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23 celebrities from the 2000s we don’t see much anymore
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23 celebrities from the 2000s we don’t see much anymore

Some celebrities stay in the limelight and work like Tom Cruise and Angela Bassett, while others more or less wander to the background of our minds and make us think, What happened to so-and-so? With every new year, a new wave of celebrities pushes others out. With that, it’s time to look at the actors the world once saw all over the place in the 2000s, but perhaps we haven’t seen as much since the 2020s got underway.

 
1 of 23

Chris Klein

Chris Klein
Universal Studios

Chris Klein was one of the stars of American Pie and, because of that, was the star of many bedroom walls at the turn of the 21st century. Who could deny those Abercrombie & Fitch good looks and that hair — oh my God. That hair? He was a dreamboat then and remains so as he’s worked in recent years in Sweet Magnolias. However, he’s just not as in your face as he once was when he was part of that raunchy comedy cast.

 
2 of 23

Rachael Leigh Cook

Rachael Leigh Cook
Miramax Films

Any ‘90s kid can talk for hours about Rachael Leigh Cook's impact on cinema back in the day. Yes, She’s All That was classic, but she also starred in the likes of Carpool and The Babysitter Club movie. Of course, there was also Josie and the Pūssycats. Since then, her profile was a little more demure, but she did pop up in Netflix’s attempt at a continuation of She’s All That, where Cook reprised the infamous role in 2021’s He’s All That.

 
3 of 23

Seth Green

Seth Green
Warner Bros.

It felt like Seth Green was everywhere in the late ‘90s and 2000s. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Can’t Hardly Wait, Without a Paddle. His face was everywhere, but after starting Robot Chicken and landing a main character on Family Guy, it’s easy to see why the world began to see him less and less. He’s getting paid just to be heard nowadays more than seen.

 
4 of 23

Carmen Electra

Carmen Electra
Miramax Films

Carmen Electra appeared in the likes of Scary Movie and Disaster Movie, but with a decline in moviegoers wanting spoof-based films, there wasn’t much else for her to do as of late.

 
5 of 23

Sisqo

Sisqo
The CW

Actors aren’t the only type of celebrities the world started to hear from as the world moved on from low-rise jeans and trucker hats. Musicians like Sisqo also fell victim to the tragedy known as time. Other than appearing on an episode of Legends of Tomorrow to sing his signature tune, “Thong Song,” the current population hasn’t heard much from the former platinum-haired singer.

 
6 of 23

Eliza Dushku

Eliza Dushku
Universal Studios

Everyone’s favorite misfit on the cheerleading squad, Eliza Dushku was pretty prevalent for a minute scoring shows like Dollhouse and Tru Calling, but it has been a minute since all that transpired.

 
7 of 23

Patrick Fugit

Patrick Fugit
United Artists

Patrick Fugit came out of the gate swinging with the lead role in Almost Famous and continued to be an indie king with Saved! and Wristcutters: A Love Story . Unlike actors he came up with around the same time, like Paul Dano and Mandy Moore, he hasn’t been as commonplace as they’ve been.

 
8 of 23

Julia Stiles

Julia Stiles
Touchstone Pictures

Julia Stiles is forever an icon of teen movies, with Save the Last Dance and 10 Things I Hate About You to her name, and even as an adult, she got to star in a season of one of Showtime’s best, Dexter. However, it’s been a while. Hopefully, a Stiles’ renaissance is fast approaching.

 
9 of 23

Frankie Muniz

Frankie Muniz
Fox Television Studios

Frankie Muniz had an impressive run as a child star with a handful of movies, and the titular role of a network show. After Malcolm in the Middle, he sort of disappeared for a minute, only to emerge on Dancing with the Stars. Other than that, he’s not been on many red carpets. That’s because he’s switched gears, literally. He’s a stock car racer now.

 
10 of 23

Dido

Dido
youtube.com/@Dido

Dido was the angelic-voiced singer who sang the hook for the song that birthed the term “Stan.” Yup, the singer who accompanied Eminem on one of his staples, and she also had a couple of other hits herself, but the charts haven’t quite had a lot of Dido. She’s released music, but none of it captured the mainstream like her debut.

