‘Can’t Hardly Wait’ Cast: Where Are They Now?

Credit: Darren Michaels/Columbia Tristar/Kobal/Shutterstock

'Can't Hardly Wait' Cast: Where Are They Now?

Work hard, party harder! Can't Hardly Wait captured the ultimate '90s nostalgia as it bid farewell to the graduating seniors of Huntington Hillside High School — and sent them off with one last rager. The 1998 film centers on a group of students determined to cross off one last achievement on their end-of-high-school bucket lists. Preston Meyers (Ethan Embry) plans to confess his four-year crush to Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt), the most popular girl in school after she's been dumped by her jock boyfriend Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli). Meanwhile, class nerd William Lichter (Charlie Korsmo) infiltrates the party in an elaborate plot to seek revenge on Mike after four years of bullying. Wannabe rapper Kenny Fisher (Seth Green) hopes he can lose his virginity by the end of the night. Outsider Denise Fleming (Lauren Ambrose) is dragged to the party by her best friend, Preston, but finds herself spending the evening with an unexpected party guest. Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont cowrote and co-directed the movie, which shared the same title as the 1987 song by The Replacements. Can't Hardly Wait marked the first time Hewitt stepped into a role where she was portrayed as a bombshell lead. Kaplan told the International Business Times in 2018 that Hewitt was ready to take on a new character persona. “I think she was excited because she had always sort of played the best friend and the sort of mouthy girl and not really the object of desire,” Kaplan said at the time. “Even in I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was a big movie, they always put her in overalls or glasses, she was just kind of the side chick, in a way. But in this one, she got to be the girl that everybody wanted.” [jwplayer zuxXD9ol-l3ahXupL] Embry, for his part, auditioned for the movie but was offered the part of William Lichter. He told VH1 in 2013 that he turned down the role because he was set on playing the leading man. “It had been a while that I had the opportunity to play the ‘guy that gets the girl,’” Embry said at the time. “I had done those roles when I was a lot younger and this was the first time that someone would see me as a lead. I wanted to play the guy who gets the girl. That was sort of the driving thing.” Although Hewitt and Embry were established names before Can't Hardly Wait was released, numerous actors appeared in the film before their big breaks including Jason Segel, Jaime Pressly and Selma Blair. Hewitt revealed that she had her eye on making a sequel to the teen comedy in 2015. “Can’t Hardly Wait reunion movie anyone? Let’s get them to make it!” she tweeted at the time. Four years later, the Party of Five alum shared on Danny Pellegrino’s podcast, “Everything Iconic," that she was actively working on the film's release as a director. Scroll down to see where the cast of Can't Hardly Wait is today. [podcast_block]

Credit: Darren Michaels/Columbia Tristar/Kobal/Shutterstock

'Can't Hardly Wait' Cast: Where Are They Now?

Work hard, party harder! Can't Hardly Wait captured the ultimate '90s nostalgia as it bid farewell to the graduating seniors of Huntington Hillside High School — and sent them off with one last rager. The 1998 film centers on a group of students determined to cross off one last achievement on their end-of-high-school bucket lists. Preston Meyers (Ethan Embry) plans to confess his four-year crush to Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt), the most popular girl in school after she's been dumped by her jock boyfriend Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli). Meanwhile, class nerd William Lichter (Charlie Korsmo) infiltrates the party in an elaborate plot to seek revenge on Mike after four years of bullying. Wannabe rapper Kenny Fisher (Seth Green) hopes he can lose his virginity by the end of the night. Outsider Denise Fleming (Lauren Ambrose) is dragged to the party by her best friend, Preston, but finds herself spending the evening with an unexpected party guest. Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont cowrote and co-directed the movie, which shared the same title as the 1987 song by The Replacements. Can't Hardly Wait marked the first time Hewitt stepped into a role where she was portrayed as a bombshell lead. Kaplan told the International Business Times in 2018 that Hewitt was ready to take on a new character persona. “I think she was excited because she had always sort of played the best friend and the sort of mouthy girl and not really the object of desire,” Kaplan said at the time. “Even in I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was a big movie, they always put her in overalls or glasses, she was just kind of the side chick, in a way. But in this one, she got to be the girl that everybody wanted.” [jwplayer zuxXD9ol-l3ahXupL] Embry, for his part, auditioned for the movie but was offered the part of William Lichter. He told VH1 in 2013 that he turned down the role because he was set on playing the leading man. “It had been a while that I had the opportunity to play the ‘guy that gets the girl,’” Embry said at the time. “I had done those roles when I was a lot younger and this was the first time that someone would see me as a lead. I wanted to play the guy who gets the girl. That was sort of the driving thing.” Although Hewitt and Embry were established names before Can't Hardly Wait was released, numerous actors appeared in the film before their big breaks including Jason Segel, Jaime Pressly and Selma Blair. Hewitt revealed that she had her eye on making a sequel to the teen comedy in 2015. “Can’t Hardly Wait reunion movie anyone? Let’s get them to make it!” she tweeted at the time. Four years later, the Party of Five alum shared on Danny Pellegrino’s podcast, “Everything Iconic," that she was actively working on the film's release as a director. Scroll down to see where the cast of Can't Hardly Wait is today. [podcast_block]

