Somehow, the 90s weren't even their peak
The 90s gave us some of the most beautiful actresses Hollywood had ever seen. They were on movie posters, magazine covers, Thursday-night TV...and probably more than a few bedroom walls.
But more than 25 years later, something slightly unfair has happened. Some of those famous faces haven't merely aged well. They somehow look even more beautiful now. Apparently, the 90s were only the warm-up. Do you agree?
Daniele Venturelli, Getty Images
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston became one of the defining faces of the decade when Friends arrived in 1994, and suddenly half the country wanted Rachel's haircut. More than 30 years later, the haircut is long gone, but Aniston somehow still looks like she could stroll into Central Perk tomorrow and nobody would question it.
Screenshot from Friends, NBC (1994–2004)
Nia Long
If there was such a thing as 90s perfection, Nia Long had a pretty strong argument. Boyz n the Hood, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Love Jones, The Best Man...pick your favorite. Today, she may be even more striking. Her 2026 Met Gala debut certainly didn't hurt the case.
Screenshot from The Best Man, Universal Pictures (1999)
Heather Graham
Heather Graham went from Boogie Nights to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and became one of the most recognizable blonde actresses of the late 90s. Recent photos make it almost difficult to believe how much time has passed. Even Graham has joked about the strange business of getting older in Hollywood.
Halle Berry
Halle Berry spent the 90s going from Boomerang to The Flintstones to Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, looking pretty spectacular along the way. Somehow, she remains one of those people who can turn up on a red carpet decades later and make everyone quietly reconsider how aging is supposed to work.
Screenshot from Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, HBO (1999)
Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Hurley became a full-blown 90s celebrity in 1994 thanks in large part to that famous Versace safety-pin dress—three years before Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery made her a Hollywood leading lady. All these years later, Hurley still looks so remarkably glamorous that any article about 90s beauties almost feels incomplete without her.
Salma Hayek
When Salma Hayek appeared opposite Antonio Banderas in Desperado in 1995, Hollywood had a new star. She was stunning then. Today, she has the same unmistakable look with a few decades of added confidence, which almost feels like giving Michael Jordan a better jump shot. He really didn't need the help.
Screenshot from Desperado, Columbia Pictures (1995)
Tiffani Thiessen
For an entire generation, Tiffani Thiessen will always be Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell. Then she reinvented herself as Valerie Malone on Beverly Hills, 90210. In 2026, fans were still commenting that she barely seemed to have aged, prompting Thiessen herself to joke about it. So we're apparently not imagining things.
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman entered the 90s with Days of Thunder and spent the decade becoming one of Hollywood's biggest stars, eventually adding To Die For, Batman Forever, Practical Magic, and Eyes Wide Shut. Her look has changed over the years, but the movie-star presence certainly hasn't gone anywhere.
Screenshot from Batman Forever, Warner Bros. (1995)
Jeri Ryan
When Jeri Ryan joined Star Trek: Voyager as Seven of Nine in 1997, the producers weren't exactly subtle about wanting viewers to notice her. Mission accomplished. Nearly 30 years later, Ryan still looks remarkably striking—and seeing her back in the Star Trek universe only made the time difference more surprising.
Screenshot from Star Trek: Picard, Paramount+ (2020–2023)
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts had Pretty Woman, My Best Friend's Wedding, and Notting Hill before the decade was finished, plus one of the most famous smiles in Hollywood. That smile is still doing a lot of heavy lifting today. Roberts has simply traded some of the youthful movie-star glow for something more relaxed and elegant.
Screenshot from Pretty Woman, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (1990)
Ming-Na Wen
This one may surprise people. Ming-Na Wen starred in The Joy Luck Club, joined ER, and became the voice of Disney's Mulan during the 90s. Decades later, she's still working constantly and somehow looks astonishingly similar. Apparently voicing a Disney princess came with benefits nobody mentioned.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia Commons
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock became America's favorite bus driver in Speed, then followed it with While You Were Sleeping, A Time to Kill, and Practical Magic. She was always beautiful, but there was something approachable about her too. That combination has only gotten better with age. Keanu Reeves appears to be having the same problem.
Screenshot from Practical Magic, Warner Bros. (1998)
Michelle Pfeiffer
Yes, Michelle Pfeiffer was already famous before the 90s. But we're talking about Catwoman in Batman Returns, so we're making an exception without even pretending to feel bad about it. Pfeiffer's beauty has become less bombshell and more effortlessly elegant with age—and somehow just as impossible to ignore.
