Entertainment

'Center Stage' Turns 15, So What Is The Cast Up To Now?

Are you ready to feel really old? Center Stage , one of our all-time favorite dance movies, is turning 15 this year. Think back 15 years because you were probably just a kid heading out to movies with your friends on a Friday night when you saw Jody Sawyer with her bad feet and all dance her way into our hearts forever. To this day when Center Stage comes on TV or becomes available on Netflix, I instantly sit down for an encore. Nothing beats that last dance scene or drooling over Charlie.

In honor of the 15th anniversary of one of the best 2000s rom-coms, Center Stage, we have figured out what happened to all of your favorite stars from the movie including Jody Sawyer, Cooper Nielsen and Erik O. Jones. Yes, even Maureen because she pretty much fell off the face of the earth after this movie…or did she? Plus, one of the cast members is even an Olympic Gold Medalist.

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc.

by Lindsey Kupfer

Amanda Schull - Then

Playing sweet and innocent Jody Sawyer, Center Stage was Amanda Schull’s first role in the acting world which she landed when she was 21-years-old and fresh out of San Francisco Ballet School. Yes, she really can dance, and no, she doesn’t have bad feet.

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Amanda Schull - Now

You may know her now as Meredith (Aria’s dad’s mistress) in Pretty Little Liars or Sara Evans/Katie Ryan from One Tree Hill. She’s also had a recurring on Suits as Katrina Bennett and played Dr. Cassandra Railly on 12 Monkeys. Not to mention, she just shot a film with John Travolta called I Am Wrath. Basically, Amanda Schull is everywhere and she’s still totally relevant.

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Zoe Saldana - Then

Believe it or not Center Stage was Saldana’s first movie and she totally nailed it as Eva. Jody was sweet and nice, but Eva was the perfect dancer with the bad attitude. She went on to do some more classic films like Shonda Rhimes’ Crossroads with Britney Spears, Get Over It and of course Drumline with Nick Cannon.

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Zoe Saldana - Now

Now, Zoe Saldana is basically the most perfect human being alive with her newborn twins, Cy and Bowie. We obviously all know that she went on to star in Avatar and will be reprising her role as Neytiri in the next few sequels of the movie. She has also played Uhura in the new Star Trek series and will play that role again in the third installment. She was also just in Guardians of The Galaxy with Chris Pratt and got to make out with him. No big deal, she’s living the high life.

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Ethan Stiefel - Then

Ah, Cooper Nielsen. He played the sexy ballet dancer who slept around with many women. Stiefel was actually a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre when they cast him in the movie.

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Ethan Stiefel - Now

He continued dancing long after the film. He remained a principal dancer with the ABT until 2012 when he decided to leave the company. His last performance with the company was in Le Corsaire where he played a sexy slave according to Time Out. In 2014, he went to New Zealand where he was the director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, which lasted till August and then he came home and had time to relax with his ballerina fiancé Gillian Murphy, who’s also super famous in the dance world.

Image: GillianeMurphy/Instagram

Ilia Kulik - Then

You guys, this may be the best discovery of the bunch. Did anyone else know that Sergei was actually a famous Russian ice skater? So it turns out before he landed the role as a ballet dancer, he was competing in the Olympics. That’s right in 1998 he was the Olympic gold medalist in the men’s singles. Mind. Blown.

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Ilia Kulik - Now

Even though he retired from competitive skating after the Olympics, he has performed in various shows around the world including Stars on Ice, Ice All Stars and Festa on Ice. In 2002, he married Ekaterina Gordeeva, also an Olympic ice skater and they opened their own skating rink in Lake Forest, California. The couple have one daughter together and still continue to skate together.

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Sascha Radetsky - Then

Charlie was the guy everyone loved because he was sweet and thoughtful and just wanted Jody to be happy. Nothing was better than the moment Charlie nailed that crazy leap twisty-turn thing in the final dance. The movie also found Radetsky from the American Ballet Theatre in New York, where he started out in 1995, working his way up.

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Sascha Radetsky - Now

So where you can you find Charlie now? Well, since then he remained with the ABT for many years. There was a brief period of time when he left around 2008, but came back to the company soon after. He retired for good in 2014 and is now on the upcoming Starz series Flesh and Bone where he plays, yes you guessed it, a ballet dancer.

