Whatever Happened To The Cast Of Walk The Line?

The 2005 musical biopic "Walk the Line" tells the amazing true story of country music legend Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix), covering his humble beginnings on a cotton farm in Arkansas to his meteoric rise to fame and his eventual romantic relationship with fellow country artist June Carter (Reese Witherspoon) and the struggles they faced.

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including the best actress win for Witherspoon, and won three Golden Globes, including best picture, best actor, and best actress, in the musical/comedy category. The award-winning film was also a box office hit, earning over $186 million against a $28 million budget. Not only was the film a hit, but the music was as well, earning a Grammy for its certified platinum soundtrack.

The incredibly well-received movie features a perfect mix of actors and musicians portraying the musical legends and real-life family who surrounded Johnny Cash throughout his life. Did they utilize the film's success to propel their careers forward, or did they hang up their cowboy hats after a job well done? Read on to discover the answer to the burning question of whatever happened to the cast of "Walk the Line."

Johnny Cash meets fellow country singer June Carter and is smitten with her charming personality. He convinces her to join him on tour, and despite her initial reluctance due to his marriage to another woman, the two have an affair. When Johnny's wife leaves him, June still has reservations about their relationship due to Johnny's fast, self-destructive lifestyle. Her conflicting emotions inspire her to write one of Cash's biggest hits, "Ring of Fire."

Reese Witherspoon's accurate portrayal of the real-life artist led to her winning several major awards, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA. Before "Walk the Line," she had appeared in several critical and financial hits like "Pleasantville," "Cruel Intentions," "Election," and the "Legally Blonde" films. She went on to star in everything from family films like "Monsters vs. Aliens," "Sing," and "A Wrinkle in Time" to dramas like "Water for Elephants," "Inherent Vice," and "Wild," the latter of which again saw her nominated for an Oscar.

Witherspoon successfully moved into a role as a producer with films like "Gone Girl," "Lucy in the Sky," and the upcoming "Where the Crawdads Sing." In addition, she produced and starred in the popular television series "Big Little Lies," "Little Fires Everywhere," and "The Morning Show," as well as briefly hosting her own talk show "Shine On with Reese."

Next up for Witherspoon is a starring role in "Tinker Bell" and a return to Elle Woods in the much-anticipated "Legally Blonde 3."

When Johnny Cash's brother, Jack (Lucas Till), is killed in a sawmill accident, their father, Ray (Robert Patrick), blames Johnny. Their strained relationship only gets more antagonistic over the years as Johnny's skyrocketing career does nothing to impress his father. With his descent into addiction only making things worse, Johnny still tries to repair the broken bond between father and son.

Ray Cash wouldn't be the only father of a music legend that Patrick would play. In 2005, he took the role of Vernon Presley in the CBS miniseries "Elvis" before playing the King himself in the 2009 film "Lonely Street." Starting his career in low-budget action movies, Patrick made his big breakthrough as the iconic liquid villain in 1991's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." From there, he appeared in loads of popular films, including "Fire in the Sky," "Striptease," and "Spy Kids." His television career was just as prolific, with main roles in "The X-Files," "The Unit," "True Blood," and "Scorpion" as well as memorable recurring roles in "The Sopranos," "Burn Notice," and "Sons of Anarchy."

In 2021 alone, he appeared in four feature films and three television series. In 2022, he took the role of bad dad to supervillain status when he portrayed Auggie Smith, also known as White Dragon, the titular character's father in the DC Comics show "Peacemaker."

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

When Johnny Cash performs his audition for Sam Phillips, he is backed up by his trusty guitar player Luther Perkins (Dan John Miller). He sticks around as part of Cash's Tennessee Two (later Three) and helps define the band's distinctive sound as they grow in popularity.

Miller, who plays Perkins, has relatively few film credits to his name, making small appearances in films like "Mr. Woodcock," "Leatherheads," and "The End of the Tour," but he has had a much more distinguished career as a musician. In the 1990s, Miller formed the band Goober & The Peas, who would eventually include The White Stripes' Jack White as a drummer. In 1997, Miller and White, along with Miller's wife, Tracee Mae Miller, would form another band, called Two-Star Tabernacle. In 2002, Dan John and Tracee Mae Miller formed their own band, Blanche, and continue to perform to this day, with their latest album released in 2007. Tracee Mae Miller also made a brief appearance in "Walk the Line," playing the wife of Luther Perkins.

