'90 Nickelodeon Stars Who Are Barely Recognizable Today

The following article references mental health struggles and addiction.

After first hitting the airwaves in 1979, Nickelodeon truly blossomed in the '90s. During that decade, the network ushered in a fresh crop of unique animated shows, comedy shows, and game shows that were all geared toward a young audience — and the young audience couldn't get enough. "It was Nickelodeon's mission to be inclusive and to the voice of kids," "Clarissa Explains It All" creator Mitchell Kriegman told Spin in 2019. "It was more than just regular TV for kids. It was a sort of a stake in who they would be in the future. We had seen a lot of things that were made for kids, and I really wanted to do something that was just authentic for that set of human beings."

It's no stretch to say '90s Nickelodeon resonated with the Gen Xers and Millennials who tuned into SNICK every weekend, laughed every time "Double Dare" contestants got slimed, and had trouble falling asleep after watching "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" episodes. The network also introduced viewers to a number of young and talented actors, some of whom have continued to work in show biz and others who have followed totally different paths. Let's take a closer look at some famous Nickelodeon figures and see just how much they've changed. 

Amanda Bynes was just 10 when she first skyrocketed to fame after joining the cast of the sketch comedy series "All That," becoming a fan-favorite performer thanks to her goofy and charismatic spirit. After four seasons, the actor further established herself as a Nickelodeon staple when she starred in the spin-off "The Amanda Show," delighting audiences with memorable characters like Judge Trudy and Moody Fallon. Bynes was able to make the jump from child star to leading lady when she headlined hit movies like "What a Girl Wants," "She's the Man," and "Hairspray," before shocking the world by announcing her acting hiatus in 2010.

In the ensuing years, Bynes publicly struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues and was placed under a conservatorship by her parents in 2013; she would later reveal she had been diagnosed as bipolar and manic depressive. After four years of sobriety, Bynes expressed remorse for her past behavior in a 2018 interview with Paper. "I'm really ashamed and embarrassed with the things I said. I can't turn back time but if I could, I would," she said. "And I'm so sorry to whoever I hurt and whoever I lied about because it truly eats away at me."

The Nickelodeon alum graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in 2018. Amanda Bynes' look transformed too, as she began sporting a face tattoo, bold eyebrows, and bleached hair. In 2025, she announced on Instagram (via the New York Post) that she was launching an OnlyFans account with a disclaimer: "I won't be posting any sleazy content."

A symbol of childhood nostalgia and one of TV's most recognizable figures, Steve Burns helped mold the minds of young viewers when he hosted the educational program "Blue's Clues" from 1996 to 2002, earning a Daytime Emmy nomination. His on-screen persona Steve was famous for his collared green shirt, khaki pants, and lovable canine sidekick Blue, and Burns beat out a slew of other hopefuls for the earnest role. Creator Traci Paige Johnson would later tell Spin that Burns was the perfect choice because "he didn't want to be a children's host ... He loved kids, but he didn't want to make a career out of it."

Johnson's assessment of Burns was spot on, as the actor departed the series after nearly six years largely because he felt it was time. "I left the show because it was just simply time to go. I was pretty much playing a boyish, older-brotherish kind of character on the show," he told HuffPost in 2016. "I was getting older; I was losing my hair; a lot of the original gangsters on the show, like the people who created it, were all moving on to other careers. It just felt like time."

The day after filming the final episode of "Blue's Clues," Burns shaved his head after struggling with hair loss and depression, effectively shedding his "Steve" image. After "Blues Clues," Steve Burns went on to pursue music and do voiceover work for advertisements, returning as the character in a 2021 video in honor of the show's 25th anniversary. In 2025, the former TV host launched a podcast called "Alive with Steve Burns."

With his handsome good looks and disarming smile, David Lascher became a certified heartthrob thanks to appearances in popular sitcoms like "Blossom," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," as well as the teen juggernaut "Beverly Hills, 90210." Before he was romancing Mayim Bialik and Melissa Joan Hart on screen, Lascher got his start on the comedy "Hey Dude," which ran from 1989 to 1991 for five seasons and helped introduce the ambitious actor to audiences.

Lascher found further success in television with roles in shows like "Roseanne," "Step by Step," and "Two of a Kind." On "Two of a Kind," Lascher played the carefree uncle to twin sisters played by none other than iconic '90s duo Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen. Though Lascher continued dabbling in acting in the 2000s, he largely shifted his focus to directing and producing and even started the podcast "Hey Dude...The '90s Called!" alongside his Nickelodeon co-star Christine Taylor, in which they took a nostalgic walk down '90s memory lane.

