The Parent Trap cast: Where are they now?

A Disney classic was reborn for a new generation when The Parent Trap was released in theaters on July 20, 1998. The film marked the directorial debut of Nancy Meyers, who would go on to reign as the rom-com queen of the 2000s with movies like Something's Gotta Give (2003) and The Holiday (2006). But this beloved remake of the 1961 movie starring Hayley Mills didn't just launch its director's career. The dual role of twins separated at birth allowed a then-11-year-old Lindsay Lohan to eventually become one of the biggest teen stars of the era. What happened next is pop culture history — here's what the cast of The Parent Trap is up to 25 years later.

Lindsay Lohan (Hallie Parker and Annie James)

When she landed the dual role of identical twins Hallie Parker and Annie James, Lindsay Lohan was brand new in the entertainment business, having only appeared in a few episodes of some soap operas along with Sesame Street  — and hilariously, an educational video called Be Cool About Fire Safety. But after The Parent Trap, Lindsay was unstoppable.

In 2002, she starred in the Disney Channel original movie Get a Clue, followed by another remake, Freaky Friday (2003) with Jamie Lee Curtis. 2004 was also a big year for Lohan with Disney's Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, followed by her iconic role as the new girl in town, Cady Heron, in the hit comedy Mean Girls. Her teen idol status secure, Lohan released her first album, Speak, that same year, which went platinum. After that, she also notably starred in I Know Who Killed Me (2007).

But with Lohan's increased fame came increased media scrutiny, and by the mid-2000s she was both a household name and a tabloid fixture. Later in the decade, the actress attempted to transition out of her teen image and take on more serious roles, but partying and paparazzi took their toll. She was in and out of rehab for the next few years, and while she still took on projects — including the Oprah Winfrey Network's 2014 docuseries Lindsay — her career never really rebounded.

A decade later, she's opened a series of nightclubs in Greece, made her theater debut on London's West End, and settled down with her husband, financier Bader Shammas. The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Luai, on July 17, 2023. She's kept busy with Netflix lately, producing and starring in the 2022 rom-com Falling for Christmas with another, Irish Wish, hitting the streamer in 2024. Also on her horizon is a Freaky Friday sequel, though production is currently on pause due to the ongoing WGA strike.

Dennis Quaid (Nick Parker)

Dennis Quaid was inspired to become an actor by his brother Randy Quaid, who already had a solid career when Dennis moved to L.A. from Houston, Texas, in the mid-'70s. It took him a few years to find his footing, but he became an established star thanks to films like Jaws 3-D (1983), Innerspace (1987), and Great Balls of Fire (1989) before taking on the role of single dad Nick Parker in The Parent Trap.

The gig was a sort of anomaly for Quaid, who, with the exception of 2002's The Rookie, hadn't done much in the way of family-friendly films yet. That's since changed, as Quaid went on to appear in A Dog's Purpose and A Dog's Journey in the 2010s. His grizzled looks and gravelly voice also made him a go-to action hero, as in The Day After Tomorrow (2004), or a father figure like his football coach character in 2021's American Underdog. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe, SAG award, and Emmy for portraying Bill Clinton in HBO's The Special Relationship (2011).

As a Christian, Quaid often appears in inspirational religious films like I Can Only Imagine (2018). His latest, On a Wing and a Prayer (2023), combines all of these threads, as he plays an ordinary dad who steps up to save his family and safely land a plane when their pilot dies mid-flight. Although Quaid is a political independent, he's also set to play the ultimate Republican father figure, Ronald Reagan, in an upcoming biographical drama film.

Quaid has been married four times and has three children, including actor Jack Quiad (The Boys) from his second marriage to actress Meg Ryan.

Natasha Richardson (Elizabeth James)

The daughter of Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson, Natasha Richardson was born into English acting royalty. (Her sister is actress Joely Richardson, and her aunt is Lynn Redgrave.) In 1994, she married Liam Neeson, further adding to her celebrity bona fides. A trained Shakespearean actress, Richardson had built up an impressive résumé working with famous directors like Ken Russell and Paul Schrader when she was cast as sophisticated fashion designer Elizabeth James in The Parent Trap in 1998.

Later that same year, Richardson won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Cabaret. (She was also nominated for a Tony in 1993 for her leading role in Anna Christie.) Richardson continued playing equally classy ladies in movies like Maid in Manhattan (2002), The White Countess (2005), and Wild Child (2008) for the next decade, plus a notable role in Asylum (2005).

Richardson's career was tragically cut short in 2009 when she died at the age of 45 after being injured in a skiing accident. Her castmates paid tribute to her at a Parent Trap reunion in 2020.

Elaine Hendrix (Meredith Blake)

Meredith Blake does not have Nick Parker's best interests in mind when she attempts to marry him for his money in The Parent Trap. And although the actress who played her, Elaine Hendrix, was almost as young as her character — Hendrix was 27 when the film came out, and Meredith is 26 in the movie — she wasn't brand new in the acting world.

