Remember Her? Try Not To Gasp When You See How She Looks Now!

Mr. T

“I pity the fool!” An iconic figure of the 1980s known for his signature Mohawk, gold chains, and tough guy act, Lawrence Tureaud was born in Chicago, Illinois as the youngest of 12 children in 1952. Growing up in a poverty-stricken community and often witnessing murders and a long list of other crimes, the young Tureaud was determined to rise above and proved to be a standout athlete in high school, which earned him a football scholarship to Prairie View A&M University. Expelled after his first year, he joined the army where he blossomed as “Top Trainee” and squad leader.

Rising the ranks of the army fairly quickly, Tureaud was eventually discharged and set out to join the NFL’s Green Bay Packers but didn’t make the cut due to a knee injury. He then put his massive tough-guy stature to use when he worked as a bouncer and reinvented himself as the jewelry-wearing Mr. T. As luck would have it, Mr. T was so successful at being a bouncer that the hotshots in Hollywood came calling and he transitioned from bouncer to bodyguard for high profile clients like Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, and Diana Ross. Before he accepted any client, however, he made one promise. “I did everything except guarantee people’s lives, but I guarantee you that I will give my life protecting yours.”

Mr. T continued to build his reputation and eventually appeared in Tough-Man competitions where he adopted his now-famous Mohawk haircut that the world knows and loves. Because of his growing publicity, Sylvester Stallone discovered Mr. T and asked him to join him for Rocky III as Rocky’s opponent. Looking back, Mr. T says that Clubber Lang was his absolute favorite role because it was “basically my life story. He wanted a shot, and people said he wouldn’t make it. I was in awe when they asked me to be in Rocky III because a couple years before I had watched Rocky I and II.”

Thanks to Rocky III, Mr. T became an overnight sensation and was cast as Bosco “B.A.” Baracus on the popular television series, The A-Team, in 1983. Spending the next four years on the series while making appearances on specials like Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, Mr. T built his reputation as one of the biggest tough guys in all of Hollywood and made his way to the world of professional wrestling.

With the timing perfect, Mr. T was part of the first two WrestleMania events ever hosted, which likely wouldn’t have become an annual event without Mr. T headlining early on. But, that’s not just us talking! Hulk Hogan even said that Mr. T saved the event, which is now in its 32nd year. For his contributions to the wrestling industry, Mr. T was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in March 2014.

Although the 1990s and 2000s saw Mr. T’s career as an actor dwindle with minor appearances on shows like Blossom, Saturday Night Live and Inspector Gadget, he remained a public figure. In 2005, the world watched in surprise as Mr. T relinquished his iconic gold chains citing religious reasons after Hurricane Katrina ignited deep emotions in the well-known tough guy. “As a Christian, when I saw other people lose their lives and lose their land and property…I felt that it would be a sin before God for me to continue wearing my gold.”

In the years since Mr. T has had his own cereal and cartoon series in addition to hosting the BBC’s World’s Craziest Fools from 2011 to 2013 that documented criminals failing to get the job done. There were even talks that he would have his own show called I Pity the Fool but none of the major networks expressed any interest.

Today, the 64-year-old tough guy is still as intimidating as ever although he’s enjoying a much quieter life out of the spotlight and with his children grown. Mr. T was thrilled to see his oldest son earn his bachelor’s degree and even bragged to his rival of 30 years, Rowdy Roddy Piper. Bonding over both their sons’ accomplishments, the two finally (and miraculously) buried the hatchet months before Piper’s death in 2015.

But, Mr. T’s pride doesn’t stop with his son. With showbiz obviously running in the family, Mr. T’s daughter, Erica, walked away from her job as a special needs teacher to pursue her dreams as a stand-up comedian, a decision that upset her father who was proud of her decade-long tenure in the classroom. “He wants me to be a nice teacher and get married and have kids. He doesn’t want me to do entertainment at all, so he hasn’t come to any of my shows, but he’s aware that I do it.” As for his future in entertainment, Mr. T is certainly looking for any opportunities that come his way with reality television at the top of his list.

Tony Danza

“Ay oh, oh ay! Who’s the boss?” Born in Brooklyn, New York to a bookkeeper and a trash collector, Tony Danza wasn’t much of a student as a child but he excelled as an athlete especially when it came to wrestling. Admittedly barely scraping by in high school, he attended the University of Dubuque on a wrestling scholarship and earned a degree in history in 1972. Hoping to find his niche as a professional boxer, Danza’s friends jokingly entered him in the Golden Gloves tournament where he knocked out six opponents in the first round. His career as a professional boxer was born.

In the midst of training for his next match at a local gym, Danza was discovered by a television producer who, on the spot, asked him if he had any interest in becoming an actor. Knowing any future in boxing would be short-lived, the young New Yorker expressed an interest and was immediately cast as Tony Banta, a cab driver and part-time boxer in the new television comedy Taxi in 1978. Instantly winning over audiences with his charm and good looks, Danza spent the next five years on the series and even took home a Golden Globe for his performance.

As a new name in Hollywood, Danza made numerous film and television appearances throughout the 1980s including Cannonball Run II and The Love Boat before he landed his second starring role in Who’s The Boss? Cast as retired baseball star Tony Micelli turned housekeeper and single father, Danza once again wowed audiences between 1984 and 1992. In the meantime, he was winning hearts with family-friendly films like Angels in the Outfield.

During Who’s The Boss? Danza had little to worry about when it came to job security. “To be on a show where you don’t even have to check the ratings; you just know it was going to be in the top 10. And it was like that for years,” Danza said. “That feeling is so rarefied…I haven’t had that kind of success where you could feel that way in quite some time.”

Admitting that a skiing accident after the series put his acting career on hold for over a year, Danza said it gave him the opportunity to pursue other ventures in the entertainment industry. One of those ventures came to fruition in 1997 when he debuted on The Tony Danza Show. In a long line of brief stints and minor appearances, he also starred in The Practice in 1999 and Family Law from 2000 to 2002 until launching his own daytime talk show in 2004 called The Tony Danza Show. Sound familiar?

Having dabbled on Broadway in addition to making his mark in the music industry as a 1950s-style crooner with his debut album—The House I Lived In—released in 2002, there isn’t much Danza hasn’t done in his career. But, with over three years since he’s been spotted on the silver screen and with his last television credit coming in 2016 on an episode of Comedy Central’s Broad City after a six-year hiatus, many are wondering if the beloved Tony is finally slowing down.

The first to admit that he’s enjoying a much quieter life these days, the 65-year-old retired boxer has made a huge career change after getting back to his original dreams of teaching. Earning his bachelor’s degree in history in 1972, Danza has finally seen his hard work pay off (despite being a lousy student in his younger days) on his own reality show on A&E called Teach, which chronicles the year Danza spent teaching high school students in Philadelphia. After the experience, he published I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High.

