'Save the Last Dance' Cast: Where Are They Now? (2024)

Leave it all on the floor! Before they became household names, Julia Stiles, Kerry Washington and more stars danced for their lives in 2001’s Save the Last Dance.The teen drama follows Sara Johnson (Stiles), a promising young ballerina who has her heart set on attending the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City. After her big audition goes wrong and her mother dies unexpectedly, Sara gives up ballet and moves to the Southside of Chicago to live with her father (Terry Kinney). While there, she’s introduced to hip-hop and begins to broaden her dance horizons with the help of Georgetown University-bound Derek Reynolds (Sean Patrick Thomas).Save the Last Dance quickly became a hit, grossing more than $130 million worldwide and spawning a straight-to-DVD sequel, which debuted in 2006. Though Stiles didn’t return for the second film, she wasn’t completely out of her comfort zone when pulling off the intricate choreography. Looking back on Save the Last Dance in 2014, the New York City native told Us Weekly that her moves at Bogey Lowenstein's party in 10 Things I Hate About You helped her stay on beat in the dance flick.“That’s how I got the job in Save the Last Dance, by the way, I think it was from that scene,” she joked at the time. “That’s what I was told.”Despite having some prior dance experience, Stiles still worked hard to earn her spot and didn’t want to use a stunt double for her more complex scenes. Just 19 when the film was released, she felt like she “had to constantly prove [herself] as a dancer” on set.[sendtonews type="float" key="jDSNaBgC0u-3100876-14453"]“I was like, ‘I understand you’re going to have to double on pointe because I can’t do pointe, but everything else has to be me,’” she explained in a 2001 interview. “And I told them I didn’t want them to bring a hip-hop double in. … We focused more on the hip-hop [scenes] and I was more comfortable with it [but] with the ballet stuff, I just had to work really hard to do as well as I could.”Adjusting to the different movement styles was a challenge, but one that Stiles was ready to face head-on. “Everyone’s expecting that you’re not going to be able to dance well because you’re the actress,” she said at the time. “The first time we shot one of the ballet things I was shaking. And when we’d done a couple of takes, I was able to relax.”Scroll down to learn where the cast of Save the Last Dance is now![podcast_block]

Leave it all on the floor! Before they became household names, Julia Stiles, Kerry Washington and more stars danced for their lives in 2001’s Save the Last Dance.The teen drama follows Sara Johnson (Stiles), a promising young ballerina who has her heart set on attending the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City. After her big audition goes wrong and her mother dies unexpectedly, Sara gives up ballet and moves to the Southside of Chicago to live with her father (Terry Kinney). While there, she’s introduced to hip-hop and begins to broaden her dance horizons with the help of Georgetown University-bound Derek Reynolds (Sean Patrick Thomas).Save the Last Dance quickly became a hit, grossing more than $130 million worldwide and spawning a straight-to-DVD sequel, which debuted in 2006. Though Stiles didn’t return for the second film, she wasn’t completely out of her comfort zone when pulling off the intricate choreography. Looking back on Save the Last Dance in 2014, the New York City native told Us Weekly that her moves at Bogey Lowenstein's party in 10 Things I Hate About You helped her stay on beat in the dance flick.“That’s how I got the job in Save the Last Dance, by the way, I think it was from that scene,” she joked at the time. “That’s what I was told.”Despite having some prior dance experience, Stiles still worked hard to earn her spot and didn’t want to use a stunt double for her more complex scenes. Just 19 when the film was released, she felt like she “had to constantly prove [herself] as a dancer” on set.[sendtonews type="float" key="jDSNaBgC0u-3100876-14453"]“I was like, ‘I understand you’re going to have to double on pointe because I can’t do pointe, but everything else has to be me,’” she explained in a 2001 interview. “And I told them I didn’t want them to bring a hip-hop double in. … We focused more on the hip-hop [scenes] and I was more comfortable with it [but] with the ballet stuff, I just had to work really hard to do as well as I could.”Adjusting to the different movement styles was a challenge, but one that Stiles was ready to face head-on. “Everyone’s expecting that you’re not going to be able to dance well because you’re the actress,” she said at the time. “The first time we shot one of the ballet things I was shaking. And when we’d done a couple of takes, I was able to relax.”Scroll down to learn where the cast of Save the Last Dance is now![podcast_block]

The New Yorker made a big splash as Kat Stratford in 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You two years before Save the Last Dance. She later starred alongside Matt Damon in the Bourne series from 2002 to 2016 and appeared in critically acclaimed flicks such as 2003’s Mona Lisa Smile and 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook. In January 2016, she announced her engagement to Preston J. Cook, who worked behind-the-scenes on her 2015 film Blackway. They exchanged vows in September 2017 and welcomed son Strummer two months later.

In November 2021, Stiles debuted her second pregnancy at the premiere of The Humans.

Apart from Save the Last Dance, Thomas is best known for playing Detective Temple Page on CBS’ The District from 2000 to 2004. The Delaware native also starred in Barbershop and Halloween: Resurrection, both of which were released in 2002. He met his wife, Aonika Laurent, at a party thrown by Barbershop director Tim Story before they tied the knot in April 2006. The couple share two children: Lola and Luc.

The Bronx native garnered widespread praise for her starring role as Olivia Pope in ABC’s Scandal, which aired from 2012 to 2018. The performance earned her two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and one Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Television Drama. Other acclaimed credits include Django Unchained (2012), American Son (2019) and Little Fires Everywhere (2020). She shares two children — Isabelle and Caleb — with husband Nnamdi Asomugha and is a vocal advocate for LGBTQ rights and women’s empowerment.

Kinney is best recognized for his role as Emerald City creator Tim McManus on HBO’s Oz, which aired from 1997 to 2003. Other notable TV credits include The Good Wife, Elementary and Fargo. In 2019, he appeared in Netflix’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile alongside Zac Efron, who played serial killer Ted Bundy. Kinney was married to Elizabeth Perkins from 1984 to 1988 and to Kathryn Erbe from 1993 to 2005. He shares daughter Maeve (born 1995) and son Carson (born 2003) with Erbe.

Best known for performing with ‘80s rap group Onyx, Starr (born Fred Lee Scruggs, Jr.) has appeared in episodes of Law & Order, Moesha, The Wire and CSI: NY. He also performed the theme song for Save the Last Dance with Jill Scott. The New York City native shares two kids with wife Korina Longin, who he married in 2007.

The Los Angeles native — who happens to be Tina Knowles’ stepdaughter — has a lengthy list of guest spots under her belt. Lawson is known for performances in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Goode Behavior, Pretty Little Liars and The Vampire Diaries.

Following Save the Last Dance, the Michigan-born actress appeared in a string of thrillers, including 2005’s Under the City and 2007’s Witches’ Night. Her last known credit is 2009’s Into Temptation.

After starring in the 2001 dance film, Green nabbed supporting roles in 2002’s Barbershop and 2008’s Of Boys and Men. He has also made appearances on popular series such as Criminal Minds, Everybody Hates Chris and The Soul Man.

Whitt had small roles in Training Day (2001), The Hurricane (1999) and has also made brief appearances on Law & Order, Cold Case and NCIS: Los Angeles. More recently, he’s done voice work on Netflix’s animated series The Last Kids on Earth, which debuted in 2019.

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