On a July 2025 episode of "How Rude, Tanneritos!" — a podcast hosted by "Full House" stars Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber, of course — Lascher reflected on his experience filming the short-lived series "Two of a Kind" in 1999. "You know what the joke is? I think I was involved in the only Olsen twins project that wasn't a huge success," he said. "I'm like, oh, this is gonna be like 'Full House.' I'm gonna be on a job for, like, 10 years. ... And I don't know what happened. ... It was like half a season and done."

Best known for playing Melissa Joan Hart's character's mischievous, red-headed little brother Ferguson in "Clarissa Explains It All," Jason Zimbler ended up retiring from the acting world following the completion of the wholesome series in 1994. During its five-season run, viewers couldn't get enough of the side-splitting sibling rivalry between Clarissa and Ferguson, with the two constantly butting heads and looking for innovative ways to cause the other chaos.

In 2007, Zimbler delighted fans of the '90s classic sitcom when he appeared in a music video for the indie band The XYZ Affair's "All My Friends", joining fellow Nickelodeon staples Danny Cooksey ("Salute Your Shorts"), Michael C. Maronna ("The Adventures of Pete and Pete"), and Marc Summers ("Double Dare") in the nostalgia-fueled video. After walking away from the limelight, Zimbler graduated from the University of Notre Dame and pursued a career as a software designer, and for eight years the former child star had been employed by HBO. He then pivoted again and got into the world of clean transportation and zero-emission vehicles and is now the senior director of CALSTART's Light Duty Vehicles team. 

Zimbler maintains a very private life, but in 2025, The U.S. Sun shared some photos of him out and about in Queens, New York, looking very different from his Nickelodeon days. He now has a full beard and a clean-shaven head, and while Ferguson was all about pressed khakis and crisp button-down shirts, Zimbler's flip flops suggest he's more of a casual guy. 

Arguably one of the biggest and most recognizable movie stars in the world, Ryan Reynolds has crafted himself quite the enviable career and has charmed fans everywhere with his rapid-fire wit, charismatic attitude, and undeniable handsomeness. Long before he was making audiences laugh in blockbusters like "Deadpool" and "Free Guy," the future Mr. Blake Lively had humble beginnings like many Hollywood hopefuls and kicked off his acting journey on the teen drama "Fifteen," a 1991 series that ran for four seasons.

The teen soap opera focused on a group of high schoolers at the fictional Hillside School and followed the teens as they navigated the many highs and lows of adolescence, with Reynolds appearing as the bowl cut-sporting bully Billy Simpson. At the time, the 15-year-old Reynolds was making $150 an episode and was still doing a paper route to make extra money, though the experience nearly led him to quit acting altogether.

On a 2016 episode of "Live! With Kelly and Michael," Reynolds looked back on the formative experience of his first acting gig and revealed to the hosts that he hated being a child actor and had even briefly quit the profession in order to "get some real life experience." The funnyman continued, "After that, I ended up working at a warehouse and I worked at a restaurant for two years. It's actually good, I'm glad I did that because I didn't end up like a child actor with some depraved drug addiction." 

After making her Nickelodeon debut in two "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" episodes, Jewel Staite nabbed a leading role in "Space Cases." The sci-fi show, which premiered in 1996, wasn't as big a hit as some of the network's other offerings, but it was still out of this world. The show starred Staite and "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" alum Walter Emanuel Jones as teenagers stranded on an alien spaceship struggling to find a way to get back home to their planet. Anyone who even as much as caught a glimpse of the show surely remembers Catalina's iconic rainbow-colored bob. 

Staite wore her natural long blond hair under the distinct, multi-colored wig throughout her one-season stint. In a TikTok video, Staite detailed the fun process of finding the perfect hairstyle for the spunky ship engineer and revealed that she almost wore a long and voluminous rainbow wig instead. "But it was deemed too mature for Catalina and made me look too old," she shared. Instead, Staite's eye-catching short bob was ultimately chosen. "And no, I did not get to keep the wig," she added. "Where is that wig, I wonder?"

While her stint on the Nickelodeon sci-fi show was short-lived, Staite's acting career has endured. She's racked up a number of credits over the years, including the 2000s cult classic "Firefly," Syfy's "Stargate Atlantis," primetime drama "The L.A. Complex," and legal dramedy "Family Law."

