{"id":2153666,"date":"2025-11-13T08:45:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T08:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2153666"},"modified":"2025-11-13T08:45:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T08:45:27","slug":"12-best-movies-and-shows-starring-millennial-actors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/12-best-movies-and-shows-starring-millennial-actors\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Best Movies and Shows Starring Millennial Actors"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Every generation claims to have had the best childhood, but millennials actually did. Raised on\u00a0Total Request Live<\/i>, Game Boys,\u00a0Flintstone<\/i> vitamins, and Lunchables, we got to grow up playing outside\u00a0and<\/i> clicking around on a computer screen, complete with dial-up Internet access, downloadable music, and the good ol\u2019 Oregon Trail<\/a>. And we were shaped by iconic movies and shows starring the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Freddie Prinze Jr., Miranda Cosgrove, Zac Efron, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Brenda Song.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Netflix has plenty of new adventures with old friends from the \u201990s and the early aughts: slasher flicks with familiar faces, romantic comedies where our high school crushes find love as adults, and dramas featuring issues millennials hold dear. Stream any of these 12 titles for another good time with a decades-old friend or two.<\/p>\n

I Know What You Did Last Summer<\/h3>\n
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Back in 1997, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Sarah Michelle Gellar became millennial royalty when they starred in the era\u2019s\u00a0quintessential teen slasher flick<\/a>, as a group of friends who get stalked after covering up a hit-and-run accident. The actors reprise their roles in a\u00a0new movie of the same name<\/a>; this time, the teens in question are played by Tyriq Withers, Chase Sui Wonders, and Madelyn Cline<\/a>. Elsewhere on Netflix, Gellar is in the dark comedy series\u00a0Do Revenge<\/i><\/a> and Prinze leads the holiday title\u00a0Christmas with You<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Tourist’s Guide to Love<\/h3>\n
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Rachael Leigh Cook won our hearts in 1999 when she starred in the high school rom-com\u00a0She\u2019s All That<\/i>, as well as the 2001 music industry comedy\u00a0Josie and the Pussycats<\/i>. Fall in love with her all over again by watching\u00a0A Tourist\u2019s Guide to Love<\/i><\/a>, a globetrotting romance in which she plays a travel executive who goes undercover on a group tour with a free-spirited expat guide. Make it a double feature with the rom-com\u00a0Love, Guaranteed<\/i><\/a>, in which she plays an attorney whose stubborn client tries to sue a popular dating site.<\/p>\n

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Don’t Look Up<\/h3>\n
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Before Leonardo DiCaprio became an Academy Award winner and a vocal environmentalist, he was the reigning hunk of the \u201990s, making viewers swoon in\u00a0Romeo + Juliet\u00a0<\/i>and Titanic<\/i>. (Real ones knew he\u2019d be big from his role in the family sitcom\u00a0Growing Pains<\/i>, and still appreciate both of his performances in\u00a0The Man in the Iron Mask<\/i>.) In\u00a0Don\u2019t Look Up<\/i><\/a>, DiCaprio is in panic mode as an astronomer who goes on a media tour to warn humankind of a fatal comet that\u2019s hurtling toward Earth. Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill and Meryl Streep also appear in the political satire.<\/p>\n

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Running Point<\/h3>\n
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Back in the \u201900s, the Disney Channel belonged to Brenda Song. Besides playing the hotel heiress London Tipton in\u00a0The Suite Life of Zack & Cody<\/i>, she also controlled the weather in\u00a0The Ultimate Christmas Present<\/i>, pranked a pop star in\u00a0Stuck in the Suburbs<\/i>, and saved the world in\u00a0Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior<\/i>. (Plus, she married Macaulay Culkin, the millennial poster child all grown up!) In the show\u00a0Running Point<\/i><\/a>, Song means business as the intimidating chief of staff of the Los Angeles Waves, the struggling basketball franchise that\u2019s under new leadership. Song also stars in the psychological thriller\u00a0Secret Obsession<\/i><\/a> as a woman who wakes up with amnesia after a traumatic attack.<\/p>\n

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Irish Wish<\/h3>\n
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The Parent Trap, Life-Size, Get a Clue, Freaky Friday,\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0Mean Girls<\/i> are just some of the hit movies that crowned Lindsay Lohan as our millennial queen. (The real fans still know every word of her debut album single \u201cRumors.\u201d) She\u2019s in top form in\u00a0Irish Wish<\/i><\/a> as a book editor who travels to Ireland to watch her dream guy get married to her best friend, until a magical relic changes her reality and she wakes up as the bride-to-be. Want a holiday vibe? Lohan also leads the festive rom-coms\u00a0Our Little Secret<\/i><\/a> and\u00a0Falling for Christmas<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile<\/h3>\n
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Zac Efron rose to fame in the \u201900s by singing in\u00a0Hairspray<\/i>, playing basketball in\u00a017 Again<\/i>, and singing and playing basketball in the\u00a0High School Musical<\/i> movies. He\u2019s since shown amazing range on Netflix: hosting the travel series\u00a0Down to Earth with Zac Efron<\/i>,<\/a> charming Nicole Kidman in the rom-com\u00a0A Family Affair<\/i><\/a>, and portraying the serial killer Ted Bundy in the drama\u00a0Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile<\/i><\/a>. The latter biopic also stars Lily Collins, Kaya Scodelario, and John Malkovich, and is based on the memoir of Bundy\u2019s former girlfriend Elizabeth Kendall.<\/p>\n