Getting the chance to fulfill every dream he’s ever had or so it seems, Danza has even found time to take the New York City stage where he’s starred in an extended performance of Standards & Stories. But, nothing compares to his time on networked television, which is exactly what led him to shoot a pilot series with comedian Sebastian Maniscalco. After NBC declined to pick the series up, Danza remarked, “I’m sad that I didn’t get the job. I miss the job. But on the other hand, I have so many other things that I want to do, so it gives me a chance to do that.”

An accomplished tap dancer of 40 years, Danza is making incredible waves on the stage as he continues to wow the world with his many talents—after all, he’s a boxer, actor, teacher, dancer, and singer! All that aside, he spends the majority of his time in The Big Apple and wouldn’t have it any other way since it brings him closer to his son, Marc, and his daughters, Gina, Katherine, and Emily. And, while he may be “The Boss” on television, to his kids, he’s simply “Dad.”

Haley Joel Osment

At just four years old, Haley Joel Osment’s life in Los Angeles, California took an unexpected turn when he was approached by a talent scout while running errands with his mother at the local Ikea store. Agreeing to audition since his father was an experienced theater and film actor, Osment was asked to describe the biggest thing he had ever seen and, after eloquently describing an IMAX theater screen, he won the part and landed his first commercial deal with Pizza Hut. According to his parents who were natives of Birmingham, Alabama, the young star had “a good old-fashioned Southern upbringing” and was under no pressure to become famous. Destiny, however, had other plans. Later that year in 1994, Osment was cast in the first of many television series.

After the Pizza Hut commercial launched his career, Osment was given a starring role as Harry Turner on the ABC series Thunder Alley. From there, his career picked up steam and offers started rolling in as he appeared on popular series like Ally McBeal, Walker Texas Ranger, and The Larry Sanders Show. By then, it was only a matter of time before the silver screen came calling. The bright-eyed boy made his feature film debut in Forrest Gump where he starred opposite Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, Jr. and took home a Young Artist Award for Best Performance by an Actor Under Ten. Not too bad for his first silver screen performance! With no signs of slowing down despite his young age, Osment returned to television with appearances on Murphy Brown, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Chicago Hope and dozens of others before his career took a dramatic turn in 1999 thanks to one hit movie!

Cast as Cole Sear opposite Bruce Willis in M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller The Sixth Sense, Osment became an instant star for his epic performance as the child who sees dead people. Nominated for an Oscar and over a dozen other awards for his outstanding work, Osment struck gold again the next year when he starred in Pay It Forward, a warmhearted drama chronicling the charitable acts of 11-year-old Trevor McKinney. But, it was Osment’s stellar performance in Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated sci-fi drama A.I. Artificial Intelligence that solidified his status as one of the top leading actors in Hollywood in 2001.

In 2003, Osment starred in Secondhand Lions and held his own alongside Hollywood royalty Michael Caine and Robert Duvall. But, despite being considered one of the best young actors to climb the ranks in Hollywood, he did the unthinkable and faded from the spotlight shortly after the film’s release. Why? Retreating from the spotlight saved him, Osment said as he turned down numerous starring roles in order to attend New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. “Having that college experience and a social life that didn’t revolve around Hollywood was absolutely critical,” he said.

However, Osment’s teenage and college years didn’t go entirely without incident. In 2006, the young actor suffered a broken rib, cuts, abrasions and a fractured shoulder blade after he struck a mailbox and overturned his car multiple times. Subsequently charged with driving under the influence and drug possession, Osment was placed on probation. Looking back, he says, “That was being a teenager making a terrible decision.”

Managing to steer clear of any controversies and run-ins with the law since graduating from New York University in 2011, Osment has been consistently working in film in an effort to reinvent himself. Appearing in Kevin Smith films like Tusk and Yoga Hosers, Osment undoubtedly raised eyebrows when he made a guest appearance in HBO’s Entourage where the bearded actor was seen with two naked women in a hotel room. Admitting that he’s trying a change of pace for his audiences, Osment says, “I’ve done some really off the wall stuff, and stuff that people might not expect.” That’s putting it mildly, to say the least!

Worth an impressive $12 million today, the 28-year-old California native has the luxury of being able to pick and choose whatever role he wants. When asked about his recent work, Osment says that “it’s not about running away from what I did as a kid, but it’s a way to keep things fresh and challenging. It’s kind of comfortable playing characters who are kind of unsavory and not so nice. That can be refreshing sometimes.”

Whatever the role, project or film, the future is certainly looking bright for both Osment and his younger sister Emily who stars in Young & Hungry and Mom. With talent obviously running in the family, Osment credits his parents with helping him “keep my feet on the ground,” which is far from an easy task in the star-filled streets of Hollywood. Ready to once again enjoy the big screen, our favorite Sixth Sense star is slated to release a number of projects over the next couple of years as he proves that he’s come quite a long way from the boy we first met so many years ago.

Yasmine Bleeth

“I love a man who can wear my underwear.” Each decade has their own list of unforgettably gorgeous stars and, in the 1990s, Yasmine Bleeth was at the top of the list. Born in New York City in 1968, Bleeth was only 10 months old when she appeared in her first commercial for Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo. Six years later, the self-proclaimed tomboy was a known commercial star as she made her first television appearance on Candid Camera. By the age of 12, she headed for the silver screen in the 1980 feature film Hey Babe!

By her 18th birthday, Bleeth had already worked on soap operas like Ryan’s Hope and One Life to Live but it wasn’t until she was cast as Caroline Holden on Baywatch in 1993 that she was truly a star. Donning her signature red bathing suit and hitting the sand, Bleeth instantly became a household name as she landed on dozens of magazine covers and nearly every list of the most beautiful women in the world. At the time, the sky was the limit as film and television offers rolled in faster than Bleeth ever imagined.

With appearances on shows like Boy Meets World and The Naked Truth, Bleeth continued working as a lingerie and swimwear model until she hung up her rescue board and beach towel in 1997. Looking for her next big project, the former Baywatch babe didn’t have to wait long before snagging a starring role as Inspector Caitlin Cross on Nash Bridges. Ultimately deciding the series wasn’t the right fit, Bleeth left the show to star in Titans, which only lasted 14 episodes from 2000 to 2001. By 2003, her star power was obviously fading as she reprised her role as Caroline Holden in Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding. So what exactly happened to Bleeth and her career?

Problems first surfaced in 2000 when Bleeth checked herself into the Promises Rehabilitation Clinic in Malibu after admitting she suffered from a cocaine addiction. The following year, she was arrested after she crashed her car and police found four needles and a bag of cocaine in the vehicle. With an additional search of her hotel room yielding, even more, cocaine and drug paraphernalia, Bleeth was eventually sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. By 2004, she was off probation and wrote about her cocaine addiction and struggles in a three-page article for Glamour magazine titled “Back from My Drugs Hell” in April 2003.

