“Clueless” is turning 30. It may be older โ but it’s never out of style, or out of the zeitgeist. In fact, the cult classic is in development at Peacock for a new series, with Silverstone reprising her role.
Written and directed by Amy Heckerling, “Clueless” is a modern adaptation of Jane Austenโs novel “Emma” set against the backdrop of a โ90s Beverly Hills high school.
As soon as the meddling matchmaker Cher meets Tai, a new transfer student, she and her fashionista bestie, Dionne, decide itโs only but their civic duty to give Tai a much-needed makeover.
Let’s look back at where the stars are now and what they said about “Clueless’s” cultural legacy.
Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone was everywhere in the late ’90s, including thrillers like “The Crush” and “The Babysitter” and romances like “Blast from the Past.” She also was Batgirl in “Batman & Robin” in 1997. She’s acted steadily since, including in a reunion with Amy Heckerling for the comedy horror movie “Vamps” in 2012.
Thirty years later, Silverstone loves the impact โCluelessโ has had on audiences.
โPeople always say Oh you must be so sick of it. But whatโs there to be sick of? People liking the movie youโre in? It truly doesnโt get better,โ Silverstone told Vogue.
Stacey Dash
Stacey Dash played Dionne, Cherโs best friend, in โCluelessโ and in the sitcom spinoff, which aired on ABC from 1996 to 1997. Sheโs been in movies like โView from the Top,โ TV like โCSIโ and music videos. From 2014 to 2017, she was a commentator for Fox News.
Dash told Elle the chemistry between all the actors was the real deal. โWe all had so much fun together,โ Dash said. โWhat you see on-screen is exactly what happened every day on set.โ
Elisa Donovan
Elisa Donovan was Cher’s rival Amber Mariens in both “Clueless” and the spinoff. She also had a long-running part on “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”
After she and Alicia Silverstone reprised their “Clueless” roles in a 2023 Super Bowl ad, Donovan reminisced to People.
“It’s been such a gift to reconnect with her and just talk about the challenges and the joys of that time, (and) how it is to be a female growing up in this business, and now being parents, and itโs great to see that we all have survived and thrived,โ she said.
Jeremy Sisto
Jeremy Sisto has had long-running parts on “Law & Order,” “Suburgatory” and “Six Feet Under.” He’s also been on “FBI” since 2018.
But before all that, he was Elton, a rich kid in “Clueless.” Sisto told TV Insider he thought the movie would “do all right” when it was made, but didn’t expect massive success. “What did start to happen is people would recognize me from it,” he said.
“As future generations become attached to it and it became part of their childhoods as well, it became more of a marvel that I was really excited to be part of,” he continued.
Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd has gone on to have a busy career in Hollywood since “Clueless,” starring in superhero movies like “Ant-Man” and comedies like “I Love You, Man.” He also has a reputation for seemingly never aging.
While on Amy Poehlerโs “Good Hang” podcast, Rudd shared that he didn’t hear back after his audition for Josh in “Clueless.” So, the next time he went to the barber shop, he said, “Just buzz my head.”
A week later, he ran into the director Amy Heckerling at a restaurant who panicked when she saw the hairless Rudd. When it came time for the screen test, Rudd told Poehler, “They put in a wig to try and match what my hair used to be.โ By the time shooting came around, though, Ruddโs hair had grown back, and he was all set to teach us how to drive.
Brittany Murphy
The late Brittany Murphy played Tai, the transfer student who Cher and Dionne attemp to transform.
In an E! News interview, Murphy guessed what made the movie so popular. โAll teenagers are on an ever-constant quest to be older,โ Murphy said. โThey just want to be accepted as adults so bad, but theyโre just not ready yet.โ
Before her death, Murphy made an impact in other movies like “Girl, Interrupted,” “8 Mile,” “Just Married” and “Uptown Girl.”
Murphy died in 2009 at the age of 32. She died from pneumonia but anemia and prescription drugs were contributing factors, officials said.
Donald Faison
Donald Faison credited “Clueless” with his nine season run as Dr. Christopher Turk on the hit TV series “Scrubs.”
“If it wasnโt for ‘Clueless,’ I wouldโve never gotten ‘Scrubs.’ I wouldโve never gotten anything. ‘Clueless’ by far is one of my biggest accomplishments,” he told People.
Back in 2022, Faisonโs daughter channeled his “Clueless “character’s on-screen girlfriend, Dionne, for Halloween, wearing a plaid set and rose hat.
Wallace Shawn
As the tough-loving teacher who gives Cher a โCโ in debate class at the start of the film, Wallace Shawn appreciated how the movie subverts social norms.
โEven the socially awkward teachers are accepted by the more socially adept teenagers,โ Shawn told TODAY. โItโs a very lovely world that (writer-director) Amy Heckerling has created, and people respond very passionately to that.โ
Shawn, by then, was already famous for parts in “The Princess Bride” and “My Dinner with Andre,” and has made countless memorable pop culture appearances from “Gossip Girl” to “The Incredibles.” He is also a playwright and a screenwriter.
Breckin Meyer
Breckin Meyer played a skateboarding high schooler in “Clueless” โ and was a skateboarder in real life. Meyer told Steve Kmetko on the podcast “Still Here Hollywood” that he skateboarded to his “Clueless” audition.
โI arrived sweating, greasy, long-haired, gross dude but also kind of fit the part of little skater stoner kid,โ Meyer said.
Meyer went on to star in other movies of the late ’90s and early aughts like “The Craft,” “Road Trip” and “Rat Race,” and has been a Hollywood fixture ever since.
