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- THEN AND NOW: The cast of 'Fantastic Four' 18 years later
THEN AND NOW: The cast of 'Fantastic Four' 18 years later
Olivia Singh
- "Fantastic Four" was released in July 2005.
- The movie starred Chris Evans, Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd, and Michael Chiklis.
Ioan Gruffudd starred as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, the leader of the superhero team.
He was a brilliant scientist who assembled a team to conduct a study of clouds of cosmic energy in space, which had the potential to advance their knowledge of genetics.
A freak accident resulted in Reed and his team getting hit by the cosmic rays, and their DNA getting altered as a result.
For Reed, this manifested in rubber-like stretching abilities.
Gruffudd starred as the titular character of the ABC series "Harrow."
Gruffudd and his "Fantastic Four" costars reunited for the 2007 sequel, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."
After playing the superhero character, the actor appeared in various shows and films.
He also did voice work for series like "American Dad!" and "Family Guy" and guest-starred on a variety of series including "Glee," "Necessary Roughness," and "Castle."
Gruffudd appeared in the 2014 rom-com "Playing It Cool," which costarred "Fantastic Four" costar Chris Evans.
He also starred on the shows "Forever" and "Harrow."
The actor met Alice Evans. on the set of "102 Dalmations" and the pair wed in 2007. Gruffudd filed for divorce in March 2021, after 13 years of marriage. They share two daughters named Ella and Elsie. The former couple's messy split has played out publicly in recent years.
Jessica Alba played Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, a genetics researcher.
Sue's power of invisibility enabled her to bend light around objects and people.
Aside from being able to appear invisible, she could also create force fields.
In addition to acting, Alba is also the founder of the clean and cruelty-free wellness brand called The Honest Company.
After the "Fantastic Four" movies, Alba starred in films of varying genres. She had roles in rom-coms ("Valentine's Day"), action films ("Machete"), and horror flicks ("The Eye").
In 2011, Alba starred in " Spy Kids: All the Time in the World," the fourth movie in the "Spy Kids" franchise.
She also had roles in Robert Rodriguez's sequels for "Machete" and "Sin City." The actor also appeared in Taylor Swift's star-studded music video for "Bad Blood."
More recently, she starred on the series "L.A.'s Finest," alongside Gabrielle Union.
Alba has been married to Cash Warren since 2008 and the couple has three children: daughters Honor and Haven and son Hayes.
The actor cofounded The Honest Company in 2011. She said that her foray into entrepreneurship was inspired by her struggle to find brands for her family to use that didn't incorporate the use of harmful chemicals.
Alba has since expanded Honest to include a beauty line and released a book called "The Honest Life."
Chris Evans portrayed Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Sue's hot-headed (literally and figuratively) brother.
He was immature, cocky, and constantly cracking jokes at the expense of others.
Despite those qualities, Johnny was included in the trip to space because of his piloting skills.
Nowadays, Evans is known for his role as Steve Rogers/Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Evans made his debut as the iconic comic-book character in "Captain America: The First Avenger," which was released in 2011.
He reprised the role in several Marvel projects since, from standalone "Captain America" films to ensemble movies.
Most recently, he suited up for 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," which seemingly wrapped up his run as Cap.
Outside of his work in the MCU, Evans has starred in various rom-coms, including "What's Your Number?" and "Playing it Cool."
Evans also starred in films like "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World," "Snowpiercer," and "Gifted."
In addition, he played a villain in Rian Johnson's hit 2019 mystery movie "Knives Out."
Evans also portrayed Andy Barber in the Apple TV+ drama "Defending Jacob," based on a 2012 crime novel written by William Landay.
He had cameos in Adam McKay's 2021 film "Don't Look Up" and the movie "Free Guy," and voiced the titular character of the animated film "Lightyear."
Evans reunited with "Scott Pilgrim" costar Cera for the 2018 Broadway show "Lobby Hero." They'll reprise their "Scott Pilgrim" roles for an upcoming anime adaptation for Netflix.
In April, Evans told Insider that he and the cast still keep in touch via an email thread, and they were "all in" when the opportunity to reunite came up.
Most recently, Evans and Ana de Armas played love interests in the Apple TV+ action movie "Ghosted," which marked their third collaboration (following "Knives Out" and "The Gray Man").
Michael Chiklis starred as Ben Grimm/The Thing.
As a result of the cosmic ray exposure, Ben's internal organs mutated and became completely solid.
Externally, this manifested in a large, rock-like appearance.
Chiklis most recently appeared on Fox's anthology series "Accused."
He starred on the first episode and returned as a director for episode nine.
Between 2002 and 2008, Chiklis played a detective named Vic Mackey on the drama series "The Shield." He also guest-starred on "Sons of Anarchy" and played a strongman named Dell Toledo on season four of "American Horror Story."
You may have also seen Chiklis portraying Nathaniel Barnes on the Fox series "Gotham," based on DC Comics characters.
More recently, the actor had roles in the films "Hubie Halloween" and "Don't Look Up."
Additionally, he played real-life basketball coach Red Auerbach on "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty."
Julian McMahon played Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom, the film's villain.
Reed reached out to Victor because he had the tech to support his mission to space.
After the trip went awry, investors pulled out of Victor's billion-dollar company and his stocks plummeted.
Like the Fantastic Four, Victor's biophysical structure changed. His DNA was taken over by a metallic alloy and he developed an ability to create electricity.
McMahon starred as Jess LaCroix on the CBS crime series "FBI: Most Wanted.
When McMahon appeared in the "Fantastic Four" movies, he was already an established TV star.
The actor played Cole Turner on the series "Charmed" and starred as Dr. Christian Troy on the FX medical drama "Nip/Tuck."
His performance on "Nip/Tuck" earned him a Golden Globes nomination for best performance by an actor in a drama television series in 2005.
In more recent years, McMahon had roles on the Syfy show "Hunters" and the Marvel/Hulu series "Runaways."
Laurie Holden played Debbie McIlvane, Ben's ex.
Debbie was engaged to Ben but gave him back the ring and broke off the relationship after being horrified by his transformation into The Thing.
Holden played Crimson Countess on season three of Prime Video's hit superhero series "The Boys."
Her character was the show's parody of Marvel's Scarlet Witch.
Prior to her minor role in "Fantastic Four," Holden was known for her role as Marita Covarrubias on "The X-Files."
After the Marvel movie, Holden played Andrea Harrison on the first three seasons of AMC's "The Walking Dead," had a recurring role on seasons five and six of FX's "The Americans," and guest-starred on an episode of "Chicago Fire."
Kerry Washington starred as Alicia Masters.
Alicia, who was blind, first met Ben at a bar. They began dating shortly afterward.
Washington is now known for her role as Olivia Pope on ABC's thriller series "Scandal."
The show, created by Shonda Rhimes, ran for seven seasons between 2012 and 2018. Washington earned two Emmy nominations for her performance on "Scandal."
Washington earned additional Emmy nominations for her roles in "Confirmation," "Little Fires Everywhere," and "American Son."
In 2022, she finally won her first Emmy, for her work as an executive producer on "Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times."
In addition to acting and producing, Washington has also dabbled with directing. She directed episodes of "Scandal," "SMILF," "Insecure," and "Reasonable Doubt."
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