 
11 of 23

Eddie Kaye Thomas

Eddie Kaye Thomas
Universal Studios

Forever known as the guy who slept with Stifler’s mom in American Pie, Eddie Kaye Thomas got to play a character that’s on the same level as Fast Times’ Spicoli or Superbad’s McLovin. Despite that, Thomas didn’t do much other than the Pie films.

 
12 of 23

Shannyn Sossamon

Shannyn Sossamon
Lionsgate

Shannyn Sossamon was every emo kid’s dream girl in the 2000s with her choppy black hair and the nonchalant characters she played in Wristcutters: A Love Story and The Rules of Attraction, but just like the music they listened to, this actress left them saddened because it’s been too long since it felt like she was in every other movie.

 
13 of 23

Scott Stapp

Scott Stapp
Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA

While the world is not yearning for a Creed revival, some occasionally wonder what happened to the band, especially the lead singer Scott Stapp.

 
14 of 23

Thora Birch

Thora Birch
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

First of all, Thora Birch not appearing in Hocus Pocus 2 was criminal. Secondly, how was Thora Birch not cast in Yellowjackets? That feels like the show she was meant to be in.

 
15 of 23

Dan Byrd

Dan Byrd
ABC

So the name Dan Byrd may not ring a bell, but those who watched A Cinderella Story religiously or were fans of Courteney Cox’s Cougar Town recognize his face. However, it’d be hard for anyone not alive during that time would not.

 
16 of 23

Lisa Bonet

Lisa Bonet
Touchstone Pictures

Lisa Bonet’s name has stayed in the headlines in recent years due to her daughter being here and there and her relationship with Jason Momoa, but as far as acting, the former Cosby kid hasn’t been working as much. Maybe she’s done and has just passed the torch to her daughter, Zoë Kravitz.

 
17 of 23

Tom Green

Tom Green
20th Century Fox

Certain celebrities feel like they could’ve only been famous during one period of time, and Tom Green is very much that when it comes to the 2000s.

 
18 of 23

Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson
Sthanlee B. Mirador/Sipa USA

Ashlee Simpson managed to not crawl into a hole and disappear after having one of the biggest fails in Saturday Night Live history, but after she rose from those ashes, she kind of settled into regular life with her husband, Evan Ross, and her three kids. One of which she co-parents with Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz.

 
19 of 23

Sean Patrick Thomas

Sean Patrick Thomas
Sony Pictures

Sean Patrick Thomas was in a few notable teen movies and even poked fun at himself in Not Another Teen Movie about being the “Black guy” in those films. Unlike a lot of the others on this list, he kept working, but he just never captured the magic of those earlier roles.

 
20 of 23

Shannon Elizabeth

Shannon Elizabeth
Miramax Films

Shannon Elizabeth was part of many millennials' coming-of-age process, thanks to her part in American Pie and the Jay and Silent Bob movies. Still, other than appearing in sequels of those, Elizabeth hasn’t done much other than a string of episodes of That ‘70s Show years ago and an appearance on TLC’s What Not To Wear.

 
21 of 23

Tom Welling

Tom Welling
The CW Television Network

No one called the former star of Smallville when it came time to cast a big screen, Superman? Rude.

 
22 of 23

Leelee Sobieski

Leelee Sobieski
20th Century Fox

Leelee Sobieski appeared alongside Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed and had a good and steady run after that in movies like Joy Ride, but the reason fans haven’t been able to clock anything she’s done lately is that she’s gone down a different creative path as an artist, going by the name Leelee Kimmel.

 
23 of 23

Sean Kingston

Sean Kingston
youtube.com/@seankingston

Sean Kingston sang to all the beautiful girls out there and scored a No. 1 with his debut single and continued to have chart-topping hits like "Fire Burning" and "Eenie Meenie" with Justin Bieber. And while he’s released music since then, he’s not found the same success, which is likely why he’s not been as on the scene as other artists currently all over the radio.

Kendra Beltran went to college with no game plan and found herself falling back on her love of writing soon after graduating all the way back in 2009. Since then, she's written for MTV Geek, Cosplay Central, Collider, Apartment Therapy, and many other sites that allowed her to showcase her love of all things pop culture. When she isn't writing, Kendra is either hosting her show, Crushgasm, baking all the cookies, or spoiling her fur baby, Mason.

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