A List of Teen Actresses from the '90s

The 1990s introduced a number of talented teenage actresses to television and movie audiences. Television series such as Married With Children and Buffy The Vampire Slayer have become cult classics, and both shows featured a teenage actress. Several of the teenage actresses who rose to stardom in the ‘90s have continued to enjoy successful television and movie careers.

Julia Stiles began her professional acting career at the age of 11. She appeared in the off-Broadway production of La MaMa. She was born and raised in New York City and studied dance and acting as a young girl. Stiles honed her skills as a child actor working in the theater and doing television commercials. Her breakout role was the 1996 movie I Love You, I Love You Not. Stiles was only 15 at the time. I Love You, I Love You Not was followed by several other successful movies in the ‘90s including The Devil’s Own and Before Women Had Wings. Stiles has continued to enjoy a successful movie career as an adult actress.

One of the most favored sitcoms of the ‘90s was Married With Children. The show debuted in 1987 and stayed on the air until 1997. It helped turn Christina Applegate into one of most well-known teen actresses of the ‘90s. Applegate played Kelly Bundy, the somewhat dimwitted and sexpot daughter of Al and Peg Bundy. Applegate used Married With Children as a launching pad for a successful movie career. Her first major movie role was the 1991 movie Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. Applegate has continued working in television, movies and theater since the ‘90s. She was nominated for a 2005 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Applegate made her professional acting debut in a commercial when she was 5-months old.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, like Julia Stiles, was born and raised in New York City. Gellar, like Applegate, attracted recognition for her work in television in the ‘90s even though she appeared in a number of movies and commercials prior to her television career. Her first big break came with the 1992 television series Swan’s Crossings. Gellar will probably be best known for her role as the teenage vampire hunter in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The television series debuted in 1997, and it helped turn Gellar into one of the breakout actresses of the ‘90s. She appeared in several movies in the ‘90s including Scream 2. She continues to work in film and television.

Jennifer Love Hewitt is a Texas girl. She took tap, jazz and ballet lessons when she was young. She joined the Texas Show Team and toured Europe and the Soviet Union when she was only 5 years old. She began working as a child actor appearing in television commercials and on the Disney Channel’s Kids Incorporated. She became a high-profile teenage actress in the ‘90s appearing in the Fox television series Party of Five from 1995 to 2000. She also appeared in the 1997 movie I Know What You Did Last Summer along with Sarah Michelle Gellar. She has continued to enjoy success as an actress in film and television. She appeared in the CBS television series Ghost Whisperer from 2005 to 2010.