Toon Talk Special
Report:
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
The All-New Mickey Mouse Club
a.k.a. MMC
The Disney Channel, 1989 - 1994
Josh Ackerman
appeared in Pearl Harbor, as well as many
national commercials.
After MMC,Christina Aguilera sang the pop version of
“Reflection�? for Mulan before going on to superstardom with her hit
“Genie In a Bottle�?, winning several awards over the past couple of years,
including the Grammy for Best New Artist.
Lindsey Alley co-starred in Ernest Saves Christmas.
Rhona Bennett also appeared in Homeboys from Outer Space and
The Jamie Foxx Show. She is currently a member of the R&B group En Vogue.
J.C. Chasez got his nickname from MMC when he joined the cast;
his first name is Joshua, but there already was a Josh on the show, so they
coined him “J.C.�? from his initials. After MMC, J.C. teamed up with
fellow Mouseketeer Justin Timberlake as one of the members of the super group
N’Sync. In addition to their best selling albums, the group joined Phil
Collins to record a pop version of “Trashin’ the Camp�? for the Tarzan
soundtrack. He has also released a solo album.
Nikki Deloach, who dated J.C. during their MMC days, was in the
girl group Innosense. Most recently, she was seen on the series North Shore
and is currently filming a sequel to The Net.
T.J. Fantini recently released his own album, titled Classified.
Dale Godboldo has continued acting, appearing in such television shows
as Shasta McNasty, Kristin and Wanda at Large.
Certainly the Mouseketeer who has gone the farthest from his original “boy
next door�? image is Ryan Gosling. If you don’t believe me, just take a
look at his searing portrayal of a Jewish Nazi skinhead (that is not a typo)
in the critically-acclaimed drama The Believer. He also co-starred in
Remember the Titans, The United States of Leland and The
Notebook. His next film projects include Stay (with Ewan McGregor
and Naomi Watts, directed by Finding Neverland’s Marc Forster) and
Che (with Benicio Del Toro and Javier Bardem, directed by Oscar winner
Stephen Soderbergh).
After MMC, Tony Lucca co-starred in Malibu Shores
with then girlfriend and fellow Mouseketeer Keri Russell. He soon shifted his
focus from acting to music, where he has toured with N’Sync as their opening
act and released several of his own albums, as well as contributing music to
Keri’s series, Felicity.
Ricky Luna, seen in the recent feature The War of Worlds, has
also appeared on such television series as ER, Lizzie McGuire
and Star Trek: Enterprise. Musically, he’s appeared with the groups
Pachanga and Tropic Zone, and will soon go solo under the name R. Luna.
Tate Lynche was on the third season of American Idol, where he
made it to the finals under his real name, Marque Lynche. He has also
performed on Broadway in The Lion King.
Jennifer McGill, a native of Orlando, FL who went to high school with
N’Sync’s Joey Fatone and sang back-up for Natalie Imbruglia, currently
performs with American Vybe at Epcot.
Matt Morris continued with his musical talents, co-writing songs with
Christina Aguilera for her album as well as first American Idol Kelly
Clarkson, resulting in several Grammy Award nominations. Longtime friend
Justin Timberlake also collaborated on Matt’s own album; currently, Matt is
recording his next album and touring.
One of the adult hosts of MMC, voice over artist Fred Newman
(his film work includes Gremlins and Who Framed Roger Rabbit),
went on to voice Skeeter and other characters in the various incarnations of
Doug. He is also a regular on the National Public Radio perennial, A
Prairie Home Companion.
Along with Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell has had the most success,
post-MMC, as an actor. After Malibu Shores, Keri became the “It
Girl�? of 1998 with the debut of the popular TV dramedy Felicity;
playing the title role won her a Golden Globe in the series’ first of four
seasons. She has also been seen in We Were Soldiers, The Upside of
Anger and, most recently, the miniseries Into the West. Keri has
recently beat out several other name actresses, including a certain Katie, to
co-star with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible III.
Britney Spears, who was supposedly cast in MMC over fellow
future pop star Jessica Simpson, went on to superstardom herself with the
release of her best-selling albums …Baby One More Time and Oops! I
Did It Again, and starred in the film Crossroads. Recently, she has
wed back-up dancer Kevin Federline, co-starred with him in the reality show
Britney & Kevin: Chaotic and has announced that they are expecting their
own little Mouseketeer in the near future.
Justin Timberlake, as previously mentioned, is part of the highly
popular group N’Sync, but has also released his own solo album, which included
the hit “Rock Your Body�?. A live performance of that song with Janet Jackson
at the 2004 Super Bowl led to the infamous, supposedly accidental exposure of
Ms. Jackson’s breast on live television, an incident still reverberating
through the entertainment industry. A former boyfriend of Britney Spears, he
is currently dating actress Cameron Diaz, his co-star in the upcoming third
Shrek movie (he’ll voice a young King Arthur). He will also be seen in the
upcoming film Edison, a crime drama starring Oscar-winners Kevin Spacey
and Morgan Freeman.
Marc Worden currently lives in Los Angeles, continuing his career in
acting and voice over work, including several commercials and video games.