Image: Starz

Susan May Pratt - Then

For the most part Susan May Pratt had it made in the late-90s/early-00s movies and she nailed the role of the jerk. You guys remember in Drive Me Crazy when she stole Melissa Joan Hart’s boyfriend and tried to steal Adrian Grenier from her too? She was great. Even though we disliked Maureen for like 99 percent of the movie, she made up for it in those last scenes with Eva.

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Susan May Pratt - Now

Believe it or not Susan May Pratt is still acting. She’s pretty much been a one-time guest star character in every show. From Mad Men and CSI to Franklin & Bash and Private Practice, you probably saw her and thought she looked familiar, but couldn’t place her. In 2011 she was in a movie called Act Naturally about two stepsisters who inherit a nudist colony. Well, she’s currently filming the sequel to that, so look for it on Netflix in the random movies section.

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Shakiem Evans - Then

Also known as Erik O. Jones (O is for Oprah, in case you forgot), Shakiem Evans was probably our favorite side character on the show besides Eva because he’s gay, fabulous and perfect. The same year Center Stage came out, Shakiem played a student on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Shakiem Evans - Now

He hasn’t done too much screen acting since then, but this is super important. He played Chad Danforth in the stage version of High School Musical. Best news ever. Besides that amazing role, he starred as Tito Jackson in a TV movie called The Jacksons - An American Dream and he was also a dancer in the movie The Other Guys. Maybe we will see him on Broadway soon? Finally, he was in a Footlocker commercial with James Harden in 2013.

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Peter Gallagher - Then

Oh Jonathan, he was such an ass, but totally redeemed himself at the end when he asked Eva to join the company.

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Peter Gallagher - Now

First and most importantly, he went on to play Sandy Cohen on The O.C., which is basically the only thing that matters, but I will continue. He reprised his role of Jonathan in Center Stage: Turn It Up (yes there is a sequel floating around out there). He had roles on shows including Rescue Me, Californication, Law & Order and a major role in Covert Affairs as Arthur Campbell. Gallagher is currently on Broadway starring in On The Twentieth Century with Kristin Chenoweth and in the HBO show Togetherness. Basically Jonathan is doing pretty damn well these days.

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Donna Murphy - Then

Juliette Simone was Eva’s mentor even though she would never admit that and she was acting long before her role in that move. She started on Another World, the soap opera and went on to other short acting stints. Can we all agree that we were Juliette fans?

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Donna Murphy - Now

If you thought Peter Gallagher was busy, Donna Murphy has done tons of acting since the movie including roles in shows like Resurrection, Hindsight, Royal Pains, The Good Wife, The Mentalist, Damages, and more. The best thing that you probably didn’t know was the Juliette Simone is the voice of Mother Gothel in Tangled! Raise your hand if you’re obsessed with Tangled too! She’s also appeared in movies like Spider-Man 2, World Trade Center, The Bourne Legacy and she’s currently working on a mini-series called Mercy Street.

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Eion Bailey - Then

We would never leave Jim out of the mix, because in all honesty he was really the guy that the dancers should have been flocking to. A med school student? Hello!

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Eion Bailey - Now

Currently most people recognize him from his role as Pinocchio or August W. Booth in Once Upon a Time, but he’s been in a ton of things since his med school days in Center Stage. He’s been in shows like Ray Donovan, Covert Affairs, 30 Rock, ER and Without a Trace. He also played Pvt. David Kenyon Webster in Band of Brothers. Best news of all? He’s still sexy.

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Debra Monk - Then 

Maureen’s mom just didn’t have the feet to be a dancer so she pushed her daughter into an eating disorder, no big deal. I think of all the characters in Center Stage, Nancy was the worst. However, dance moms are totally a thing, so she was a necessary evil.

Image: Columbia Pictures, Inc./Screenshot

Debra Monk - Now

Also still acting, you may have seen her in the Jason Bateman movie This Is Where I Leave You. It got terrible reviews, but I secretly loved it. Whatever. She was in Mozart in the Jungle last year as well as Reckless and lets not forget her role as George O’Malley’s mom in Grey’s Anatomy. In 2014 she was also on Girls. What I’m trying to say is that Debra Monk is everywhere and you will start noticing it now that I mentioned it.

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