Hendrix had already played a supporting role in the 1997 comedy Romy and Michele's High School Reunion when she filmed The Parent Trap, and she has continued working in both dramatic and comedic projects ever since. With over 140 works and counting on her IMDb page, it would be quite the undertaking to list all of Hendrix's credits, but she's been in everything from network series like Friends and 90210 to gritty independent dramas like Logan Marshall-Green's directorial debut Adopt a Highway (2019). Beyond her main cast billings on FX's Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, one of her many specialties is playing spoiled rich girls like Meredith Blake, a talent she used to land a lead role on The CW's Dynasty reboot, followed by the role of a yuppie matriarch in her latest movie, The Country Club (2023).

In a fun Parent Trap reunion, her costar Lisa Ann Walter brought Hendrix as her date to the SAG Awards in 2023.

Lisa Ann Walter (Chessy)

The role of Chessy, Nick Parker's warm housekeeper and a stand-in mother to young Hallie, was one of Lisa Ann Walter's first acting gigs. From there, she drifted from project to project for more than 20 years, appearing in movies like Bruce Almighty (2003) with Jim Carrey and Shall We Dance (2004) opposite Richard Gere. Then, Quinta Brunson came calling…

Playing suspiciously connected, aggressively nurturing second-grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti on Abbott Elementary has been the role of a lifetime for Walter. She and her castmates shared a SAG Award win in 2023 for their ensemble performances on the show. Abbott Elementary's popularity has also led fans to re-discover Walter's performance as Chessy — there was even a crossover when she wore a denim shirt similar to her Chessy costume in season 2.

Walter also has identical twin boys who share the same birthday as Hallie and Annie: Oct. 11. "I actually called Nancy Meyers and I was like, 'What hex did you put on me?'" she said on a recent episode of the Hi Jinx! podcast.

Simon Kunz (Martin)

The role of Martin, Elizabeth's butler and Annie's loyal companion and co-conspirator in The Parent Trap, was Simon Kunz's first major movie role. And he's stayed busy ever since, working as a character actor in films and TV on both sides of the Atlantic. Krunz often plays judges, police officers, priests, and other authority figures, such as a doctor in Captain America: The First Avenger.

History is another of Kunz's specialties: He's played the Biblical rabbi Nicodemus in two cinematic retellings surrounding Jesus, and his most recent gig was portraying the Roman statesman Cicero in the Netflix documentary series Queen Cleopatra. (Kunz appeared in the re-enactment parts, in case you're wondering.)

Kunz's longest-running roles have been on historical TV series in his native England: He costarred as royal advisor Odda the Elder on the BBC series The Last Kingdom from 2015 to 2017, acted opposite Kit Harington on the Guy Fawkes drama Gunpowder, and traveled back to WWII and 2020 (yes, 2020) on the dramas Traitors (2019) and This England (2022).

Marva Kulp, Sr. (Polly Holliday)

Polly Holliday had lots of experience playing mother figures in films like Gremlins (1984) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1992) when she portrayed the uptight Marva Kulp, Sr., director of Camp Walden, in The Parent Trap. Her more iconic role was back in the late '70s as Flo, the sassy waitress with a heart of gold who mentors the title character on Alice (1976-1980), earning her four Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe wins. (Gen Xers might remember her catchphrase, "Kiss my grits!") She then starred in her own spin-off series, Flo, for two seasons. Her other notable projects include All the President's Men (1976), Gremlins (1984) wherein she won a Saturn Award, and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993).

After The Parent Trap, Holliday appeared in a few more movies, like the gymnastics teen flick Stick It (2006) and the Farrelly brothers rom-com The Heartbreak Kid (2007). Her last film role was in the spy thriller Fair Game (2010) with Naomi Watts, based on the true story of CIA operative Valerie Plame. A member of the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame, she's now retired and lives in New York City, where she sings at her Episcopal Church.

Maggie Wheeler (Marva Kulp, Jr.)

When The Parent Trap came out in 1998, many adults in the audience likely recognized Maggie Wheeler. Before she was cast as second-generation camp counselor Marva Kulp, Jr., Wheeler was best known for her role as Janice, Chandler Bing's on-again off-again love interest, on Friends. Although most of her episodes were in the first season, Wheeler would reappear on the sitcom about once a year until 2004, meeting up with the gang for the last time in the season 15 episode "The One Where Estelle Dies."

Wheeler's nasally voice on Friends was entirely fabricated, and she's put that talent to use many times since the turn of the millennium. Along with supporting roles on series like Californication and Everybody Loves Raymond — not to mention guest spots on pretty much every sitcom of the '90s and 2000s — Wheeler is also a voice actor. She's appeared in Barbie of Swan Lake (2003), 12 episodes of Archer as sex worker-turned-spy Trinette McGoon, and voiced the creepy family's perky blonde neighbor Trudy Pickering in 2019's animated version of The Addams Family.

Related content:

• Lisa Ann Walter's identical twins were born on the same day as Parent Trap twins: 'It's weird!'

• The Parent Trap cast reunites to celebrate the movie's anniversary, 22 years later

• Dennis Quaid's The Parent Trap costar Elaine Hendrix had the best reaction to his engagement news