If you grew up in the 90’s there’s a good chance you were among the thousands of young women who watched (and then rewatched) the cult coming-of-age film Looking for Alibrandi.

The 2000 film, an adaption of Melina Marchetta’s popular book of the same name, follows the teenage struggles of Josephine “Josie” Alibrandi as she deals with the unexpected return of her long-lost father, her difficult relationship with her single mother and of course, teenage boy drama.

Looking for Alibrandi not only impacted a generation of women, but it also helped launch the career of much-loved Aussie actress and recent Australian Survivor winner, Pia Miranda.

Watch: Bring on all those nostalgic feels with the Looking for Alibrandi trailer. Post continues below. 

Now 20 years on from the film’s release, the four lead actors, Anthony LaPaglia, Greta Scacchi, Pia Miranda and Kick Gurry, have reunited over video call for an interview with Stellar Magazine.

While a lot has happened in the actor’s lives since, the film is something neither of them will forget anytime soon.

“A lot of the people who come up to me now say, ‘That film changed my life.’ Young Italian and Greek girls especially say, ‘That was the first time I saw myself on screen, the first time I felt like I ever existed in the world.’ And that’s universal. It doesn’t matter how [many] generations go by. That will always resonate,” Pia told the rest of the cast during the interview.

 

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A post shared by Stellar (@stellarmag) on Apr 30, 2020 at 4:52pm PDT

So to celebrate the film’s anniversary, here’s what the cast of Looking for Alibrandi are doing now.

Kick Gurry (Jacob Coote)

Twenty years on, Kick Gurry is still the Aussie heartthrob we remember him as. After playing motorbike-riding bad boy Jacob Coote in the film, Kick is now living in Los Angeles where he continues to make a name for himself. The 41-year-old has appeared in big name films including Speed Racer, Jupiter Ascending and War Machine alongside Brad Pitt. More recently, he's landed roles in the TV series Friends from College and Sense8. 

But despite his long list of acting credits, Kick still gets recognised for his breakout role in Looking for Alibrandi. 

"People ask, is it still weird to still be associated with something from so long ago?," he told To Her Door back in 2017. "But it has never bothered me even one per cent of one per cent. What I’m amazed at is that the film still resonates with people that watch it now. The themes of the movie still resonates with young girls, and it sort of makes me feel good about the world."

Kick says he's always felt like he had something in common with Jacob. "I’ve always felt a real synergy with him as a character, as a human being; I have a lot of really close relationships with women and I treasure them more than anything," he told the publication.

Pia Miranda (Josephine "Josie" Alibrandi)

Pia Miranda is no stranger to our screens, having won Australian Survivor: Champions Vs Contenders last year. The 46-year-old is now a critically acclaimed actress, having won an Australian Film Award for Best Actress in her breakout role as Josie Alibrandi.

Looking back, Pia says it was a role she could easily relate to.

"I was at school in the ’80s in Melbourne. It was a time when multicultural society was something that was celebrated, but to experience it was a different thing," she said during the interview with Stellar.

"There was always this sense that I was a little bit left of centre. I didn’t quite fit in with all my gorgeous blonde, white-bread friends. My mum’s Australian and my dad’s Italian and my nonna was such a massive influence, but it was definitely something that was separated from my everyday teenage years. Being cast in the film let me reflect on what I’d been through – maybe suppressing some of those Italian elements of myself – and let me really celebrate it as well."

After the film, Pia continued to pursue acting but recently admitted she found it hard securing work.

"It’s difficult when your first job is big and successful," she told Who last year. "I didn’t feel like I had the opportunity to grow my craft in smaller roles and I felt like I was given these bigger roles and I didn’t have the skills to support them.

"I wanted to study in a classroom and be in a safe space where I could learn and make mistakes. I needed to figure out who I was as an actor."

The actress moved to New York in search for a new start. There, she studied speech and drama at the Atlantic Theatre Company Acting School. She later went on to star in TV shows The Secret Life of Us and Wentworth.

Pia is now is married to Luke Hanigan, singer of the band Lo-Tel, who she shares two children with, Lily and James.

Despite recently winning $500,000 on Australian Survivor, she says her reality TV days are well and truly behind her.

"Who knows what will happen to me. I would never do another reality show … never. I came in, I went hard and I bailed," she told The Daily Telegraph last year.

Mamamia’s No Filter podcast spoke to Pia in the wake of her Survivor win. Post continues below. 

Greta Scacchi (Christina Alibrandi)

Josie's mum, played by award-winning actress Greta Scacchi, has two kids of her own. Greta shares a 28-year-old daughter, Leila, with Italian American actor and Law & Order: Criminal Intent star Vincent D’Onofrio and a 22-year-old son, Matteo, with her first cousin Carlo Mantegazza. Their relationship caused quite the controversy amongst her family and the media at the time.

Outside of her family life, Greta is keeping herself busy with acting. Most recently, she has starred in films such as Waiting for the Barbarians, Palm Beach and Head Full of Honey, as well as TV shows including The Terror and Versailles.

Now 60 years old, the actress says ageing hasn't been all that great.

"It is a bummer, ageing. The only comforting thing is knowing that we are actually all going along the conveyor belt at the same pace," she told The Daily Telegraph last year.

"When it comes to acting, of course, we have the fact that it is more disgraceful for actors to grow old because they are exposed there," she added.

"People see an actor age and they are so shocked. They don't realise that she has got old at the same pace as they have."

Anthony LaPaglia (Michael Andretti)

Anthony LaPaglia hasn't left the spotlight since playing Josie’s father, Michael. The 61-year-old actor and producer is best known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American television series Without a Trace, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and earnt an Emmy Award nomination. He also won a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for his performance in A View from the Bridge and another Emmy Award for his recurring role as Simon Moon in Frasier.

In 2009, Anthony was the lead actor and executive producer of the political thriller film Balibo, which documents the murder of five Australian journalists in East Timor on the eve of the Indonesian invasion in 1975.

Outside of acting, the Adelaide-born actor has one daughter, Bridget, who he shares with his ex-wife Gia Carides.

Anthony spoke about raising his teenage daughter in the reunion interview with Stellar.

"I got to live the real thing, don’t worry. I now have a 17-year-old daughter. My life is hell. I would have played my character so differently had I known. It’s method acting in reverse," he told the rest of the cast over video call.

"I am going through some of the same stuff that I went through in the film. It’s so bizarre. But I use the film as a reference point for parenting."

Feature Image: Robyn Kershaw Productions.

You can read the cast of Looking for Alibrandi's full interview with Stellar here.

What were your favourite moments of Looking for Alibrandi? Let us know in the comments below.

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