In an era of great teen flicks of the 2000s, Save The Last Dance sits near the top of the most beloved and iconic. For those who need a refresher, the film follows ballerina hopeful Sara, who has her heart set on making it into the prestigious school of dance, Juilliard in New York - until her mother passes away and she has to up roots and move to the Southside to live with her estranged father. There, she meets Derek, a charismatic teen from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ who teaches her the ins and outs of hip hop dance. Spoiler alert: they fall in love!

22 years since the cult classic came out, here’s where the cast are now…

Julia Stiles (Sara).

Stiles was already on everyone’s radar after her stellar turn as feisty Kat in teen hit 10 Things I Hate About You, and she jokes that it was her dance moves at Bogey Lowenstein’s party that secured her next dance role as Sara.

“That’s how I got the job in Save The Last Dance, by the way, I think it was from that scene,” the actress said. “That’s what I was told.”

Watch: Controversial: Should you shush people in the movies? Post continues after video.

After the success of the dance film, and at the height of her fame, Stiles took a break to study English literature at Columbia University. And while she never quite reached that career peak she did in the early noughties, Stiles kept consistently busy, playing Nicky Parsons in theBournemovies from 2002 to 2016, and landing roles inSilver Linings Playbookand Jennifer Lopez’s female heist drama,Hustlers, in 2019. Stiles played a journalist in the based-on-a-true-story film, and said it came at a time when she felt she no longer had a place in Hollywood.

“I think a few years ago my frustration was feeling like nobody knew what to do with me,” she toldThe Daily Beast.“You know, I had had some success in my twenties and now I’m in a different place in my life and I didn’t really fit in anywhere.”

In her personal life, Stiles, 42, is happily married to Preston J Cook, with whom she shares two young children, Strummer and Arlo. As for her teen movies era, Stiles said in 2019 that she feels mixed emotions about it.

“Save The Last Dancecame on TV the other night… and there was a part of me that was curious about the memories of making that movie,” she toldGood Morning America. “And then I immediately turned it off because it was cringeworthy to me!”

Sean Patrick Thomas (Derek).

Derek’s smooth moves won over Sara inSTLD, and in real life, Thomas maintained his popularity in Hollywood in the years that followed. Fresh from his dancing stint, he switched gears for 2002 horror filmHalloween: Resurrection, then moved over to comedy to star alongside rapper Ice Cube inBarbershopandBarbershop 2.

He never forgot the movie that gave him his big break, reuniting with Stiles in 2021 to celebrateSTLD’s20th anniversary and revealing that he appreciated the impact the film’s racial themes had on the audience.

“To have people still talking about it 20 years later… I have women sending me pictures, like, ‘I married this black guy and you made me feel like that was OK,’” Thomas, 52, toldEntertainment Tonight. “I hear life-changing things to this day about it… I so much appreciate it.”

Thomas, who has two kids, Lola and Luc, with wife Aonika Laurent, has also kept in touch with another co-star – Kerry Washington, aka his sister Chenille. Washington actually recruited Thomas recently for a role in her TV showReasonable Doubt, which she executive produced and also directed the pilot. “What attracted me to the role, obviously right off the bat, was the chance to work with Kerry again,” he said.

Kerry Washington (Chenille).

The Bronx native “loooooved being a part of this film”, posting a throwback photo from theSave The Last Danceset on Instagram to mark 20 years since it was released.

“OH EM GEE!!!!!Save the Last Danceturns 20 years old today !” she wrote. “Playing Chenille changed my life…”

That’s an understatement. In the years that followed, Washington became a household name playing Olivia Pope in the popular seriesScandal, from 2012 to 2018, and garnered praise for her roles in filmsRayandDjango Unchained.In 2020, she teamed up with Reese Witherspoon for the small screen adaptation of the hit bookLittle Fires Everywhereand she has also been busy running her own production company,Simpson Street.