Screenshot from Batman Returns, Warner Bros. (1992)
Teri Hatcher
Teri Hatcher was Lois Lane for much of the 90s thanks to Lois & Clark, then became a Bond woman in Tomorrow Never Dies. Today, she's been refreshingly candid about aging, even posting makeup-free, unfiltered photos and telling people it's okay to be real. Honestly, that confidence may suit her even better.
Screenshot from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, ABC (1993–1997)
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones arrived in The Mask of Zorro looking as though someone had built a classic movie star specifically for the role. Then came Entrapment a year later. More than 25 years later, she still has that old-Hollywood glamour. Frankly, the whole thing remains a little suspicious.
David Shankbone, Wikimedia Commons
Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett gave a powerhouse performance as Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do with It, then helped make Waiting to Exhale one of the decade's defining films. She looked incredible then. Somehow, Bassett in her 60s has turned looking incredible into something that barely even qualifies as news anymore.
Screenshot from What's Love Got to Do with It, Touchstone Pictures (1993)
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly's 90s included Career Opportunities, The Rocketeer, and Dark City. She was almost impossibly photogenic back then, but her look today may be even better: sharper, cooler, and more sophisticated. Somehow Jennifer Connelly grew older and simply became...more Jennifer Connelly.
Screenshot from Career Opportunities, Universal Pictures (1991)
Pamela Anderson
The 90s version of Pamela Anderson was all big blonde hair, dramatic makeup, and Baywatch. What nobody expected was how striking she'd look decades later after stripping much of that away. Her softer, more natural public appearances revealed an entirely different Pamela—and arguably an even more beautiful one.
Screenshot from Baywatch, NBC (1989–2001)
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder's dark hair and slightly mysterious look fit the 90s perfectly, whether she was in Edward Scissorhands, Reality Bites, or Little Women. Today she still looks unmistakably like Winona, only with a little more confidence and considerably fewer 90s hair decisions to contend with.
Screenshot from Little Women, Columbia Pictures (1994)
Demi Moore
Demi Moore was everywhere in the 90s: Ghost, A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal, Disclosure, G.I. Jane. Then, decades later, The Substance kicked off another major career moment and put her right back in the spotlight. Somehow, the 90s version of Demi wasn't even the final form.
Screenshot from The Substance, MUBI (2024)
Sharon Stone
After Basic Instinct arrived in 1992, Sharon Stone instantly became one of Hollywood's most famous women. Then Casino reminded everyone she could really act too. The older Stone has a different kind of beauty—less about being the woman everybody is staring at and more about knowing perfectly well that they still are.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia Commons
Vanessa Williams
Vanessa Williams already had an unusual career before the 90s, but the decade turned her into a genuine acting star with projects including Eraser and Soul Food, along with a Broadway run in Kiss of the Spider Woman. She's still acting, singing, performing onstage and looking remarkably glamorous while doing all of it.
Screenshot from Soul Food, 20th Century Fox (1997)
Marisa Tomei
Marisa Tomei stole My Cousin Vinny in 1992 and won an Oscar for it, becoming an instant favorite in the process. More than three decades later, she still has that same enormous smile and energy. Mona Lisa Vito aged exactly the way we'd expect: extremely well and probably while correcting somebody about cars.
Screenshot from My Cousin Vinny, 20th Century Fox (1992)
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron emerged during the second half of the decade with The Devil's Advocate, Mighty Joe Young, and The Cider House Rules. Even then, she looked like someone Hollywood had manufactured to be a movie star. Today she somehow looks even cooler, which was not really necessary.
Screenshot from The Cider House Rules, Miramax Films (1999)
Neve Campbell
Between Party of Five, The Craft, Scream, and Wild Things, Neve Campbell became one of the defining faces of late-90s movies and television. Her look was always relatively natural compared with some of the decade's bigger trends, which turns out to have been an excellent long-term investment.