Laying low since then, Bleeth’s former costars confirmed their friend’s career derailed because of her heightened drug use. Baywatch producer Douglas Schwartz said, “We were dealing with Yasmine not showing up and having difficulties…That’s why we let Yasmine go off the show; because it was too difficult to deal with her after a while.” Having collapsed during a photo shoot after being awake for days on end, Bleeth’s addiction resulted in a tragically sad twist of fate for the once beloved star.

Without any major public appearances in over a decade (aside from a Got Milk? ad in 2010), Bleeth was finally photographed in 2015 when she and her husband, Paul Cerrito, hit the beach for the 55th annual Penguin Plunge on New Year’s Day. Obviously looking much different than her svelte Baywatch days, Bleeth was all smiles on the beach as the media had a field day with her significant weight gain and changing look after years of drug abuse.

Admitting that she gained 20 pounds while first recovering at her mom’s house after rehab, the 46-year-old Bleeth doesn’t bat an eye when it comes to facing criticism as she’s much healthier and happier than she ever was in the 1990s. “I looked like an alien,” Bleeth said. “My eyes were bulging out of my face. I was 110 pounds and a size zero. I looked dead.”

Bleeth has been actively avoiding interviews since 2003 when she gave her tell-all about her addiction. Describing how easy it was to get drugs, Bleeth said, “It was like ordering Chinese food. I made one phone call and they delivered it to my front door.” As for her public appearances, Bleeth said her publicist often covered for her. “I never expected to get into drugs. And if I was sniffling, my publicist would tell people I had sinus problems, which I do.”

Celebrating her 12th anniversary with Cerrito this year, Bleeth says, “I’ve proven to myself that I can’t have both drugs and love. Every day, I have to make the choice again. So far, I choose love.”

With a new Baywatch film coming out starring Dwayne Johnson and Alexandra Daddario, we can’t rule out a return for Bleeth as Baywatch is known to bring back former stars. And, although she may not hit the beach in that iconic red swimsuit, it’d be nice to see Bleeth back on the sand with the rest of the gang. Until then, we’re just happy she’s doing well.

Jaleel White

“Oops! Did I do that?” In 1989, a 12-year-old named Jaleel White was fresh off from making small time appearances on television shows like The Jeffersons and The Cosby Show when he was given the opportunity of a lifetime to join the cast of Family Matters as Steve Urkel. Originally slated to only appear in the first episode as the geeky and obnoxious next-door neighbor, audiences instantly fell in love with Urkel (and White, for that matter), which landed him a permanent spot on the series from 1989 to 1998.

Spending the majority of his early career with a squeaky voice, clad in suspenders, plaid shirts and thick glasses, and always looking for cheese, White made a name for himself along the way as the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog in cartoons like Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Underground, which were based on the video game of the same name. Going on to star in Grown Ups with Soleil Moon Frye of Punky Brewster from 1999 to 2000, White’s success after Family Matters was a hard lesson that nothing could top his role as Steve Urkel, at least not yet.

Enrolling at the University of California-Los Angeles while deciding his next career move, White graduated with a degree in film and television in 2001. Returning to the spotlight immediately after graduation, he made special appearances in films like Big Fat Liar and Dream Girls in addition to television series like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, NCIS, Psych and Boston Legal. He also hosted the Total Blackout game show on the SyFy network from 2012 to 2013. However, despite managing to stay busy over the years, he’s still looking for something that will make him a “versatile” actor in Hollywood, a role that will forever set him apart from Urkel.

“I need to grow up, mature, become an adult, then surprise people with new stuff,” he told TV Guide nearly a decade after Family Matters ended. Since the interview, White’s “new stuff” has led to his most notable film role in the 2011 flick Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer where he played Mr. Todd. As for television, he’s been seen on episodes of Castle and Hawaii Five-O over the last few years with his last credit coming from Celebrity Family Feud in 2016.

Although he’s enjoying fairly consistent work as an actor, White may no longer wear Urkel’s signature flood pants and cardigan sweaters but he hasn’t been able to escape the character and constantly fields questions about his role even two decades later. “I don’t miss playing him,” he admitted. “I really don’t. I’m not trying to get away from it or anything like that, but I don’t miss the role at all…I just want to work. I want my daughter to say, ‘I know what Daddy does, not what Daddy did.’”

And, as White will always be the first to admit, it wasn’t the show that was ever the problem. “Family Matters was an amazing experience. I learned physical comedy to a degree that most child actors never will.” Despite being typecast in geeky-roles for much of his career, White also set the record straight and said that he was nothing like Urkel when the cameras stopped rolling. “I am more of a jock. You can ask George Clooney; we played basketball quite a lot on the set.”

Recently, the 39-year-old White seems to have found a happy balance between his past and present in Hollywood after appearing in a series of Scion commercials where he’s driving with a puppet version of, you guessed it, Steve Urkel! Now realizing the potential of embracing his former role and changing his tune, White says, “Anytime you play any kind of iconic character, people approach you. It’s just par for the course playing characters that are so deeply embedded in people’s hearts and minds. Sometimes it’s completely flattering. Other times, it’s like ‘Can’t you see I’m talking to a young lady right now?’”

Ultimately appreciative of his early success, White may not be a superstar in Hollywood but he says, “I’m happy to be known for all the right reasons…I’ll always take a legacy of giving people laughs. That’s what I do socially, that’s what I do intimately, that’s what I do professionally. As long as I can give you some laughs, whether it’s through what I have done or what I’m currently doing, I feel like I’ve given something good to the world.” As for now, the 39-year-old father of one is still searching for the role that’s right for him while slowly accepting the fact that he’ll always be the quirky, cheese-loving Steve Urkel that the world fell in love with over two decades ago.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas

“What do we need? What do we want? More power!” Getting a hot start to his career, Jonathan Taylor Thomas appeared as Greg Brady’s son in The Brady Bunch spin-off, The Bradys, and in three episodes of Fox’s comedy series In Living Color all before his tenth birthday in 1991. The same year, he landed the biggest role of his career when he was cast as Randy Taylor on the hit sitcom Home Improvement starring comedian Tim Allen. With the series an instant success, it was only a matter of time before the young Thomas became one of the biggest names in Hollywood and a teen idol with dozens of covers of magazines like Tiger Beat to prove it. Young fans simply couldn’t get enough of the bright-eyed Pennsylvania actor turned Hollywood heartthrob.

During his stint on Home Improvement where he literally grew up in front of the camera as one of primetime television’s cherished sons, Thomas managed to make his way to the silver screen as Disney came calling and offered him starring roles in films like Man of the House, Tom and Huck and I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Heck, even his voice was widely recognized thanks to his work as the voice of young Simba in Disney’s highly successful animated feature, The Lion King, in 1994.