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Jennifer Love Hewitt (Amanda Beckett)

After the film hit theaters, Hewitt continued to star on Party of Five for one more year. She later appeared in the 2000 film sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer followed by the 2001 romantic comedy Heartbreakers. Hewitt landed leading roles on the TV shows Ghost Whisperer from 2005 to 2010, The Client List from 2012 to 2013 and Criminal Minds from 2014 to 2015. She joined the main cast of Fox's series 9-1-1 in 2018.

Hewitt married her Client List costar Brian Hallisay in 2013. The couple welcomed their daughter, Autumn, that same year. Their son, Atticus, was born in 2015.

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Ethan Embry (Preston Myers)

Embry continued his acting career with reoccurring roles on the TV shows Once Upon a Time (2013) and Sneaky Pete (2015-2019). The actor had a lead role in the crime drama Brotherhood from 2006 to 2008. He has starred on Netflix's Grace and Frankie as Coyote Bernstein since 2015.

The California native was married to actress Amelinda Smith from 1998 to 2002. They are the parents of son, Cogeian, who was born in 1999. He married actress Sunny Mabrey in 2005 but, the pair divorced in 2012. Embry and Mabrey remarried in 2015.

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Peter Facinelli (Mike Dexter)

Facinelli starred on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie from 2009 to 2015. The actor also had reoccurring roles on the TV shows Glee, Supergirl, and S.W.A.T. He later became known as vampire Dr. Carlisle Cullen in the Twilight Saga films from 2008 to 2012.

The New York native married actress Jennie Garth in 2001. They welcomed daughters Luca in 1997, Lola in 2002 and Fiona in 2006. The couple divorced in 2013. Facinelli proposed to his girfriend, Lily Anne Harrison, in 2020.

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Seth Green (Kenny Fisher)

Green starred in a number of comedy films, including the Austin Powers film franchise from 1997 to 2002, Rat Race (2001), and Without a Paddle (2004). The actor branched into voice work where he lent his vocals to the character Chris on Family Guy starting in 1999. He co-created the animated series Robot Chicken, which premiered in 2005. Green most recently voiced a character in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise in 2014 and 2017. He wrote and directed his first movie, Changeland, in 2019. The Pennsylvania native married actress Clare Grant in 2010.

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Lauren Ambrose (Denise Fleming)

Ambrose portrayed Claire Fisher on Six Feet Under from 2001 to 2005. She also starred in the films Where the Wild Things Are (2009) and Sleepwalk With Me (2012). Ambrose starred as Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway revival of My Fair Lady in 2018, which earned her a nomination the the 2018 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She joined the AppleTV+ series Servant in 2020.

Ambrose married photographer Sam Handel in 2001.They are the parents of two children.

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Jason Segel (The Watermelon Guy)

Can't Hardly Wait was Segel's first feature film credit. The actor went on to star in Judd Apatow's teen comedy series, Freaks and Geeks, from 1999 to 2000. Segel teamed up with Apatow again for the films Knocked Up in 2007 and Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008. He portrayed Marshall Eriksen on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother from 2005 to 2014. Segel created and starred in the AMC series Dispatches From Elsewhere in 2020.

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Charlie Korsmo (William Lichter)

Korsmo's final movie role was in Can't Hardly Wait until he starred in the 2019 drama Chained for Life. He earned a degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000. The former child star graduated from Yale Law School in 2006. Barack Obama appointed Korsmo to the Board of Trustees of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in 2011. He is now a professor of corporate law and corporate finance at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland.

He and his wife, Adrienne Korsmo, welcomed daughter, Lilah, in 2010 followed by their son, William, in 2012.