Dan John Miller does still act, though, appearing in the 2021 short film "Pack Co." and the 2021 horror film "We Need to Do Something."

Shelby Lynne made her feature film debut in "Walk the Line" playing Carrie Cash, Johnny Cash's mother, who is stricken with grief after the passing of her other son, Jack. Lynne had previously appeared in a small role in the 1991 Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson TV movie "Another Pair of Aces: Three of a Kind" and would later appear in a 2009 episode of "Army Wives" and in the 2020 rock and roll film "When We Kill the Creators."

If you couldn't tell from her heavily music-related acting resume, Shelby Lynne is an accomplished singer-songwriter whose musical career stretches back to 1988, when she recorded a duet with country star George Jones called "If I Could Bottle This Up." She released her first country album in 1989. She released four more albums over the next six years and performed with Vince Gill at the 1997 CMAs. But it was her sixth album, "I Am Shelby Lynne," that finally won her a Grammy, surprisingly enough for Best New Artist, as the album shifted away from country into a more pop and blues-inspired genre.

Lynne continues to write and perform and released a collaboration album with her sister, Allison Moorer, entitled "Not Dark Yet," in 2017.

In addition to Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, the Sun Records tour lineup also included the comically extravagant piano player Jerry Lee Lewis, played with electric energy by Waylon Payne.

Payne is no stranger to the music scene, as his father was Jody Payne, a guitarist for Willie Nelson, and his mother was Sammi Smith, a Grammy Award-winning country artist who toured with Payne's namesake and godfather, Waylon Jennings. Wayne released his own album, "The Drifter," in 2004, before moving on to write songs for other artists like Lee Ann Womack, Pam Tillis, and Aaron Lewis. In 2020, he released an album entitled "Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me," with a three-song follow-up called "The Lost Act" released in 2021.

Payne's film debut was "Walk the Line," and he would follow it up with another music biopic by playing country music star Hank Garland in the 2008 film "Crazy." He also featured in the 2014 Elvis-inspired film "The Identical" and starred alongside Willie Nelson in 2018's "Waiting for the Miracle to Come." Payne also stars in another country music film, the upcoming "Ticket to Nashville."

Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer Roy Orbison is yet another of the Sun Records music icons on tour with Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and June Carter. Orbison is portrayed in "Walk the Line" by singer-songwriter Johnathan Rice.

In 2001, the 18-year-old Rice moved to New York with his EP "Heart and Mind," hoping to make it big. He released his first album, "Trouble Is Real," in 2005, containing songs that would make their way onto hit shows like "The OC" and "Grey's Anatomy." As he continued to tour and put out new music, he also began working with fellow musician Jenny Lewis, including collaborations with Elvis Costello, creating songs for the Anne Hathaway film "Song One" and the Meryl Streep film "Ricki and the Flash" and eventually forming his own band with Lewis, called Jenny and Johnny.

In 2018, Rice released a book entitled "Farewell, My Dudes: 69 Dystopian Haikus," collecting poetry he made for his Instagram account. He followed that up in 2019 with a solo album, "The Long Game."

Johnny Cash and his older brother, Jack, are hired to cut some wood at the local sawmill at the beginning of Johnny's story, but Johnny gets bored and wants to go fishing. Jack sends him on his way, saying he can finish the chore alone. While Johnny is away, Jack gets caught in the machinery and fatally injures himself. It would not only be a heartbreaking loss for Johnny, but it creates a rift between him and his father, who blames Johnny for the accident.

After playing Jack Cash in "Walk the Line," Lucas Till landed the part of Travis Brody, the romantic interest in the 2009 film "Hannah Montana: The Movie." In 2009, he was cast as the romantic interest of Taylor Swift in her music video for "You Belong with Me." In 2011, he landed his next big role as the mutant Alex Summers aka Havoc in "X-Men: First Class," a character he would reprise in the 2014 sequel "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse." In 2016, he landed the lead role in the family film "Monster Trucks" as well as the titular character in CBS's hit reboot "MacGyver," whom Till played until the show ended in 2021.

Recently, Till starred in "Son of the South," playing a white southerner who gets involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. He is also producing and starring in the sci-fi thriller "Spectrum" (per The Hollywood Reporter).