Whatever Happened To These Teen Horror Movie Stars?

Many actors find early success in the horror genre. Jennifer Aniston battled an evil, pun-loving Irish creature in "Leprechaun" years before she landed "Friends," for example. Charlize Theron's first role came in "Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest." Even "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation" boasted not one, but two future Oscar winners in its cast, Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger. 

That said, not everyone manages to go on to achieve that same level of success. For every Michelle Williams ("Halloween H20: 20 Years Later") and Leonardo DiCaprio ("Critters 3"), there are countless horror stars whose careers don't reach the same level of renown. It can be especially interesting to look back at teen horror films, which often feature ensemble casts, to see who made it and who didn't. The actors on this list all have respectable careers, and most are still working in Hollywood; they simply never reached the name recognition of their co-stars. Read on for a look at what happened to these teen horror stars.

"Stay Alive", from 2006, centers on an evil video game. The trailer introduced the instantly iconic line, "If you die in the game, you die for real!" It's a silly concept that didn't work, made even sillier by the fact that the movie's villain was called "The Blood Countess." Still, that tagline lives on in internet jokes. The impressive cast included a "Heroes"-era Milo Ventimiglia, a post-"Malcolm in the Middle" Frankie Muniz, a mid-"One Tree Hill" Sophia Bush, and a pre-"Westworld" Jimmi Simpson.

However, Jon Foster played the lead. In an interview with IGN, he sounded stoked by the opportunity. "[Director and co-writer William Brent Bell and producer and co-writer Matthew Peterman and Brent Bell] were new on the scene and they were really excited about making a piece of art transferred into a horror film," Foster said. "... It's really hard to explain, but they really wanted to put this almost artsy, independent film together." Critics disagreed, to put it lightly.

Compared to some of his co-stars, Foster's career since has been slow. In 2015, he married Chelsea Tyler, sister of Liv and daughter of Steven. He returned to horror in 2022 for "Alone At Night," taking the role the night before he needed to fly out to shoot his scenes. He told ScreenRant, "Fortunately, I've had decades of experience in this industry as an actor and I think the more you do anything in life, the easier it gets."

Before "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" made Sarah Michelle Gellar a household name, Kristy Swanson played the character in a film of the same name. She told The Calgary Herald she remained proud of it, reasoning, "The movie was very successful. It wasn't a blockbuster in the theaters. But it became a cult classic." Surprisingly, Swanson didn't mind when "Buffy" shifted to the small screen with someone else taking her part. "That was great for young girls to be able to have that role model," she said. "I was in full support of it and thought it was fantastic."

Nowadays, Swanson acts in a lot of right-wing and faith-based media. In 2019, she starred alongside Dean Cain in a stage production of "ObamaGate," which was later turned into a movie. Swanson tweeted that she received a "death threat" about the production, in this case, a tweet from someone suggesting that the theater be set on fire. "It is a death threat on @RealDeanCain and me, an entire theater production, and an entire theater full of people," she tweeted, asking her followers to report the post. Other films Swanson has starred in since "Buffy" include "Trafficked: A Parent's Worst Nightmare" and "Psych 2: Lassie Come Home."

No one considers "Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" a great movie. Once you get past the fact that Jason doesn't reach Manhattan until the last act, though, there's a lot of fun to be found in the boat scenes, particularly the memorable death of Kelly Hu's Eva. Jason stalks her through the hallways, and they come to a final confrontation in the middle of a pastel blue and pink dancefloor. "I didn't want to be one of those typical screamers, because sometimes when people get scared, they can't scream," Hu told Halloween Daily News. "All they can do is move. So I actually chose not to scream." Screams were added in post-production but the approach shows Hu's dedication to what may have otherwise been a disposable part in a disposable sequel.

"Jason Takes Manhattan" marked Hu's first film role. She went on to star in "The Scorpion King," and played Lady Deathstrike in the second "X-Men" film, "X2." Hu also does a great deal of voice work, including "Phineas and Ferb" and the recent "Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match," and "The Legends of Vox Machina." She told Wired that she enjoys voice acting. "First of all, you can do it in your pajamas and you don't have to get dressed up for it," she said. "When you only have to focus on one thing and the tone of your voice, it's a whole other kind of acting."