Although Home Improvement officially wrapped in 1999 after a decade as the highest rated sitcom in primetime, Thomas had already departed the show in the 1998 season, which left many fans puzzled and heartbroken. It wasn’t until 2013 when Thomas finally revealed the reasons behind his absence—that he was burnt out from the fame and the grueling stress of filming a decade-long series. “I’d been going nonstop since I was eight years old,” he said. “I wanted to go to school, to travel and have a bit of a break.”

Graduating with honors from the prestigious Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, California, Thomas enrolled at Harvard University to study philosophy and history in 2000. After studying abroad in Scotland in 2003, he made his way back to Hollywood where he had a guest role on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter in addition to minor appearances in Smallville and Veronica Mars. The affectionately named JTT would eventually earn his Ivy League degree nearly a decade later from Columbia in 2010.

Although he still reminisces about his early days as a successful child actor, Thomas doesn’t like to dwell on the past. “When I think back on the time, I look at it with a wink,” he said. “I focus on the good moments I had, not that I was on a lot of magazine covers.” Considering he avoided the wayward path that many former child stars have gone down, Thomas is the first to admit he’s been extremely lucky especially after leaving Tinsel Town to focus on his academics and attempt to live a normal life.

So, aside from reuniting with Allen on Last Man Standing from 2013 to 2015, what has the 35-year-old former teen idol been up to lately? “I watch a lot of movies. I hike. I stay up on shows and theater.” He also confesses that’s he definitely not done with show business but, he does have a different plan for his future in Hollywood that will take him behind the scenes. Having spent the last few years working on several movie scripts, Thomas hopes to take the director’s seat sometime in the very near future.

Proving that he is well-adjusted despite becoming an overnight sensation, Thomas says, “I never took the fame too seriously. It was a great period in my life, but it doesn’t define me.” Even Patricia Richardson, who played Thomas’ mother on Home Improvement, had nothing but good things to say about her on-screen son. “When he left the show, he ended up going back to school and got a really good education and thought a lot about what he wanted to do with his life,” she said. “When he was on the show at one point, he said to me he was interested in being a politician.”

Now that the biggest and most loyal JTT fangirls are well above the voting age these days, it might be the perfect time for Thomas to capitalize on his 1990s fame and run for office. Who knows, a campaign run on “More Power with JTT” with endorsements from actors like Tim Allen, Patricia Henderson and his Man of the House costar Chevy Chase wouldn’t seem so wild in comparison to this year’s presidential election. Don’t you agree?

Ross Bagley

“Quick, what’s the number for 911?” Few people are ever excited when a new character is introduced into a sitcom as it usually throws the storyline off balance and is signified as a last-ditch effort to revitalize the show, which is known in Hollywood as “jumping the shark.” In the 1980s and 1990s, this was a pretty common practice and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was no exception in 1994 when ratings fell. That’s when the show gave Will Smith a younger cousin, Nicholas “Nicky” Banks, played by five-year-old Ross Bagley.

Bagley’s early stardom and success continued as the Los Angeles, California native was cast as the beloved and sassy Buckwheat in the 1994 film adaptation of The Little Rascals. Known for singing “I got a dollar, I got a dollar, hey, hey, hey, hey,” Bagley’s career was on a roll as he landed a voiceover role as the puppy in Babe in 1995 before finding even bigger mainstream success in 1996 after wrapping up The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Teaming up with Will Smith once again, Bagley was cast as Smith’s stepson, Dylan Dubrow, in the blockbuster hit Independence Day.

Appearing on one episode of The Profiler later the same year, Bagley’s career took a sudden turn as he played hide and seek with the spotlight for nearly a decade. Returning for a cameo in the NBC series Providence starring Melina Kanakaredes in 1999, he added one more voice acting gig in an episode of The Wild Thornberrys the same year before he disappeared again until 2005 when he returned for one episode of Judging Amy. That’s when the 17-year-old finally decided it was time to step away from acting.

Graduating from high school in May 2005, Bagley enrolled at California State University at Northridge with the intent to pursue a degree in cinematic and television arts. Since then, he’s only made one appearance on the silver screen in the low-budget horror flick Gnome Alone in 2015. Aside from that, most of Bagley’s headlines and media attention stem from the fact that he didn’t reprise his character for Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016 as the role went to Jessie Usher.

With neither Bagley nor Mae Whitman reprising their roles in the flick, Bagley made light of the situation and sent Whitman a tweet the day of the release: “Hey (Mae) wanna go see that new Finding Dory?” Drawing quite a few laughs from his remark, Bagley says he’s fine not being cast in the film because he no longer wants to become an A-lister like Smith. Instead, he wants to focus his time on producing and raising his first child, although cameos are not entirely out of the question!

When asked about his early stardom on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Bagley can’t deny his luck. “It was a huge blessing,” he said. “Fresh Prince was, and still is, one of my favorite shows as a child, even way before I was on it. I remember when it used to come on Monday nights and I would watch it with my babysitter when I was a little tyke so, to be on it was surreal, to say the least.”

As for his role as one of the He-Man Woman Haters alongside Alfalfa and Spanky on The Little Rascals, Bagley was thrilled to reunite with some of the cast in 2014 for the 20th anniversary of the film. Giving a huge nod to his pickle-loving character that added to his early fame, Bagley denies the suggestion that Buckwheat hindered his ongoing success in Hollywood especially since it was his first silver screen experience. “I feel like it’s nothing more than a help,” Bagley said. “I was grateful to be a part of it.”

Often recognized on the street as Buckwheat more than anything else, Bagley doesn’t mind the attention one bit, but that doesn’t mean he’s desperately looking to keep it. Even without being a huge Hollywood star or A-lister, Bagley says, “Luckily, I don’t validate myself by the amount of attention I get, so I can’t say that there’s any void or empty space in my life since I haven’t been on television.”

Having proven he’s more than just a “jumping the shark” stunt in Hollywood after landing a spot on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the 27-year-old Bagley is still lingering around Hollywood with the hopes of joining another comedy ensemble. “That is always a lot of fun,” he said. “And the environment on set is way more laid back and lighthearted, which always makes me feel extremely comfortable.”

Still searching for the perfect role, Bagley can’t help but dream of one day sharing the stage with Zach Galifianakis, Kevin Hart, and Denzel Washington after spending much of his early career opposite stars like Will Smith, Vivica A. Fox, and Sally Field. Until then, he’s keeping his promise to keep it real even if fans best remember him by, “Otay, Buckwheat!”

Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson

“I like to get in the mud because I like to get dirty like a pig.” Television certainly has its fair share of guilty pleasures and, if any network knows about that firsthand, it’s TLC, which is home to shows like Long Island Medium, Say Yes to the Dress and Cake Boss. One of the original reality shows that exploited the world’s desire to watch dysfunctional families and their lives unfold was Toddlers & Tiaras, a series that showcased parents and their young children involved in the beauty pageant industry. It was on this show that audiences first met Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and her mother, Mama June Shannon.

