lasted two years before Ryan Murphy came a-calling with an opportunity she apparently couldn't turn down, offering her the role of Maddie Kendall in the procedural drama 9-1-1, where she occasionally stars opposite her husband, Hallisay. According to Hewitt, the decision was a no-brainer, and as she put it, "I love the show, I love doing drama, I just think the cast is extraordinary, and when Ryan Murphy calls, you pick up the phone, and you do whatever he says because he's Ryan Murphy."
Sarah Michelle Gellar has become an entrepreneur
The year 1997 was a huge for Sarah Michelle Gellar, whose celebrity soared overnight thanks to the premiere of three projects: I Know What You Did Last Summer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Scream 2, within which she enjoyed a brief role as an ill-fated sorority sister. It was also the year that she met her husband, Freddie Prinze Jr. They've been married since 2002 and have two children together.
Gellar has continued to show up in a variety of film and TV projects, enjoying live-action roles in shows like Ringer and The Crazy Ones and lending her impressive voice acting skills to Star Wars Rebels and Robot Chicken. But it's also clear that she's been content staying out of the limelight, having taken a brief hiatus from full-time acting to enjoy raising her family with Prinze, as well as starting her own business. In 2015, she launched a lifestyle food brand called Foodstirs.
With the release of the TV show Other People's Homes, a series that's been described as a "suburban dramedy akin to an East Coast Big Little Lies," it seems that Gellar may officially be back on our screens for good. Not that her kids seem to care. As she told BuzzFeed, "We were flipping channels, and I Know What You Did Last Summer came on. My daughter looked for a couple of seconds, and she was like, 'Mom, is that you? Is that Dad?' ... I was like, 'Oh, you should watch!' ... And she was like, 'No, Harry Potter's on."
Freddie Prinze Jr has all sorts of projects outside Hollywood
Freddie Prinze Jr. might've been a pin-up idol for a whole generation of teens, but he was also frequently mocked for his acting talent, leading to a Golden Raspberry nomination for his performance as Fred in Scooby-Doo. Subsequently, his acting career never quite hit the same success of his I Know What You Did Last Summer co-stars. Hollywood proved difficult for Prinze, with a number of cinematic flops following his performance in the cringe-worthy rom-com She's All That. Regardless, Prinze has sustained a successful career in other mediums.
On top of becoming a chef and releasing a well-received cookbook in 2017, Prinze also enjoyed a prolific run as a writer, producer, and director with WWE from 2008 until 2012. He even fought twice in the ring! Having done only a smattering of TV roles in shows like 24, Psych, and Bones — not to mention voice-acting gigs in Robot Chicken, Mass Effect, and Star Wars Rebels — Prinze seems happy to stay out of the limelight. But just because he keeps a low profile doesn't mean he's a shrinking violet. Prinze has become renowned for speaking his mind about everything from how Kiefer Sutherland is "the most unprofessional dude in the world" to putting Star Wars fans on blast for dissing Rey and the new franchise.
Ryan Phillippe is proud of I Know What You Did Last Summer
Despite starring in a number of critically acclaimed movies like Gosford Park, Igby Goes Down, Crash, and Flags of Our Fathers, Ryan Phillippe's acting career took a bit of a slump in the mid-2000s. Like Jennifer Love Hewitt, however, he's found more success on the small screen in recent years, with lead roles in TV dramas like Damages, Secrets and Lies, and Shooter. In a pleasantly surprising series of brief appearances, he's also been flexing his comedic skills with guest appearances in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Drunk History, and Historical Roasts, alongside a memorable appearance as a guest MC for a live performance of Hannibal Buress' "Gibberish Rap."
Speaking to Variety in 2015, Phillippe revealed that in spite of the cultural phenomena of his '90s hits I Know What You Did Last Summer and Cruel Intentions, he still doesn't feel like he's "made it" in the industry. He does, however, remain proud of how the films remain popular to this day. As he explained, "Both of those movies, I guess they're seminal teen movies, and that's a cool thing. It's cool to have something in your career that people love over generations." Following their divorce in 2007, Phillippe continues to co-parent his two children with Reese Witherspoon, and he has a third child from his relationship with Alexis Knapp.
Anne Heche has overcome some steep challenges
The year 1997 was a big one for Anne Heche, who enjoyed an unprecedented breakout with films like Donnie Brasco, Volcano, and Wag the Dog. In fact, her year was so impressive that her minor role as Ben Willis' sister in I Know What You Did Last Summer felt odd at the time for a star who was seemingly boasting a far bigger career. Not long after, Heche started a relationship with Ellen DeGeneres, became a target of the tabloids, and went through a career slump that culminated with a very public psychotic breakdown.
Luckily, Heche managed to fight her way back to good health and a great career, establishing herself as a unique performer with a penchant for taking on quirky roles. In recent years, that's included starring in TV dramas like The Brave, Hung, and Chicago P.D. She's also appeared in respected indie fare like Catfight and My Friend Dahmer, and she's even had voice-acting gigs in animated shows like Adventure Time and The Legend of Korra.
Johnny Galecki became a major TV star
His character might be the first to get hooked by the fisherman, but Johnny Galecki has arguably done the best out of all his I Know What You Did Last Summer co-stars, becoming one of the highest-paid actors on television. Galecki starred as experimental physicist Leonard Hofstadter on The Big Bang Theory for 13 years up until 2019, when he presumably filled an entire room with his Big Bang riches so he could swim through them like Scrooge McDuck. Galecki has since taken a little bit of time away from being a leading actor and is currently enjoying fatherhood for the first time with his partner Alaina Meyer. In a joint statement, the couple announced their pregnancy to fans by boldly declaring, "There truly is love out there for all. We hope ours is the ember of yours, as we feel yours is the ember of ours."
Bridgette Wilson is focusing on family
Aside from I Know What You Did Last Summer, Bridgette Wilson is probably best known for starring as unexpected ass-kicker Whitney / Meredith in 1993's Last Action Hero and for being blonde body fodder (and one of the first to die) in 1999's House on Haunted Hill. In 2000, Wilson married tennis player Pete Sampras and spent most of the next decade enjoying roles in shows like Frasier and CSI Miami and in films like Shopgirl and The Wedding Planner.
Wilson has also spent a lot of her time starting a family with Sampras, and she gave birth to their two sons. The actress has said she found it difficult to leave her kids when she was working, and in 2008, she made her final film: Phantom Punch, the biopic of controversial boxer, Sonny Wilson. She's remained out of work and away from Hollywood ever since to spend time with her family and raise her kids. Speaking to Pregnancy Magazine, Wilson suggested that she's not ruling out the idea of returning to acting, saying, "I haven't really ever considered that I wouldn't go back, it would just be a matter of when. For now, I want to be there when [the boys] wake up and I want to be there to put them in bed."
Muse Watson has been keeping busy since I Know What You Did Last Summer
Traditionally speaking, the killer character actor is one of those people to be filed under it's-that-guy-from-that-thing, so you've likely seen Muse Watson (the guy who played Ben Willis) show up in all sorts of projects without even realizing that it's him. For example, he played Charles Westmoreland, aka 'that guy with the cat who might be D.B. Cooper', in Prison Break, showed up in a season five episode of Justified as a guy who falls foul of Boyd Crowder's treachery, and he even starred as a professional bull rider tasked with teaching Spencer how to ride a mechanical bull in an episode of iCarly.
Most notably, Watson depicted Special Agent Mike Franks in NCIS for 11 years up until 2017. Suffice to say, the veteran actor's career is still going strong as ever, with Watson showing up in a variety of genre flicks like Suburban Gothic, The Dead Ones, and Dark Resonance in recent years.