Screenshot from The Craft, Columbia Pictures (1996)
Gillian Anderson
Dana Scully made Gillian Anderson one of television's most recognizable faces after The X-Files debuted in 1993. Anderson was beautiful then, but the difference today is confidence. Somewhere along the way she went from FBI-agent crush to the woman who enters a room and makes everybody else feel slightly underdressed.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia Commons
Courteney Cox
Jennifer Aniston wasn't the only Friends star turning heads in the 90s. Courteney Cox had already been famous before Monica Geller came along, then Scream gave her another iconic role. Decades later, those famous dark features remain instantly recognizable. Monica would presumably approve of the upkeep.
Screenshot from Friends, NBC (1994–2004)
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez's breakout in Selena came in 1997, before her music career turned J.Lo into a one-woman entertainment industry. Almost 30 years later, she can still appear on a red carpet looking ready for a 1999 magazine cover. We'd simply like to review the paperwork on this arrangement.
Screenshot from Selena, Warner Bros. (1997)
Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu exploded onto Ally McBeal as Ling Woo in 1998 and immediately had the sort of presence that made it difficult to look at anyone else in the scene. Her style today is more understated and sophisticated, but the basic problem remains: Liu tends to make whatever room she's in look better.
Bethany from Pittsburgh, PA, United States, Wikimedia Commons
Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman dancing with John Travolta in Pulp Fiction became one of the defining images of 90s movies. Her beauty was always unusual rather than cookie-cutter, which may be part of why it translated so well over time. Today she looks less like a 90s star and more like a genuine movie icon.
Screenshot from Pulp Fiction, Miramax Films (1994)
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore's late-90s run included Boogie Nights, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and The Big Lebowski. She also seemingly entered Hollywood already possessing the kind of face that never really goes out of style. The red hair remains, the freckles remain, and somehow the whole thing works even better now.
Screenshot from The Big Lebowski, Universal Pictures (1998)
Monica Bellucci
Monica Bellucci began shifting from modeling into acting during the 90s, eventually gaining wider international attention with films including The Apartment. Calling her beautiful back then almost seems insufficient. Decades later, age has added another layer of old-school European glamour to the equation. Again...hardly necessary.
Screenshot from The Apartment, Cinemien (1996)
Kristin Davis
Kristin Davis had a run on Melrose Place before Sex and the City introduced Charlotte York in 1998. She became famous for an almost storybook kind of beauty, and much of that same warmth remains today. Charlotte would probably have a very organized skincare drawer. Possibly alphabetized.
Phil Guest from Bournemouth, UK, Wikimedia Commons
Garcelle Beauvais
Garcelle Beauvais spent the 90s moving through Models Inc. and The Jamie Foxx Show, becoming a familiar television face along the way. Years later, her red-carpet appearances and television work have made one thing pretty obvious: she somehow became even more glamorous after the decade ended.
Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia Commons
Andie MacDowell
Andie MacDowell was one of the 90s' romantic-comedy queens thanks to Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral. Today, her silver curls may be even more memorable than the dark hair audiences knew back then. Instead of trying to recreate 1994, she went in the opposite direction—and it looks fantastic.
Screenshot from Four Weddings and a Funeral, Rank Film Distributors (1994)
Madeleine Stowe
Madeleine Stowe had one of the great 90s runs: The Last of the Mohicans, Bad Girls, 12 Monkeys. She always had a sophisticated, almost old-Hollywood beauty, and that has served her exceptionally well over the years. This is one of those names people may have forgotten until they see her again.
DoubleSpeak with Matthew and Peter Slutsky from United States, Wikimedia Commons
Gina Gershon
Gina Gershon became one of the decade's most unforgettable actresses with Showgirls and Bound. She had an edgier look than many of the traditional Hollywood beauties of the era, and that may be exactly why she still looks so cool today. Some people age. Gershon apparently just gets more Gershon.
Screenshot from Showgirls, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1995)
Kelly Hu
Kelly Hu was all over 90s television, appearing in shows including Nash Bridges and Sunset Beach before bigger movie roles followed. She was stunning then, but seeing her now may produce one of the biggest double takes in this entire article. Apparently time missed a memo.
vagueonthehow from Tadcaster, York, England, Wikimedia Commons
Maybe the 90s weren't their peak after all
Hollywood spent the 90s presenting these women as some of the most beautiful actresses in the world. At the time, it seemed pretty difficult to argue.
Turns out we may have been looking at some of them a little early. Some became more elegant. Some became more confident. Some stopped trying to look exactly like their younger selves.
And a few somehow look like the 90s ended about six months ago.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, Wikimedia Commons
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