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The Wrong Paris<\/h3>\n
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After making her film acting debut in the comedy\u00a0School of Rock<\/i> and representing younger siblings everywhere in the series\u00a0Drake & Josh<\/i>, Miranda Cosgrove became the face of the internet as the star of Nickelodeon\u2019s\u00a0iCarly<\/i><\/a>. In\u00a0The Wrong Paris<\/i><\/a>, she excitedly joins a dating show and anticipates its filming in France, only to discover that it\u2019s actually taking place in Paris, Texas. For more Cosgrove, check out\u00a0Mother of the Bride<\/i><\/a>, in which she plays an influencer getting married at a glamorous Thailand resort while managing her parents and future in-laws.<\/p>\n

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The Power of the Dog<\/h3>\n
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Kirsten Dunst<\/a> was frequently on millennials\u2019 screens, thanks to\u00a0Interview with the Vampire<\/i>, Jumanji<\/i>, Drop Dead Gorgeous<\/i>, Bring It On<\/i>,\u00a0<\/i>and more. (And no matter how many\u00a0Spider-Man<\/i> remakes there are, she\u2019ll always be our Mary Jane Watson.) Dunst earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in\u00a0The Power of the Dog<\/i><\/a>. She plays a single mother who gets married to a wealthy ranch owner, only to be tormented by her new brother-in-law. Dunst\u2019s real-life husband, Jesse Plemons, is also in the Western drama, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Thomasin McKenzie.<\/p>\n

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Nobody Wants This<\/h3>\n
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The reason millennials are famously great at researching every bestie\u2019s blind date is because of\u00a0Veronica Mars<\/i>, starring\u00a0Kristen Bell<\/a> as the titular teen sleuth. (And as the salacious narrator of the teen soap\u00a0Gossip Girl<\/i><\/a>, she\u2019s also the permanent voice in our heads.) In\u00a0Nobody Wants This<\/i><\/a>, Bell plays an agnostic sex podcaster who falls in love with a rabbi, played by fellow millennial mainstay Adam Brody. (The most fun millennial fact ever: Leighton Meester, who led\u00a0Gossip Girl<\/i> and is married to Brody in real life, has a memorable guest role in the hit romantic comedy series.)<\/p>\n

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When They See Us<\/h3>\n
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Joshua Jackson left his mark on a generation as\u00a0The Mighty Ducks<\/i>\u2019\u00a0<\/i>ice hockey captain Charlie and the sarcastic Pacey in\u00a0Dawson\u2019s Creek<\/i><\/a> \u2014 the teen soap also made Katie Holmes, James Van Der Beek, and Michelle Williams into household names. Jackson delivers a standout performance as a defense attorney in Ava DuVernay\u2019s\u00a0When They See Us<\/i><\/a>, which is based on the true story of five teens falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Vera Farmiga, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Niecy Nash, Felicity Huffman, John Leguizamo, and Michael K. Williams appear in the four-part miniseries.<\/p>\n

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Santa Clarita Diet<\/h3>\n
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Drew Barrymore was the ultimate big-screen sweetheart in the early aughts, thanks to movies like\u00a0The Wedding Singer<\/i>, Ever After<\/i>, Never Been Kissed, <\/i>and Charlie\u2019s Angels<\/i>. She shows a much more primal \u2014 though always comedic \u2014 side in three seasons of\u00a0Santa Clarita Diet.<\/i><\/a> She plays a real estate agent, wife, and mother whose ordinary life is upended when she suddenly starts showing signs of turning into a zombie. Her husband and daughter try to make sense of her new condition, while dealing with nosy neighbors and trying to find a cure.<\/p>\n

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The Merry Gentlemen<\/h3>\n
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Chad Michael Murray has made a career out of millennial heartthrob roles in\u00a0Gilmore Girls<\/i><\/a>,\u00a0A Cinderella Story<\/i>, House of Wax<\/i>,\u00a0<\/i>and Freaky Friday<\/i>. But he\u2019s forever cemented in our hearts as\u00a0One Tree Hill<\/i>\u2019s Lucas Scott, a high schooler with a love of literature and basketball who initially butts heads with the top jock, also his half-brother. He goes full holiday hottie in\u00a0The Merry Gentlemen<\/i><\/a>, playing a sarcastic contractor who takes the stage as a sultry dancer to help save the small town\u2019s performing arts venue. For more Murray, throw on\u00a0Mother of the Bride<\/i><\/a> to see him woo Brooke Shields, or try the romantic drama series\u00a0Sullivan\u2019s Crossing<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.netflix.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every generation claims to have had the best childhood, but millennials actually did. Raised on\u00a0Total Request Live, Game Boys,\u00a0Flintstone vitamins, and Lunchables, we got to grow up playing outside\u00a0and clicking around on a computer screen, complete with dial-up Internet access, downloadable music, and the good ol\u2019 Oregon Trail. And we were shaped by iconic movies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2153667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2153666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/12-Best-Movies-and-Shows-Starring-Millennial-Actors.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2153666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2153668,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153666\/revisions\/2153668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2153667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2153666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2153666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2153666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}