'American Pie' at 20: Where are the cast now and who has had the most box office success?

In July of 1999, five dysfunctional teenage boys and their quest to lose their virginities on prom night launched one of Hollywood’s most memorable comedy franchises.

American Pie, with its arsenal of exquisitely cringe-worthy set pieces, depicted the social awkwardness and anxiety of high school in a way that was as relatable as it was horrifying.

Read more: American Pie star celebrates a year sober

The film spawned two main series sequels and four straight-to-DVD spin-off adventures, before the original cast came back together for 2012’s American Reunion.

But how have the key cast members done outside of the American Pie franchise? Some have catapulted into box office glory, others have found success on television and at least a few have faded entirely into obscurity.

Seann William Scott (Stifler)

Steve Stifler was the filth-spouting comedic centre of American Pie, serving as the ultimate avatar for unpleasant and corrosive frat boy culture. He was thankfully the butt of as many of the jokes as he dished out and, ultimately, his happy endings throughout the franchise are empty ones.

His big and small screen career has been varied since then, including comedy roles in films like Dude, Where’s My Car? and Role Models alongside action work in Cop Out and The Dukes of Hazzard and even a horror film lead in 2018’s Bloodline.

In 2018, Scott took over the lead role in the TV adaptation of Lethal Weapon for its third series. The show was cancelled earlier this year.

Has he had any box office success? He certainly has. Scott voices opossum Crash in the box office dynamite Ice Age movies. Those films alone have exceeded £3bn (£2.4bn) globally, making him comfortably the most successful American Pie alum.

Jason Biggs (Jim)

Biggs initially earned attention, and a Daytime Emmy nomination, for his role in the soap As the World Turns, but it was as American Pie’s socially doomed protagonist that he really found his feet and achieved success on the big screen.

He spent the noughties appearing in a succession of romcoms, including Over Her Dead Body and Wedding Daze, but is perhaps best known today for his role as freelance journalist Larry Bloom in the first two seasons of Netflix series Orange is the New Black. He is next set to take the lead role in new Fox sitcom Outmatched, airing in early 2020.

Has he had any box office success? Some of his romcoms were modest hits, with My Best Friend’s Girl earning $42m (£33m) worldwide.

Alyson Hannigan (Michelle)

Hannigan’s flute-toting band camp geek Michelle would eventually go on to marry Jim and have children with him but, in the first movie, she served as his prom date, complete with surprising sexual confidence.

She achieved success alongside American Pie with her role as Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her post-Pie career has been largely taken up by her work as Lily in the massively popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother from 2005 until 2014.

Has she had any box office success? She won a People’s Choice Award for her sitcom work, but her biggest big screen hit was for taking the lead role in the widely derided romcom parody Date Movie, which grossed $85m (£68m) globally.

Tara Reid (Vicky)

Reid appeared in the four main American Pie movies as Vicky, who was Kevin’s prom date and girlfriend in the first film.

She has had a somewhat rocky ride outside of the franchise, being nominated for a string of Razzie Awards, including for Uwe Boll’s Alone in the Dark. In 2011, she entered Celebrity Big Brother and was the third contestant eliminated.

Today, Reid is best known for the Sharknado franchise. She appeared in all six of the films, despite apparently dying at the end of the third, thanks to being resurrected as a cyborg. Space was involved.

Has she had any box office success? Not unless you count the cult popularity of Sharknado, which most people don’t.

Chris Klein (Oz)

As lacrosse star Oz, Klein was a key part of the first two American Pie movies, but disappeared for the third entry when the writers couldn’t come up with a storyline that worked for him. He returned for the reunion film.

Outside of the franchise, he played the lead in John McTiernan’s panned Rollerball remake and joined Mel Gibson in 2002 war film We Were Soldiers. Most recently, he portrayed antagonist Cicada in the fifth season of superhero TV show The Flash.

Has he had any box office success? Klein’s biggest non-Pie hit is We Were Soldiers, which pulled in $115m (£92m) at the worldwide box office.

Eddie Kaye Thomas (Finch)

The germaphobic Paul Finch was one of the highlights of American Pie and his regular dalliances with Stifler’s glamorous mother - played by Jennifer Coolidge - were often used as final gags for the film’s in the franchise.

Outside of the American Pie films, Thomas has taken on supporting roles in a variety of romcoms, including Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, as well as popping up in the Harold and Kumar franchise. He played a Harvard-educated psychiatrist in CBS drama Scorpion until the show was cancelled in 2018 after four seasons.

Has he had any box office success? His string of romcom supporting roles is a long way from box office gold.

Thomas Ian Nicholas (Kevin)

As Kevin, Nicholas effectively played the ‘straight man’ of the American Pie gang and the franchise mainly followed his on-off relationship with Reid’s Vicky. He is shown to be a happily married architect in American Reunion.

His career elsewhere has consisted of bit-parts on TV and in films, as well as focusing on a music career. In 2015, he played Walt Disney in indie film Walt Before Mickey and he has a role in James Franco-directed comedy Zeroville coming later this year.

Has he had any box office success? Nothing of note here

Mena Suvari (Heather)

As Heather, Suvari played the love interest of Oz in the first two Pie films and joined him in being absent from the third. By the time they came back for the reunion, she was dating a heart surgeon.

Outside of the franchise, Suvari has appeared in various big screen supporting roles, as well as in the American Horror Story world on TV. She remains best known as cheerleader Angela Hayes in the Oscar-winning American Beauty.

Has she had any box office success? American Beauty is her biggest success, scoring $356m (£284m) globally.

Natasha Lyonne (Jessica)

As Vicky’s best friend, Jessica, Lyonne was a supporting figure in American Pie and its sequels, never really having a major storyline other than providing acerbic comedy from the sidelines.

She has had a wide and varied career away from the franchise, starring in animated films like Robots as well as Blade: Trinity and a number of horror movies. Most notably, though, Lyonne was Emmy nominated for her work in Orange is the New Black and co-created Netflix time loop series Russian Doll, which was a hit earlier this year and is getting a second season.

Has she had any box office success? Robots grossed $261m (£208m) worldwide.

Shannon Elizabeth (Nadia)

Elizabeth made a big impression on protagonist Jim and a whole generation of teenage boys as Nadia in American Pie - the beautiful exchange student who served as the object of Jim’s affections.

Since, she has appeared in numerous supporting film roles and was one of the leads of short-lived sitcom Cuts in the noughties. She carved out a second career as a professional poker player and now runs an animal rescue organisation in South Africa, as well as occasionally popping up in films and TV.

Has she had any box office success? Very little to speak of.

John Cho (MILF Guy, aka John)

Along with his on-screen best friend Justin, Cho’s character was not even referred to by name until American Reunion, but he made an immediate impression by popularising the explicit acronym “MILF”, which very quickly entered the zeitgeist.

Since then, Cho has cultivated a major Hollywood career, including with a role as one half of big screen duo Harold and Kumar and as Sulu in the rebooted Star Trek film series. He had a great year in 2018, appearing in the acclaimed thriller Searching and shooting one of the main roles in the upcoming reboot of the Grudge horror franchise.

Has he had any box office success? The three Star Trek reboot series films have grossed more than $1.2bn (£956m) worldwide.