With Honey Boo Boo undoubtedly stealing the show on Toddlers & Tiaras with her iconic southern accent and Mama June’s highly criticized concoction of Mountain Dew and Red Bull known as Go Go Juice, few were surprised when Honey Boo Boo landed her own series on TLC. Debuting on August 8, 2012, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo followed the six-year-old Alana, her parents (Mama June and Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson) and her three sisters (Lauryn “Pumpkin,” Jessica “Chubbs” and Anna “Chickadee”) on their adventures in McIntyre, Georgia.

As both viewers and the network anticipated, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo was like an on-screen train wreck that audiences couldn’t help but watch with over 2.25 million viewers tuning in the first night. By the end of the second season, Honey Boo Boo had nearly three million people watching with 3.21 million viewers tuning in for the season finale—“Happily Ever After?”—on September 11, 2013, to see Mama June and Sugar Bear presumably tie the knot. By then, it seemed like things were going well for the Thompson/Shannon family as they were bringing in $50,000 per episode with ratings consistently high but, by 2014, everything changed.

With TLC announcing a third season and three specials on the books for Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, fans were thrilled until Mama June landed in the center of controversy after dating Mark Anthony McDaniel, a man convicted of child molestation nearly a decade prior. The backlash of Mama June’s personal life caused TLC to immediately cancel the show in October 2014 leaving half a dozen episodes unaired. Thanks to TLC’s contract with the family that prevented any appearances or entertainment ventures for months following the cancellation, the otherwise outrageous and sassy Honey Boo Boo fell out of the spotlight completely.

As the controversy settled over the next year, Alana and Mama June returned to the spotlight in February 2015 as special guests on The Doctors where Alana had gained noticeably more weight. Officially declared obese at 125 pounds and only 10 years old, the doctors staged a health intervention for Alana and put the former reality television and pageant star on a diet with the hopes of getting her weight back to down to something more manageable. By the end of April, Alana’s hard work was already paying off as she had already lost nearly 25 pounds.

The following year and despite her contract with TLC, Alana joined Inside Edition for an in-depth interview about the show and her family. When asked about her reaction to Here Comes Honey Boo Boo being canceled, Alana said, “I woke up one morning, and I was like ‘Where’s the crew?’ And my mom was like, ‘We stopped filming the show.’” Ultimately admitting that she was happy the camera crews weren’t around all the time but still sad the show was canceled, the 11-year-old Honey Boo Boo still managed a smile as she returned to the spotlight in 2016 on the premiere of Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars where Mama June and Sugar Bear were featured on the show. By then, it was clear the young pageant princess had grown up quite a bit since her television debut nearly a decade earlier.

Today, Alana is enjoying a much quieter life but still manages to keep her fans updated on her life and adventures thanks to social media. Still only a child, she is definitely focused on getting through middle school with recent reports indicating that Mama June has moved Alana and the rest of the family from their small hometown of McIntyre to Atlanta, Georgia. In the meantime, the dust has definitely settled for Honey Boo Boo as many fans expect the outrageously sassy and opinionated southerner to make her way back to the spotlight in the near future. However, with threats of TLC suing the family over their former contract, it’s safe to say they won’t be returning to TLC anytime soon. Until then, Honey Boo Boo will just have to rely on her bottles of Go-Go Juice to get her through those wild afternoons running around with her friends on the playground at school.

Amanda Bynes

“Crazy or not? We’ll let you decide!” Child actors often fall into one of two categories as they grow up with the world watching. Some, like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman, maintain their sanity and make an incredibly long and successful career out of their early stardom. Others, like Edward Furlong and Lindsay Lohan, end up going completely off the rails whether from drugs and alcohol or simply by losing their minds as the world looks on in horror. Unfortunately, it appeared that Amanda Bynes was headed straight down the path to Crazy Town in 2012, leaving many to wonder how her life got to that point.

Born and raised in Thousand Oaks, California, Bynes started her career in comedy at only seven years old when she landed her first acting gig in a national commercial for Buncha Crunch candies. After that, she appeared in stage productions of Annie, The Music Man and The Sound of Music before she was cast as a regular on Nickelodeon’s All That. Eventually becoming a regular on Figure It Out from 1997 to 1999, Bynes was given her own variety show called The Amanda Show from 1999 to 2002. Her success, however, didn’t stop there.

Landing a starring role on the WB’s What I Like About You opposite Jennie Garth, Bynes made her silver screen debut in Big Fat Liar in 2002. By 2006 and with What I Like About You coming to an end, the 20-year-old Bynes knew the sky was the limit for her career in Hollywood as she starred in She’s the Man and Hairspray in addition to being named one of Teen People’s “25 Hottest Stars Under 25.” Her good fortune struck again in 2009 when she starred in Easy A and announced she had a sequel to Hairspray as well as the comedy Hall Pass with Jason Sudeikis and Owen Wilson in the works. That’s when Bynes did the unthinkable.

Taking to Twitter in 2010, the former All That star announced she was officially retiring from acting. “I know 24 is a young age to retire, but you (heard) it here first. I’ve (retired). I don’t love acting anymore, so I’ve stopped doing it…If I don’t love something anymore I stop doing it…Being an actress isn’t as fun as it may seem.” A few weeks later, Bynes had an obvious change of heart when she hit the red carpet at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards and told People Magazine she was only taking time off to rest.

With absolutely no film credits since her first “retirement,” Bynes was at it again in 2012 when she announced she was retiring from acting in order to focus on her career as a fashion designer. However, her announcement isn’t what landed her back in the headlines. In March 2012, Bynes was pulled over for talking on her cell phone while driving. The next month, she was charged with driving under the influence after multiple accidents including a hit and run led the court to suspend her driver’s license.

Outraged by the negative publicity, Bynes dramatically changed her looks as she took to Twitter where she threatened lawsuits against those who published her tweets or criticized any of her photos. By that time, it was clear that Bynes was suffering some sort of meltdown as she was arrested in her Manhattan home for possession of marijuana and reckless endangerment after she threw drug paraphernalia from the window. Placed on a psychiatric hold and sent to a private facility for treatment, the former child star was eventually released in December 2013.

With the world desperate to see the young actress on the mend, Bynes enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Irvine, California in 2014 only to reportedly be expelled a few weeks after classes began. Around the same time, she was arrested for her second DUI and was hospitalized once again. After being in and out of rehab ever since public appearances are few and far between for Bynes who is now trying to focus on her schooling.

Now 30 years old and supposedly doing better with her parents still overseeing her care and finances, Bynes leaves anything media-related up to her lawyer, David Esquibias. When asked about his client’s current condition, he said, “Amanda is doing great, enjoying school and thriving creatively” as a budding fashion designer. She is set to release her first line very soon and is currently working with Joy Stevens, a well-known life coach.

