PHOTOSThe Hottest Stars of 1994—Where Are They Now?
Jan. 28 2015, Updated 2:08 p.m. ET
1994: Forrest Gump was the #1 movie of the year and Tom Hanks was on top of the world. He garnered his second Academy Award for the role and solidified his place as American’s Sweetheart (when Julia Roberts was out of town, obviously).
2014: He’s yet to claim a 3rd Oscar, but Captain Phillips nearly got him there. Hey, at least we can count on him to be happy for his co-stars! Hanks posted this picture on his WhoSay account right after Barkhad Abdi won a BAFTA for his Supporting Role in Phillips.
1994: Can you believe it’s been 20 years since The Lion King was released? And your dad is STILL holding up your dog and singing the "Circle of Life" every Christmas morning. Old habits die hard…
2014: Off of the big screen and out of our VCRs it went, and onto the Great White Way! Since 1997 The Lion King Musical has been kickin’ it on Broadway and there’s no sign it’ll close anytime soon.
George Clooney ER 1994
1994: It’s hard to believe George Clooney was anything but a Hollywood A-List Movie Star. But before he was scooping up Oscars and breaking the hearts of several leggy 26 year-olds, he was just Dr. Doug Ross, the swooniest doctor on 1994′s #2 show, ER.
2014: His movie Gravity won lots o’ gold men at the Oscars this year and he has several projects in the pipeline—and a new, leggy beauty by his side.
1994: This was the year Friends premiered and the year Jennifer Aniston became one of the most famous in Hollywood. One thing we’re glad to leave behind? That Totally 90s veiled headband.
2014: Jennifer is just as famous as ever. She’s still making hit movies, still looking damn fine (even without makeup!) and she's STILL not pregnant. So we'll just be here, eagerly awaiting a tiny baby Aniston with amazing hair.
1994: “Hero” was the most popular song of 1994 and stayed on the charts for a whopping 25 weeks! Mariah Carey has been a mainstay ever since.
2014: She’s married to Nick Cannon, mom to twins Roc and Roe, and still as divalicious as ever.
1994: Let’s just say Tonya Harding wasn’t the most beloved person in American in 1994. After it was revealed that her husband was behind the brutal attack on her figure skating competitor Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya butchered her appearance at the Olympics and her image never recovered.
2014: The incident was revisited 20 years later in the NBC special Nancy and Tonya and the ESPN documentary The Price of Gold. Harding still maintains her innocence, and Kerrigan still comes out on top.
1994: Was there any bigger story than the OJ Simpson trial that year? You’d be hard pressed to find one. And SPOILER ALERT: he was acquitted of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her boyfriend Ron Goldman.
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2014: OJ is in jail until 2017 for kidnapping, assault and robbery in a bizarre case dealing with stolen memorabilia. The latest deets have him severely depressed and on a hunger strike. No happy ending here, folks.
