John Tucker Must Die Where Are They Now?
Jesse Metcalfe
After picking up early small-screen credits for Smallville and Passions, and beginning his five year-run as Desperate Housewives' John Rowland, Jesse Metcalfe starred in John Tucker Must Die as the title high school hottie. After playing the womanizing athlete, Metcalfe wrapped his run on Housewives and hit the big screen, appearing in The Other End of the Line (2008), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009), and The Tortured (2010). The actor returned to television in recent years, playing Luke Watson on Chase and Christopher Ewing on Dallas. Since 2016, Metcalfe has starred in the Hallmark Channel series Chesapeake Shores and a couple of their holiday flicks along the way.
Brittany Snow
Brittany Snow made a name for herself as a teenager, landing late '90s and early 2000s roles in Guiding Light, Nip/Tuck, Whisper of the Heart, The Pacifier, and American Dreams, in which she starred as Meg Pryor. Snow signed on to play Kate in John Tucker, the new girl in school. The actress then continued her film work with Hairspray (2007), Finding Amanda (2008), Prom Night (2008), The Vicious Kind (2009), and 96 Minutes (2011). In 2012, she landed the role of Chloe in Pitch Perfect — a role she would return to in 2015 with Pitch Perfect 2 and again in 2017 in Pitch Perfect 3. Snow continued to pop up on television in recent years, appearing in the short-lived Ben and Kate, as well as episodes of Full Circle, Workaholics, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and most recently 2019's Almost Family.
Ashanti
Four years after she dropped her self-titled debut album, Ashanti joined John Tucker Must Die as Heather, one of John's women of the moment. The "Foolish" singer landed the gig after making previous appearances in episodes of American Dreams and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Channing Tatum in 2005's Coach Carter. In the years since John Tucker, Ashanti continued her on-screen acting career with Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) and Army Wives, expanded to the stage with The Wiz, and dropped two studio albums. Between 2017 and 2018 she returned to the music scene, collaborating with several artists, including Ty Dolla Sign, Machel Montano, Lil Wayne and Mack Maine. In 2019, Ashanti guest-starred as herself in two episodes of the third season of The CW's Dynasty reboot.
Sophia Bush
Sophia Bush rose to fame in 2003, thanks to her turn as Brooke Davis in One Tree Hill. The star spent nine years on the show, and appeared in Supercross (2005) and Stay Alive (2006) before picking up a gig as Beth in John Tucker Must Die. She went on to earn credits for The Hitcher (2007), Table for Three (2009), and Chalet Girl (2011), and returned to television in 2012 in Partners. Bush played Erin Lindsay in Chicago P.D., from 2014 - 2017, often bringing the character to sister shows Chicago Fire and Chicago Med. Bush has starred in multiple movies in recent years, including Marshall (2017), Acts of Violence (2018), Incredibles 2 (2018) and most recently 2021's False Positive.
Arielle Kebbel
Arielle Kebbel was model high school student Carrie in John Tucker Must Die, a role she came into after earning previous credits for Soul Plane, Gilmore Girls, Grounded for Life, Be Cool, Reeker, Dirty Deeds, and Aquamarine. After John Tucker, Kebbel returned to the big screen in The Grudge 2 (2006), Freakdog (2008), The Uninvited (2009), Vampires Suck (2010), I Melt with You (2011), and Think Like a Man (2012). She also continued her television work, appearing in episodes of Life Unexpected, 90210, The Vampire Diaries, UnREAL, Ballers, and The League in recent years. In 2018 she also appeared in franchise conclusion, Fifty Shades Freed.
Penn Badgley
The year before he made his starring turn as Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl, Penn Badgley played John's brother, Scott Tucker, in John Tucker Must Die. The The Young and the Restless alum followed-up John Tucker with Drive Thru (2007), Forever Strong (2008), The Stepfather (2009), Easy A (2010), and Margin Call (2011). After wrapping GG in 2012, Badgley appeared in Parts Per Billion (2014), Cymbeline (2014), and episodes of The Slap. Since 2018, Badgley has starred as super creep Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series You.
Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy found her spot in John Tucker Must Die as Lori, the mother to Snow's Kate. The actress already had dozens of credits to her name when she joined the movie, including Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995), The Stupids (1996), Scream 3 (2000), and Scary Movie 3 (2003), and episodes of Jenny, Baywatch, Wings, The Drew Carey Show, Just Shoot Me!, One on One, Hope & Faith, and The Bad Girl's Guide. The Playboy alum continued her on-screen career after John Tucker with Santa Baby, Witless Protection (2008), and Two and a Half Men, and ventured into reality and news programs with The Jenny McCarthy Show, Donnie Loves Jenny, and The View. Since 2019, McCarthy has been a judge on the Fox musical competition show The Masked Singer.
Taylor Kitsch
Before Taylor Kitsch was Tim Riggins, he was Justin. The future star made his big-screen debut in John Tucker Must Die, appearing as a neighbor. Kitsch started playing Riggins a few months later, and went on to spend five years in his role on Friday Night Lights. During that time, the actor earned additional credits for Snakes on a Plane (2006), The Covenant (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and The Bang Bang Club (2010), and went on to appear in John Carter (2012), Battleship (2012), Savages (2012), The Grand Seduction (2013), Lone Survivor (2013), The Normal Heart (2014), and True Detective. In 2018, he portrayed David Koresh in Paramount Plus miniseries Waco.
Meghan Ory
After appearing in Higher Ground, Maybe It's Me, Vampire High, South Beach, and Decoys, Meghan Ory landed a role in John Tucker Must Die as Jill, a girlfriend of John's. Following the gig, Ory earned credits for Blonde and Blonder (2007), True Justice, and Intelligence. From 2011 to 2016, she starred on Once Upon a Time as Ruby Lucas. Alongside, Metcalfe, Ory currently stars in the Hallmark family drama Chesapeake Shores as Abby O'Brien.
After picking up early small-screen credits for Smallville and Passions, and beginning his five year-run as Desperate Housewives' John Rowland, Jesse Metcalfe starred in John Tucker Must Die as the title high school hottie. After playing the womanizing athlete, Metcalfe wrapped his run on Housewives and hit the big screen, appearing in The Other End of the Line (2008), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009), and The Tortured (2010). Since 2016, Metcalfe has starred in the Hallmark Channel series Chesapeake Shores and a couple of their holiday flicks along the way.