As for her former fans, their concern for the Easy A star hasn’t fallen on deaf ears. Esquibias says, “Amanda appreciates all the love and support she receives from family, friends, and fans.” Hopefully, with a new career on the horizon, she’ll be back in action very soon, although we hope her fashion designs are inspired by her improving health rather than her brief trip to Crazy Town.

Jonathan Lipnicki

“Did you know the human head weighs eight pounds?” Born in Westlake Village, California in 1990, Jonathan Lipnicki hit the Hollywood jackpot when he was five years old and made his acting and silver screen debut as Renee Zellweger’s adorable son in the 1996 smash hit Jerry Maguire starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Winning over the hearts of audiences with his spiky blonde hair, wide smile and glasses, Lipnicki was instantly Hollywood’s favorite kid.

With offers for movie and television roles pouring in, Lipnicki had plenty of choices when it came to making his next move and thrilled his fans when he joined the cast of The Jeff Foxworthy Show from 1996 to 1997. Making an appearance in The Single Guy and landing a brief role in Meego as Alex Parker, Lipnicki returned to the silver screen as the voice of the Baby Tiger in Dr. Doolittle before landing a starring role in the 1999 film Stuart Little. Over the next few years, the young star was literally everywhere in Hollywood from The Rosie O’Donnell Show and Dawson’s Creek to The Little Vampire, Like Mike and Stuart Little 2.

By 2003 and 2004, Lipnicki’s career was beginning to slow down with films like When Zachary Beaver Came to Town and The L.A. Riot Spectacular. Then, after a series of brief appearances on Saturday Night Live, The Sharon Osbourne Show and Entertainment Tonight, the 14-year-old Lipnicki disappeared from the spotlight completely.

Like so many other child actors, Lipnicki wanted to live a normal childhood and knew he would never get that opportunity if he stayed in Hollywood. That’s when he returned to Agoura High School near Los Angeles where he said, “It was just…typical high school,” which was exactly what he wanted. “[I spent my time] hanging out with my friends and got my license and went to prom. Pretty normal.”

Having already endured bullying in middle school where the kids “weren’t really the nicest” because he was so famous, Lipnicki said things got easier once he was in high school because the teasing about his fame started to subside. That’s partly what made walking away from Hollywood such an easy choice. What sealed the deal was an incident in New York City’s Central Park where he was approached by a paparazzi who wanted more photographs on the set of Stuart Little 2 when he was being tutored. After refusing, the paparazzi threatened Lipnicki as he wondered aloud, “What? Why does this guy want to ruin my life?”

After Lipnicki graduated from high school, the acting bug bit him once again and he returned to the silver screen in 2011 as Young Yoni in For the Love of Money. With most of his credits coming from independent films and guest appearances on The John Kerwin Show and Family Tools, Lipnicki is happy he’s dipped his feet back into the wild waters of Hollywood and rekindled his career. However, he’s in no hurry to become an A-lister just yet as he’s more focused on training in mixed martial arts. Nope, we’re not kidding!

A huge fan of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Lipnicki says, “It teaches you a lot about life. It’s a great way to decompress, but it’s also humbling.” When asked if he ever planned on fighting professionally, he said, “I’ve been pretty busy filming and I would need to put off a certain amount of time to really train for a fight and be in amazing cardio shape and really work on my striking more. I’m not saying no, and I’m not saying yes.”

At 26 years old, Lipnicki doesn’t spend time dwelling on his past successes as a child star but he also doesn’t shy away from it or his future in Hollywood. Acknowledging that he wants to continue to develop as an actor and take classes to hone his craft, Lipnicki says, “Going back to class and doing theater, I think that’s really important. I think the problem with a lot of child stars and why they don’t make the transition, they think, ‘Well, the world owes me something.’ But the world doesn’t, the world doesn’t owe you anything.”

To make sure he stays on top of his acting game, Lipnicki stays in touch with his first co-star, Tom Cruise. He says, “I’m not going to lie and try to be like, ‘Ah, (me and Cruise are) best friends,’ but you know he’s really been there for me. As far as whenever I needed to reach out, he responded.” With the advice he’s been given, Lipnicki has learned to look for the right roles that come his way, saying he’s basically had two different careers as a child and as an adult. And, although his most recent project in the 2016 independent flick Loserville wasn’t a huge success, there’s still plenty of time for one of Hollywood’s former favorite child stars to leave his mark in Tinsel Town.

Michelle Pfeiffer

“I am Catwoman, hear me roar.” Originally planning to become a court stenographer after high school graduation, Michelle Pfeiffer’s future drastically changed when she realized her heart wasn’t anywhere near the courtroom. A self-proclaimed tomboy who loved to build things in the garage using her dad’s tools, Pfeiffer recalls, “I was sort of directionless, but I knew I wanted a career.” Settling on acting, she tested the waters in 1978 when she won the Miss Orange County beauty pageant and went on to compete in Miss California. Finishing in sixth place, her mind was made up as she hired an agent.

Getting her feet wet with appearances in Fantasy Island and Delta House, Pfeiffer auditioned for Charlie’s Angels in 1979 but saw the part go to Shelley Hack. Refusing to give up, she honed her acting skills with lessons at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. By 1982, her hard work paid off when she starred in Grease 2. The next year, she was cast as Elvira Hancock opposite Al Pacino in the gangster classic Scarface. Praised as Hollywood’s newest hot commodity, Pfeiffer went on to star in Into the Night, Sweet Liberty and The Witches of Eastwick.

Showing tremendous improvement on the silver screen, Pfeiffer was finally confident enough to move beyond her comfort zone in the late 1980s and early 1990s with hits like Married to the Mob and Dangerous Liaisons. Turning down the role in Pretty Woman, Pfeiffer launched her own production company called Via Rosa Productions in 1990 that allowed her the opportunity to star and produce films featuring strong female roles. By 1992, she embodied strength when she turned heads as Catwoman in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, a performance that many fans argue is the best and most authentic portrayal in Batman history.

Rounding out the rest of the 1990s and the new millennium with films like Dangerous Minds, Pfeiffer took a four-year hiatus from the spotlight in 2003 only to return in 2007 for Hairspray and Stardust. Since then, she’s starred in The Family and has plenty of projects lined up for the next two years including her role as Mrs. Hubbard in the film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express and in the Bernie Madoff story, The Wizard of Lies.

Although she decided to go into acting on a whim in the late 1970s, Pfeiffer has proven she can still land just about any role she wants thanks to her timeless beauty. But, the 58-year-old is the first to admit she doesn’t always feel that way. “The loss of youth, the loss of beauty—it definitely plays havoc with your psyche,” she said. “There’s this transition from ‘Wow, she looks really young for her age,’ to ‘She looks great for her age.’ And there’s a big difference. I’m now at, ‘She looks great for her age.’ There is certainly a mourning process to that. But, you know, it’s kind of liberating. I don’t need to look younger than I am because it ain’t gonna change anything.”