Yes, we've got another "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" alum. The spine-tingling horror series hosted a number of future mega stars over the years, with famous faces like Ryan Gosling and Neve Campbell popping up in episodes. Canadian actor Jay Baruchel was still an up-and-coming performer when he starred in four episodes of the hit show, appearing in arguably one of the scariest episodes of the spooky show, "The Tale of the Dead Man's Float."

In 2017, Baruchel looked back on his early days on the Nickelodeon knockout in an interview with The A.V. Club. "My first on-set gig ever was I got killed by a monster in a swimming pool when I was 12 in 'The Tale of the Dead Man's Float,'" he said. "I remember I screamed too loud and the director said 'stop being so real' and you know, your first day on set that's the criticism you want to hear." Baruchel would later return for three additional episodes, and his portrayal of a boy being dragged underwater in a swimming pool by a grotesque creature remains seared into the minds of millennials everywhere three decades later.

Nowadays, Baruchel has largely steered clear of the horror genre. He is perhaps best known for his comedic performances in hits like "Knocked Up," "Tropic Thunder," "This Is the End," and the "How to Train Your Dragon" franchise, with the actor endearing himself to audiences thanks to his portrayal of lovably awkward characters with a heart of gold. 

Former child star Josh Peck first made a name for himself thanks to his work in the "The Amanda Show" and later as one-half of the brotherly duo in "Drake & Josh." During the height of his fame, Peck was adored by young fans for his earnest attitude and goofball nature. However, Peck struggled with his confidence, body image, and mental health behind the scenes.

"On the one hand, I was getting to perform my favorite kind of comedy on a network I dreamed of being on, but on the other hand I was introducing myself to the world in a body I didn't want to be on," Peck told Parade in 2022. "People are used to a big, funny guy. It's synonymous with the wrapping on your favorite candy bar. It brings people pleasure and they get used to it." When he was about 15, he began making significant lifestyle changes, and by the fourth season of "Drake & Josh," Peck had lost 127 pounds.

It's fair to say Josh Peck has changed a lot since his "Drake & Josh" days. He prioritizes his mental and physical health, becoming sober in 2008 while also attending meetings and therapy. Peck told People of his journey, "It took me a really long time to love the 15-year-old version of me. But now I understand how strong he was." 

Serving as the host of the fun and zany game shows "What Would You Do?" and "Double Dare," Marc Summers became one of the faces of the network in the '90s. Summers was 34 when he first began presenting "Double Dare" in 1986.On an episode of the "Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia" podcast, he shared that he wasn't exactly clamoring to work on a kids' game show, but he figured out a way to make the gig work while staying true to who he is as a performer. "My feeling was, I'm going to treat it like it's a grownup show. ... I'm not going to be a kiddie show host," he recalled. "For whatever reason, that approach really worked."

When Summers parted ways with the show in 1993, it was of his own accord. "It was the show that put me on the map, but I started when I was 34, and eight years later, how long can you throw pies at 11-year-olds?" he said in People. "So, I quit, actually, which most people aren't aware of."

Prior to "Double Dare," Summers was a standup comedian and worked on the production team for multiple TV programs including "The Price is Right" and "The Joker's Wild." He did not return for the first revival of "Double Dare" but did serve as the show's announcer and executive producer in the short-lived 2018 version, while Liza Koshy hosted. Summers also became a fixture of the Food Network, thanks to his work on shows like "Unwrapped" and "The Next Food Network Star." He currently hosts his own podcast, "Marc Summers Unwraps," and previously performed his off-Broadway one-man show "The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers."

On "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" Seasons 1 through 5, Ross Hull portrayed Gary, the bespectacled leader of the Midnight Society. Hull's performance as the ultimate campfire storyteller would be his most recognizable, as he largely walked away from acting in order to pursue a career as a weather news anchor.

Despite leaving Hollywood behind, Hull still finds himself in front of the camera and currently works as a meteorologist for Global News in six Canadian provinces, having swapped out scary stories for weather reports. In a 2023 interview with Dread Central, Hull touched on his experience filming and the legacy of the horror anthology series. "I had the sense from all involved in the production — everyone from the producers, writers, set designers, and makeup artists — that something special was in the works but had no idea that decades later, we would still be talking about the show."

The "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" alum now resides in Toronto with his partner Rodson Garcia and their Instagram famous dogs Jasper and Louie. Hull's Instagram bio cheekily sums up what his life is like today: "Global News Meteorologist. Fitness Fanatic. 'Guy from that show.'"

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues or mental health, please reach out to the resources below. 

• Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
• Contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.