What Happened To The Cast Of Save The Last Dance

2001 saw the release of a film that pas de bourrée'd its way into theaters and moviegoers' hearts. Building on the backs of various dance movies before its time — like Alan Parker's "Fame" and Emile Ardolino's "Dirty Dancing" — director Thomas Carter set out to craft his own compelling dance story in "Save the Last Dance." The movie followed Sara Johnson, a 17-year-old aspiring dancer, readjusting to life after her mother's death. After moving to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father, we see Sara enter into a relationship with a classmate named Derek Howard. Through this, the film addressed topics such as systemic issues in poverty-stricken neighborhoods, grief, and interracial relationships.

In an interview with "Today," Julia Stiles — who played Sara — shared her theory on why this movie has such a long shelf-life. "It's entertaining, and it has the formula of dance movies which I love," she stated. "But it does have something deeper going on. It's a pop teen dance movie. But underneath it is, like, 'We've snuck in some pretty major ideas.'" In addition to its deep plot, the teen drama served as a launching pad for a number of actors involved in the project. From the struggling teen mother Chenille to the troubled youth Malakai, here is what the cast of "Save the Last Dance" has been up to since the movie's massive success.

Following her work in an "ABC Afterschool Special" episode and 2000's "Our Song," Kerry Washington was brought on to play the well-intentioned teen mother, Chenille, in "Save the Last Dance." Looking back at the 2001 film in a nostalgic Instagram post, Washington expressed how deeply she felt for Chenille's character and how necessary it was for her story to be told in a different light. Following the success of the teen drama, the Bronx native racked up an acting career filled with yearly work in noteworthy projects such as "Ray," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," and "The Last King of Scotland." In 2012, Washington's star burned brighter than ever before: That year, she not only appeared alongside Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio in "Django Unchained," but made her debut as Olivia Pope in ABC's political drama "Scandal."

Washington's career has yet to slow down. Since "Scandal," she's worked on series like "Little Fires Everywhere" and "Unprisoned," as well as movies like "The Prom." "I am proud to have been able to do projects that have allowed me to build full humanity around the characters," she told Vanity Fair in 2019. "Even if I'm in a supporting role on 'Save the Last Dance,' I knew that it was my job so that you don't think of Black teen moms in Chicago as statistics anymore, but you think of them as people. And I guess for the future, I just want to keep doing that." 

Before playing Sara's guilt-ridden father, Roy Johnson, Terry Kinney remained a consistent actor throughout the late '80s to '90s, starring in a slew of projects ranging from "Miami Vice," "Thirtysomething," and "Devil in a Blue Dress." After snagging his role in "Save the Last Dance," the "Oz" alum continued to add to his extensive resume, showing up in shows like "Law & Order," "The Good Wife," "The Mentalist," and "Billions."

Kinney has also continued to uphold his reputation as a director throughout his career. As a co-founder of the Chicago theater company Steppenwolf, Kinney — alongside Jeff Parry and Gary Sinise —  produced numerous plays after their non-profit showing of "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds." In 2017, he directed Mark Ruffalo, Tony Shalhoub, and Danny DeVito in a production of Arthur Miller's "The Price." "I used to talk about this play all the time while we were reading in class ... So I've carried it around for about 10 years in New York like a carpet sample Willy Loman would have in his trunk," he said in a chat with "Theater Talk." "People thought of it as second-rate miller and I just ... you know, didn't."

Before she was known as the popular mean girl, Nikki, in "Save the Last Dance," Bianca Lawson found success as a teenage actor in several cult classics. From making regular appearances in "Saved by the Bell: The New Class," she went on to star in other television series such as "Sister, Sister," "The Steve Harvey Show," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."  Following her portrayal of Nikki, Lawson racked up credits shows like "Pretty Little Liars," "The Vampire Diaries," and "Teen Wolf."  None, however, are as notable as her portrayal of Darla in OWN Network's "Queen Sugar," which earned her several nominations from the Black Reel Awards and the NAACP Image Awards from 2018 to 2023.

Lawson shows no signs of slowing down. Following the finale of "Queen Sugar," she sat with HuffPost to discuss future endeavors. "There's so many things that I haven't done yet. It's an interesting thing. I always had very, very specific goals of what I wanted to do now and what I wanted to prioritize now in terms of my work, in terms of the kind of work, or even just the kind of people I wanted to work with, the kind of material, the kind of characters," she stated. "And I'm in a place right now where I feel very, very open to whatever."

Fred Lee Scruggs Jr. — also known as Fredro Starr — played Malakai in "Save the Last Dance." Similar to the likes of Tupac Shakur and Method Man, Fredro Starr was a successful music artist before becoming an actor. As part of the hip-hop group Onyx, Fredro Starr — alongside Sticky Fingaz, Big DS, and Sonny Seeza — rose to stardom after the release of their 1993 album "Bacdafucup," which included their hit song "Slam." That same year, his acting career began. As he said on a 2021 episode of "The OG Hour," "I was at the right place at the right time." He went on to nab roles in "Strapped," "The Addiction," and "Moesha."

After playing Malakai, Fredro Starr continued to find success as an actor. His yearly commitment to this budding passion saw him appear in projects such as "NYPD Blue," "The Wire," "Diamond Ruff," and "Bust Down." This, however, never got in the way of his music career. As a solo artist, Fredro Starr kept himself busy producing and releasing full-length projects from 2001 to 2022. 

After making fun of artists who say they're going to retire only to come out of retirement right away, Fredro Starr revealed on "The Dr. Greenthumb Show" in 2023 that he is on the verge of calling it as well. "Guess what, I'm retiring too this year. After this year I'm done. For real," he stated. "30 years of hip-hop, this is the last year."

Elisabeth Oas played Diggy, the white girl who "thinks she's down," in "Save the Last Dance." Though she was a supporting character, nabbing this role was a massive step in the Michigan-born actor's career. From there, Oas found relative success in other films such as "Design," "Unconditional Love," and "Under the City." The last stretch of her acting career ran from 2007 to 2009, which saw her star as Valeria in "Witches' Night," Theresa in "Barefoot to Jerusalem," and Maria in "Into Temptation."

After Oas was diagnosed with endometriosis, she founded and co-produced a podcast titled "The Pelvic Messenger." On each episode, the hosts speak with different experts about the chronic pain disorder. According to the podcast's description, the broadcast is supported by the International Pelvic Pain Society and Beyond Basics Physical Therapy. Since the show's conception in 2011, Oas used her Twitter account to update her fans on the release of each episode. As of 2017, however, both her Twitter page and the podcast appear to be inactive. Despite this, the episodes are still up for those wanting to educate themselves on the illness.