After nearly four decades on screen, Pfeiffer is also extremely critical of her own work. “I’m always expecting perfection and then I end up disappointed and embarrassed,” she admits. “For many years, when I had to watch my films, it would finish and I would realize that I had stopped breathing. I would wonder how long it’d been since I took a breath. It hasn’t gotten any easier.”

Obviously getting a late start in Hollywood, Pfeiffer is grateful for how far she’s come after it took years for her to finally convince producers she was more than just eye candy. After starring in Grease 2, the director initially refused to audition her for Scarface in 1983. A similar situation happened five years later in Married to the Mob when Pfeiffer was the underdog and was cast as the murdered gangster’s widow. “I was pretty lucky…Married to the Mob was a crucial turning point for me. I was so surprised Jonathan Demme gave me the opportunity to play the part…All of a sudden I couldn’t really be pigeonholed anymore.”

With the part opening the doors to dozens of A-list roles throughout the 1990s, Pfeiffer has no regrets when it comes to her career or at having turned down several memorable roles to focus on her family in later years. “I don’t regret it. I know it was the right decision because I can’t complain,” she said. “I’ve had a great career and a great family and I’m incredibly blessed that I’m able to juggle it all.”

Today, Pfeiffer has plenty of work on the horizon with no plans to slow down, especially not after getting a late start in Tinsel Town. “I can’t see myself retiring, ever,” she says. “I started working part-time when I was 14…I feel like I always need to be productive in some way. I may not always be acting, but I hope I am.” We do, too.

Michael J. Fox

“You built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?” The 1980s were a magical time for Michael J. Fox as he quickly became one of the biggest stars of the decade after getting his start in films like Midnight Madness and Class of 1984. Well on his way to becoming a household name, Fox caught a huge break in his career when he was cast as the money-loving Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties from 1982 to 1989. Receiving a Golden Globe and three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance, Fox was truly unstoppable in Hollywood.

While working on Family Ties, Fox continued to make waves on the silver screen when he was cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future in 1985. With the movie becoming the highest grossing film of the year and an international phenomenon, Fox reprised his role in the time-traveling classic’s two sequels. When not riding around in the DeLorean, he spent the rest of his time starring in films like Teen Wolf, Bright Lights, Big City and Casualties of War.

A few years after Family Ties ended in 1989, things took a tragic turn for Fox who, in 1991, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. With his doctors telling him it was only a matter of years before he could no longer act, Fox signed a multi-film deal in order to do as much work as possible before the effects of the disease hit him hard and took him out of the spotlight for good.

Initially keeping his diagnosis quiet, Fox joined the cast of Spin City in 1996 and, after two years, eventually told the world about his disease as his symptoms became harder to hide. Three years later and with an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, he knew it was time to slow down as he wrapped up the series in 2001. Spending the majority of his time as a voice actor in documentaries and films like Stuart Little and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Fox continued to appear on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Good Wife in addition to starring in his own show, The Michael J. Fox Show, on NBC in 2013.

With a large amount of money from his days as an A-lister to support him throughout his semi-retirement, Fox has been able to focus on his top priorities—fighting Parkinson’s disease, raising awareness and helping others. After first telling the world about his insecurities saying, “I hate the way it makes me look. That means I hate me,” Fox has come a long way since then and now has an extremely positive attitude about the disease and his life. “I don’t care. If I don’t get food in my mouth, I’m still happy.”

Trying to share his good vibes with other Parkinson’s disease sufferers, Fox launched The Michael J. Fox Foundation in 2000 to promote research and advocacy. Over the last 16 years, his staff has grown to over 120 employees and countless volunteers who have aided in the billions of dollars invested into researching cures for Parkinson’s. With Fox living up to his reputation as a charitable and compassionate man, the foundation has seen nearly perfect scores across the board for its incredible dedication.

Aside from his foundation, Fox has written several books throughout his career including Lucky Man, which focused on how he was in denial about his disease for nearly seven years. His most recent book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future, was published in 2010 and, according to an excerpt, it explains how Fox is never willing to give up the life he loves. “And so, I have a choice,” Fox writes. “I can either kind of quit and say, ‘Well this is not ideal. I’m going to give in’. Or you can just push through.”

Obviously choosing to push through despite his inability to predict how much longer he’ll be able to act, Fox doesn’t shy away from interviews and even made a huge announcement in October 2016. The former Marty McFly teamed up with Nike to auction a pair of shoes that were exact replicas of the ones he wore in Back to the Future Part II. As a result, traffic to the foundation’s website skyrocketed as fans donated $10 for a chance to win.

Praised by Time magazine as someone “whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world,” Fox remains humble but firmly rooted in his commitment. “You’re getting a much more complete picture of the life of a person with Parkinson’s,” he says. “The thing about Parkinson’s is everyone has their own version of it so what we’re doing with research is trying to attack whatever issue you may have.” With Fox at the helm, we have no doubt the world of Parkinson’s is definitely changing.

Alicia Silverstone

“Sex. Clothes. Popularity. Whatever…” At only six years old, Alicia Silverstone launched her career as a model and, after instantly being praised for her blonde locks and sweet face, landed her first commercial for Domino’s Pizza. By the age of 16, Silverstone was already turning heads when she made a brief appearance in The Wonder Years in 1992 as Fred Savage’s dream girl. She was then cast as the lead in The Crush in 1993, which sealed her fate as a teen idol with a pair of MTV Movie Awards that set her up for a busy future in Hollywood. Appearing in a variety of music videos for bands like Aerosmith, she was set to star in My So-Called Life before the lead role went to Claire Danes in 1994.

Despite the minor setback, Silverstone landed on her feet in 1995 when she was cast as Cher Horowitz in the comedy Clueless. While many expected the film to be a huge flop at the box office, it received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike as Silverstone climbed her way to the top of the ranks in Hollywood. Going on to star in direct-to-video films like The Babysitter and True Crime, the San Francisco native hit it big once again in 1997 when she was cast as Batgirl Barbara Wilson in Batman & Robin.

With Batman & Robin receiving negative reviews, Silverstone’s run as an A-lister suddenly came to an end with only a handful of minor silver screen roles before she starred in the short-lived television series titled Miss Match. Over the last decade, she’s divided her time between voice acting, cameo appearances and stage performances with little to no credits in any recent feature films. So what happened that led to Silverstone’s tragic fall from grace in Hollywood? She actually answered that question herself.

“I was just a theater kid,” she said. “I never wanted to be in movies or TV. There’s no support or schooling on what you do when you suddenly find yourself famous as a young woman. It was just too much for me.” Recognizing early on that her future wouldn’t involve a long list of starring roles in box office hits like Clueless, Silverstone couldn’t deny that the money in Hollywood was simply too good to pass up.