In 2006, several young stars came together for "The Covenant." The film played like a male-focused answer to "The Craft," focusing on warlocks rather than witches. Sebastian Stan, Chace Crawford, and Taylor Kitsch are more recognizable names these days, but it put the spotlight on Caleb, portrayed by Steven Strait. In an interview with Movieweb, Strait said he enjoyed shooting stunts that required him to hang from wires. "It's pretty incredible," he said. We've been working with wire rigs and harnesses for about two months. So it's been crazy and great."

After "The Covenant," Strait appeared in Roland Emmerich's "10,000 BC" and the Iraq War drama "Stop Loss." Beginning in 2016, he returned to leading man status in the epic series  "The Expanse," which ended in 20229 (after running first on Syfy and then on Amazon Prime Video). Strait was sorry to let Captain Jim Holden go, telling ScreenRant that they'd always planned on lasting for six seasons. "We were able to get to the end and end it on our own terms," he said. "I'm immensely proud of it. I'm grateful for it, but it is definitely a bittersweet moment."

Robert Rodriguez's 1998 alien-horror film "The Faculty" boasted an impressive cast of teen talent, many of whom have only gotten more famous with age. The cast included big names like Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Usher, Clea DuVall, Famke Janssen, and Salma Hayek, but there was another actor, by the name of Shawn Hatosy, who played a pivotal role. He starred as Stan Rosado, the football-playing boyfriend of Jordana Brewster's character Delilah. In 2001, Hatosy told IGN that he signed on to the film because he felt that the role of a football player would stretch his acting muscles. Plus, there were other benefits. "I got to work with Rodriguez, who is like one of my heroes now," he said. "Those were those reasons, plus nobody knew who I was then."

While many of the other stars of "The Faculty" have stuck to acting in films, Hatosy has primarily spent his time on television. He played Detective Sammy Bryant in 43 episodes of TNT's drama "Southland." From 2016 to 2022, he played Pope in 75 episodes of "Animal Kingdom;" during his tenure on the show, he also directed four episodes. He told Patch that he wants to explore more behind the camera, explaining, "It's different and it's challenging and it's a very collaborative process. As a director that comes from acting, I think I understand characters and I understand performance really well."

The poster for the 1998 campus horror film "Disturbing Behavior" highlights three stars. James Marsden's face is up front. He's still quite famous, having picked up a 2023 Emmy nomination for his work in Amazon Freevee's delightful "Jury Duty." Behind Marsden stands Katie Holmes, who cemented her pop culture legacy on "Dawson's Creek," in addition to her ill-fated marriage to Tom Cruise. In the background, though, is Nick Stahl, an actor not as well-remembered as his castmates.

Stahl was a rising star after "Disturbing Behavior." He co-starred in "The Thin Red Line," "In the Bedroom," "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," and "Sin City." Unfortunately, Stahl ran into a lot of legal trouble related to addiction in the early 2010s, leading him to take time off from acting. "I was pretty much hung over for every single day of work that I ever did — as a kid, in my early 20s, through all the films," he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Thankfully, things seem to be looking up. Since 2019, Stahl has been in several high-profile TV shows, including "Fear the Walking Dead," "Let the Right One In," and "Tiny Beautiful Things," and several independent features. Stahl told The Hollywood Reporter that he was pleasantly surprised by the reception he got. "Casting directors welcomed me back," he said. "There was maybe a little bit of hesitation at first — but as soon as I got a couple jobs under my belt, I kept working."

In 2006, Camilla Belle toplined the remake of "When a Stranger Calls." At first, according to an interview with Radio Free, she wasn't interested. "No, I don't want to do a horror movie. Not my thing," she recalled telling her agent. When she met with director Simon West, he explained that the film would be more psychological thriller than horror, and she agreed to take part. "When a Stranger Calls" was the highest-profile release Belle had been involved in as a lead until that point, and she looked forward to what it might do for her career. "It's the first time I've been in a film like this, and for me, it's just exciting more than anything," she said. "I'm not nervous."

While the film grossed more than $67 million against a reported budget of $15 million, it wasn't well received and currently sits at only 9% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Two years later, in 2008, Belle appeared in the Jonas Brothers' music video for "Lovebug." Soon after, she hit the tabloids, causing a firestorm when Joe Jonas reportedly dumped Taylor Swift to date her instead. 

In 2021, Belle directed a short that was included in the anthology film "Phobias." She also landed a recurring role in Season 3 of "Law & Order: Organized Crime," playing Pearl Serrano across six episodes. Belle next appeared in the South Korean Netflix action film "Carter," and gave her fans a behind-the-scenes look on Instagram.