11 '90s Cool Girls Who Don't Act Anymore — Mostly

I often turn to the tried and true movies and TV shows of the '90s when I'm feeling overwhelmed by life's 2016 problems. Lord knows hanging out with Clueless' Cher and Dionne is way easier than dealing with my day job, you know? It makes you think, though: the '90s had plenty of it girls and familiar faces lighting up the silver screen and landing in our VCR boxes, yet not every one of them made it into the next two decades of films and TV shows.

Not that they died or anything, my god. I'm just saying there were plenty of '90s mainstays that just don't really act anymore. A keyword here is "don't really," because of course you can have an ABC Family movie here, a guest spot on Gossip Girl there, whatever the case may be. But I'm saying they're not out and about in the pages of Tiger Beat, or reigning court on the hottest new sitcom about 20somethings trying to make in the big city. They are no longer in the hottest blockbuster of the summer, or showing up on random TV commercials promoting cereal or whatnot.

So with this in mind, here are some turn-of-the-millennium stars that are a little less active these days.

1. Thora Birch

From a Halloween-loving kid in Hocus Pocus to a disenchanted teen in American Beauty, she made good use of the '90s. But somewhere along the lines she mimicked my favorite Birch character, Enid Coleslaw (which was from 2001's Ghost World, so sue me) and sort of... disappeared, leaving nothing but a weirdly strong performance in Lifetime's best offering, The Pregnancy Pact. Things are looking up, though: she recently got cast in USA's Colony.

2. Bridget Fonda

Guys, Fonda was in Singles, which is the most aggressively early '90s film ever. Like, all of it reeks of flannel and Alice in Chains. Anyway, she had a few solid roles and then never ran with it. Damn, and now who'll make the Fonda name famous?

3. Brandy Norwood

She wasn't just a singer, she has acting credits everywhere. Actually if you want to get technically, Brandy took up a starring role as Chicago's Roxie Hart on Broadway recently, which is nothing to joke about.

4. Leelee Sobieski

Sobieski — who you may remember as undercover, gorgeous, and geeky girl Aldys from Never Been Kissed — is more about being a sartorial masterwork these days then chumming it up with Drew Barrymore. Her last acting credits date back to 2012, and are sporadic before then.

5. Meg Ryan

Ryan wasn't really a girl entering the '90s as she already had a few Nora Ephron films under her belt. Still, it's been a while since we've seen her face on the big screen.

6. Alicia Silverstone

Put aside her iconic role in Clueless, Silverstone was dominating the '90s as the Aerosmith music video girl and was on the verge of a major breakthrough. Then the catastrophic Batman and Robin happened and her career stalemated tragically. She popped up in Amy Heckerling's Vamps a few years back, and while we're all rooting for her, it's just been rough.

7. Rachel Leigh Cook

She's All That was the best bad teen film of the '90s, and Cook even had a stint as Mary Anne in the Baby-Sitters Club movie. How retro is that? The sad news is that most of her recent acting credits are all direct-to-DVD work (does that count? it doesn't not count, right?) but she has a handful of voice acting gigs and that's something to be proud of.

8. Amanda Bynes

Last we heard, Bynes is taking classes at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, so while we haven't seen her on the big screen in many years, perhaps soon she'll be designing the latest fashions. Maybe.

9. Cindy Crawford

I will never forget supermodel Cindy Crawford's 1995's Fair Game, but it never really equated to a full-blown movie career. Still, she got a cameo in Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood," so that's something ool.

10. Lark Voorhies

It's just a bummer we'll never get a true Saved By The Bell reunion, that's all.

11. Shannen Doherty

After being at the helm of both Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed, two of the most iconic '90s shows, Doherty is now appearing in a few made-for-TV movies here and there. At least she hasn't stopped acting completely.

Images: Paramount; Giphy (11)