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Jaime Pressly (Beth)

The actress starred in the 2001 comedy Not Another Teen Movie followed by Joe Dirt the same year and later appeared in I Love You, Man (2009). She portrayed Joy Turner on the comedy series My Name Is Earl (2005-2009), which earned her an Emmy Award in 2007. Pressly and her then-boyfriend DJ Eric Calvo welcomed their son, Dezi, in 2007.

After their split in 2008, she wed entertainment lawyer Simran Singh in 2009. Pressly filed for divorce in 2011. She gave birth to her twin sons Leo and Leon, whom she shares with her boyfriend, Hamzi Hijazi, in 2017.

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Selma Blair (Girl Mike Hits On)

Blair nabbed numerous roles throughout the late '90s and early '00s including, Cruel Intentions (1999), Legally Blonde (2001), and The Sweetest Thing (2002). She most recently portrayed Kris Jenner on the FX series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story in 2016. Blair gave birth to her son, Arthur, whom she shares with her ex-boyfriend Jason Bleick, in 2011.

The actress revealed in October 2018 that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

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Jerry O'Connell (Trip McNeely)

O'Connell was uncredited in Can't Hardly Wait, but he later received parts in films such as Mission to Mars (2000), Kangaroo Jack (2003) and Yours, Mine and Ours (2005). The Scream 2 star served as guest host on The Wendy Williams Show for several episodes in 2018 and 2019.

He married Rebecca Romijn in 2007. The couple welcomed twin daughters, Dolly and Charlie, in 2008.

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Marisol Nichol (William's Groupie)

The Illinois native made an uncredited appearance before she landed roles as Nadia Yassir on season 6 of 24 and Hermione Lodge in Riverdale starting in 2016.

Nichol was married to Andrea Forrentino from 1995 to 1998. She tied the knot with director Taron Lexton in 2008. They share daughter, Rain, who was born later that year. The pair separated in 2018.

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Melissa Joan Hart (Vicki the Yearbook Girl)

The actress continued to star on the ABC sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch until the show's end in 2003. She later was the lead in another '90s teen film, Drive Me Crazy, in 1999. Hart costarred with Joey Lawrence in the ABC Family sitcom Melissa & Joey from 2010 to 2015. Since 2019, she has voiced the role of Becca Chang in the Nickelodeon animated comedy The Casagrandes.

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Chris Owen (Klepto Kid)

Owen appeared in the 1999 romantic-comedy She's All That before he starred as Chuck "Sherminator" Sherman in the American Pie franchise from 1999 to 2012.

His other film credits include starring opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in October Sky (1999) and as Timmy in National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002). Owen was married to Michelle Beck from 2007 to 2012.

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Sean Patrick Thomas (Ben)

The Washington, D.C., native became best known for starring as Julia Stiles' love interest in Save the Last Dance (2001). Thomas also was featured in Cruel Intentions (1999), Not Another Teen Movie (2001) and Barbershop (2001). He most recently appeared as Detective Cooper in the 2019 horror film The Curse of La Llorona.

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Freddy Rodriguez (TJ)

The actor became best known for portraying Hector Federico "Rico" Diaz on HBO's Six Feet Under from 2001 to 2005 and as Gio on Ugly Betty from 2007 to 2010. He appeared on the NBC drama series The Night Shift as Dr. Michael Ragosa from 2014 to 2015. He has starred as former New York City prosecutor Benny Colón in the CBS drama Bull since 2016.

He and his wife Maria Elise Rivera — whom he married in 1995 — share two children.

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Jenna Elfman (Angel Stripper)

Elfman starred in the leading role of Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg from 1997 to 2002, which earned her a Golden Globe award in 1999 and three Emmy nominations. She also appeared in the sitcoms Accidentally on Purpose from 2009 to 2010 and 1600 Penn from 2012 to 2013. Elfman became a series regular on season 4 of the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead in 2018.

The California native married actor Bodhi Elfman in 1995. The couple welcomed their first son, Story, in 2007 followed by their second son, Easton, in 2010.

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Clea Duvall (Jan)

Duvall starred in the films She's All That (1999), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999) and Girl, Interrupted (1999), before later appearing in Argo (2012) and Lifetime's The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2014-2015). She had a reoccurring role in FX's American Horror Story: Asylum from 2012 to 2013 and before she landed the part of Marjorie Palmiotti on Veep from 2016 to 2019.