Thanks to the popularity and accessibility of TV programming and early video-sharing websites like YouTube, the early 2000s gave us countless talented teen idols, who still remain in our hearts and arts.
Let’s catch up with 10 familiar names and see where their popularity took them.
Paris Hilton
Leaving the spotlight? Nah, how about upgrading it to first class instead? She now owns a business empire and became an advocate against abuse in youth residential treatment settings. In 2024, she celebrated the passage of the “Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act.” On the personal side, she got married in 2021 and welcomed two children via surrogate (son Phoenix and daughter London). She’s also continuing to turn her life story into IP with an A24 series adaptation of Paris: The Memoir.
Britney Spears
Britney’s early-2000s run is iconic and truly one-of-a-kind, but her clearest modern chapter is authorship. Her book, The Woman in Me, was released in October 2023, and actress Michelle Williams narrated the whole thing with her perfect voice. And what comes after a book becomes extremely popular? That’s right, a movie studio, in this case Universal, buys the rights for a film adaptation.
Zac Efron
Efron has really managed to break free from that teen idol mold without totally fading away. After the 2023 role he took on, that “teen heartthrob” image is as good as gone. He portrayed wrestler Kevin Von Erich in The Iron Claw and looked as different from his days in High School Musical as is physically possible. In 2024, he returned to a more lighthearted role with Netflix’s A Family Affair. And all those Ibiza headlines were pretty much true, but nothing major happened. Effron had a “minor swimming incident” in August 2024 and had to spend a night in the hospital.
Hilary Duff
Hilary’s “Lizzie” era made her famous and quite relatable among the teens of that time, but this also allowed her to build a steadier adult chapter. She and musician/producer Matthew Koma married in 2019 and have three children together (plus Duff’s son from her first marriage). The big recent twist is that she released her first single in a decade, “Mature,” in November 2025, and a docuseries is in development to chronicle her return. She also announced a sixth studio album, Luck or Something, scheduled for February 20.
Orlando Bloom
Bloom’s 2000s résumé is practically a flex on a whole other level: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, and more. Since then, he’s just been chugging on up to 2025’s Deep Cover. On the personal front, reports confirmed that Bloom and Katy Perry ended their engagement and continue co-parenting their five-year-old daughter, Daisy. Well, at least we know Katy Perry didn’t stay single for long.
Lindsay Lohan
Remember Freaky Friday and Mean Girls? That’s peak Lindsay Lohan. Her current chapter is much more rom-com friendly. Recently, she starred in Netflix’s Irish Wish and Our Little Secret. Reuniting with Jamie Lee Curtis for Disney’s Freakier Friday remake, which hit theaters on August 8, 2025, further brought nostalgia full circle.
Jesse McCartney
If you were active on the internet during the mid-2000s, you likely vividly remember Jesse’s “Beautiful Soul” era. After some downtime, he returned with new music in 2024: the All’s Well EP dropped April 5, 2024, and he supported it with an All’s Well tour that same spring. Not so much a nostalgia tease, but an actual new chapter.
Amanda Bynes
Amanda’s early career was pure comedy gold with smash hits like The Amanda Show, She’s the Man, and Hairspray. Then some bad stuff happened, and she stepped away to focus on her health. In 2023, ABC News reported she was placed on a mental-health hold in Los Angeles. Bynes has largely opted out of acting, exploring other creative outlets, like fashion and art projects, as well as an OnlyFans account for fan interaction (not explicit content).
Justin Bieber
Bieber fully blossomed in the early 2010s, but his teen-idol beginnings sprouted from that viral YouTube video. In the past two decades, there has been a lot of news and controversy surrounding Biebs, but he pushed through. In 2024, he and Hailey Bieber welcomed their first child, Jack Blues. Music-wise, he canceled the remaining dates of his Justice world tour due to health issues. Then he went hard on releases again in 2025, dropping the album Swag in July and a follow-up, Swag II, in October.
Miley Cyrus
Miley has spent her whole adult career proving she wasn’t going to stay frozen as Hannah Montana, and at this point, she’s convinced everyone, including herself. In 2025, Miley announced a brand new album, Something Beautiful, not to mention a passion project that’s going to amaze the fans—
a musical film, which has been framed as a “pop opera”-style release. The concept is bold, the voices are powerful, and she has no intention of staying safe.