When asked about her biggest hit and her career in the 1990s, Silverstone gushes with pride. “I’m so honored that Clueless is such a cultural phenomenon. I mean, I didn’t know that was going to happen.” And, while many wonder if she sits back licking the wounds of her dried up acting career, the former teen idol is actually thrilled that life has taken her to her first passion—philanthropy. As for acting, that was just a perk of her early life.

A known vegan and an outspoken advocate for animal rights with PETA, Silverstone is also an environmental activist who has used her stardom for more than self-promotion. “I decided I would use this spotlight for something that is very meaningful for me,” she said. “I went on a quest to change the world, to make things better—for children, for the earth, for animals. I wasn’t paying attention to my career, I was paying attention to something else.”

Once voted the “Sexiest Female Vegetarian” by PETA, it wasn’t until Silverstone stepped away from acting and into activism that she had a light-bulb or “aha!” moment. “One day I went, “Wait, I want to act, too. What’s going on?’”

Having recently celebrated her 40th birthday with her husband, rocker Christopher Jarecki, of 11 years and their five-year-old son Bear Blu, Silverstone has proven she can have it all—acting, activism, philanthropy, and motherhood. Not only talking the talk but walking the walk, Silverstone says going vegan “improved my health and wellbeing 100 percent.” Spending the majority of her time in her eco-friendly home in Los Angeles, the former “As if!” teen idol runs The Kind Diet website, which is based on her book of the same name, that teaches people how to live a healthy vegan lifestyle. In 2014, she released her second book titled The Kind Mama about parenting and has a third book in the works that will feature her favorite vegan recipes.

As for her acting career, Silverstone is busier than ever with three films—Tribes of Palos Verdes, Diary of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul and The Killing of a Sacred Dear—scheduled for release in 2017. And, although she’s deemed “too left of center” even for Hollywood thanks to her vegan lifestyle, she wouldn’t have it any other way and says “it’s changed so many people’s lives so I really just believe in the simplicity of the story.” After making headlines for chewing her son’s food and then feeding it to him from her own mouth, we’ll just have to take her word for it!

Pauley Perrette

“When I was little, I think that I wanted Superman to be my boyfriend.” When NCIS debuted on primetime television in 2003, fans instantly fell in love with the quirky forensic scientist sporting a few tattoos and black hair named Abby Sciuto. But, who is Abby in real life? The gothic scientist obsessed with death is played by the talented and beautiful Pauley Perrette who first dreamed of working with animals before moving to New York City where she starred in several commercials before catching her first big break in 2001. Landing the role of Abby just two years later, Perrette has spent the last 14 years alongside a star-studded cast as one of television’s favorite primetime ladies whose interests span everything from civil rights to running her own store, Donna Bell’s Bake Shop, in Manhattan, which honors her late mother.

Born in The Big Easy on March 27, 1969, Perrette’s family didn’t spend much time in New Orleans before moving to the southern United States briefly settling in Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The only real stable piece of property or home the family owned was on her father’s land in Alabama, which is exactly why Perrette calls Alabama “home.” Even with her life at home frequently uprooted, Perrette’s parents offered the stability she needed as she dreamed of one day working with animals, becoming an FBI agent or taking the stage with a rock and roll band. In fact, her adventures in Hollywood were completely unexpected.

“My dad is a firefighter and as are all my cousins,” Perrette said during an interview, “and I am incredibly proud of that. But this is all me being out here [in California] and it’s a total accident and it’s really strange. I am the only person in my family that’s in the entertainment industry. And I studied sociology, psychology and criminal science in school, so this was just a complete accident.”

Before making her way to Hollywood, Perrette enrolled at Valdosta State University in Georgia and studied criminal justice before transferring to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. While in the Big Apple, the Alabama native took on a series of odd jobs just to survive. “Not only was I bartending in the club-kids’ scene with a bra and combat boots and a white Mohawk, but I also wore a sandwich board on roller skates passing out flyers for Taco Bell in the Diamond District,” she recalled. Coincidentally, the jobs allowed her to hone her talents as a performer when a friend introduced her to a director with a local advertising agency. Instantly Perrette’s charm and talent, the agency took her on as she booked commercial after commercial. Before long, her dreams of criminal justice were in the rearview mirror as she pursued acting full time.

Perrette moved to Los Angeles to look for bigger acting gigs in the late 1990s and quickly snagged a few small parts in shows like Murder One, Frasier, and Early Edition before she was cast as Darcy in four episodes of The Drew Carey Show. She made film appearances in The Price of Kissing, Hand on the Pump, Hoofboy, Civility and Almost Famous before she was cast as Alice Cramer in Special Unit 2 in 2001. The following year, her life took a sharp turn for the worse when her mother lost her battle to breast cancer right before Christmas in 2002.

Carrying on her mother’s legacy by returning to Hollywood to pursue her dreams, Perrette landed the biggest role of her career when she was cast as Abby Sciuto in NCIS and was introduced to primetime audiences in two episodes of JAG in 2003. Since then, her life hasn’t been the same. Over the last 14 years, Perrette has starred in every episode of NCIS in addition to making appearances on spin-off series like NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans. Earning numerous award nominations for her performance, she’s been recognized as one of primetime television’s hottest leading ladies with her character often ranked as a fan favorite because of her relationships with her coworkers, her gothic fashion sense and quirky wit paired with her high energy and love of science.

When Bullz-Eye.com asked Perrette about any similarities she shares with Abby, the actress didn’t miss a beat saying, “She’s just kind of sensitive and… I don’t know, I think that’s a lot like myself. I’m a bit over-sensitive, too. I’m just always constantly worrying about how everyone’s feeling! Too much so. I’m making sure no one’s feelings ever get hurt and everybody’s ok. I think part of that… that’s a blend of her and me.”

Of course, it also helps that Perrette and the rest of the NCIS cast get along so well. “It’s a really good group,” Perrette said. “And when you’re doing this kind of work, where you’re together so much and for such long hours… especially for all these guys that play agents who are on location and there’s all this dirt and water, and you throw somebody in the ocean or you run over somebody with a truck in 140-degree weather out in the desert. It helps that we all like each other.”

Apart from her stellar work on television, the 48-year-old Perrette also co-owns Donna Bell’s Bake Shop in Manhattan and, in 2015, published a cookbook by the same name. An active philanthropist and advocate for animal, LBGT, and homeless rights, she continues to star in NCIS today while balancing a busy film schedule and charitable events with her personal life after announcing her engagement to former British Royal Marine, Thomas Arklie. “I pretty much go to work, go to church and then the whole rest of my life I work for about 30 nonprofits. So that’s kind of what I do for fun,” Perrette said. Of course, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that Perrette is living one of her childhood dreams by playing the most iconic and memorable forensic scientist in television history. Rock on!