Can you believe it’s been more than two decades since the hit film Coyote Ugly hit cinemas?
In the years since, the movie has become a cult classic and favourite among many.
It tells the story of an aspiring singer, Violet, who leaves home to pursue her dreams of musical stardom and ends up working at a bar called Coyote Ugly with a group of feisty female employees.
Spoiler alert: our leading lady gets her happy ending, but what about the cast after all these years?
We take a look back at some of our favourite characters from the film to see where they are now.
Piper Perabo
Piper played the lead role of aspiring singer Violet Sanford in Coyote Ugly, who leaves home to pursue her dreams.
Since she starred in Cheaper by the Dozen and its sequel, The Cave, Imagine Me & You, The Prestige and Looper.
Recently she’s been best known as the lead in TV series Covert Affairs, which ran for five seasons and earned her a Golden Globe nomination
In 2019 she co-starred with Idris Elba in the Netflix comedy Turn Up Charlie, and has moved onto a recurring role on Showtime’s Penny Dreadful: City of Angels.
Along the way, she married husband Stephen Kay in 2014 and she’s stepmom to his daughter.
Talking to Variety last year, Perabo said of Coyote Ugly: “It really got me in the door and I’ve been making movies for 20 years now because of it.
“I think, sometimes, that’s what people still associate me with. It’s weird because I don’t really dance on bars, but that’s OK, I really like the story of a young woman with a dream.”
Adam Garcia
Adam Garcia played Kevin O’Donnell, Piper’s love interest in the movie who helped her to overcome her stage fright, in what was his US film debut.
He went on to star in several other films including Riding in Cars With Boys, Kangaroo Jack, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and, most recently, Murder on the Orient Express.
He’s set to appear in Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot follow-up, Death on the Nile, as well.
Adam also notably helped create the role of Fiyero in workshop productions of Wicked and went on to portray him in the West End production.
He’s been married to Nathalia Chubin since 2015 and has two children.
Tyra Banks
Tyra was already one of the top-earning supermodels in the world when she took on the role of Zoe, another one of the servers/performers working at the Coyote Ugly bar.
She went on to host her own talk show, and created and fronted the smash hit reality series America’s Next Top Model.
Tyra made history when she came out of modelling retirement at 45 to grace the cover of the SI Swimsuit issue again in 2019.
In January 2016 Banks welcomed her son, York, via surrogate with then-partner Erik Asla.
She has also been vocal about wanting to do a sequel to Coyote Ugly, telling Variety last year: “I feel like we need to do some type of rallying cry to social media, you know, kind of like a petition to get people to sign to make the sequel.
”I actually really want to produce it. We have really been wanting to do that and even had a form of a treatment with the original writer.”
Maria Bello
Maria played Lil, the badass boss at Coyote Ugly based on real-life owner Liliana Lovell who gives Violet her shot.
However, Bello recently revealed to Variety that, at 32, she was deemed “too old” to be one of the dancing bartenders.
“I had argued for it because I worked at Hogs and Heifers, I said, ‘Why can’t I dance?'” she recalled.
“And I was told that I was too old. The truth is the movie was run by men, right? All male producers, a male director, so I don’t know where that information came from, but that information came to me. It was different back then. I remember arguing about it, but I wasn’t gonna win.”
Since the film Maria has had roles in The Cooler, Thank You for Smoking, Prisoners and Grown Ups and even score a Golden Globe nomination in A History of Violence.
Recently, she has starred on TV with roles on Prime Suspect, Goliath and a series regular role on the 15th season of CBS’ juggernaut NCIS.
Izabella Miko
Izabella starred as Cammie, one of three girls who befriends Violet and welcomes her into the fold as a performer/server at the bar.
Coyote Ugly was the Polish actress’ debut Hollywood role, catapulting her to stardom.
She went on to star in Save the Last Dance 2 and Step Up: All In, and more recently in Amazon Prime series Hunters.
You may also recognise Izabella from The Killers music videos for Mr Brightside and Miss Atomic Bomb.
In honor of Coyote Ugly‘s 20th anniversary, she posted a clip montage that fans put together of Cammie’s best moments, captioning it: ”This was such an amazing experience.
“A big thank you to my first agent @nickstyne for literally putting his butt on the line when getting me this audition by totally believing in someone who had zero credits, no working papers to work in the US, broken English, but already years of hard work behind her as a dancer and a heart full of passion!
“A huge thanks also to @jerrybruckheimer for literally launching my career @coj3 for staying up all those nights to make sure I get my 0-1 Visa…and of course #bonnietimmermann for seeing something in me and casting me in this classic! And of course all the amazing girls @piperperabo @officialmariabello @bridgetmoynahan @tyra for showing me the ropes and dancing with me.”
Bridget Moynahan
Beginning her career as a model, Coyote Ugly was Bridget’s first major role in a feature film, playing Rachel the third girl in the bartending trio.
At the same time she payed Big’s cheated-upon wife Natasha in Sex and The City, before going on to star in The Sum of All Fears, I, Robot, Lord of War and Keanu Reeves’ wife in John Wick and John Wick 2.
She has now played Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan on CBS’ Blue Bloods since 2010, and an 11th season is in the works
In real life, Bridget is mom to son Jack with ex-boyfriend Tom Brady, and in 2015 she married businessman and father of three Andrew Frankel in a Hamptons ceremony.
John Goodman
John Goodman was already a household name when he played Violet’s dad in Coyote Ugly.
His career continued to skyrocket with highlights including The West Wing, Treme, Damages, Community and Alpha House on TV and Argo, Inside Llewyn Davis, Trumbo, Monster University, 10 Cloverfield Lane and Atomic Blonde on the big screen.
He is also well known for his role on Dan Conner on what started as a reboot of Roseanne and then, after Roseanne Barr was fired, turned into The Conners.
Melanie Lynskey
Melanie payed Violet’s New Jersey-based BFF, Gloria whom she leaves behind to chase her dreams of stardom.
She went on to become an indie darling starring in films such as Away We Go, Hello I Must Be Going, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Big Ask and XX.
She also left a lasting impression on television with a memorable recurring role as Charlie Sheen’s obsessive neighbour Rose on Two and a Half Men.
She currently appears as Molly Strand in Castle Rock, a TV show based on the stories of Stephen King.
Melanie was married to actor Jimmi Simpson from 2007 until 2014 and is currently engaged to Jason Ritter, with whom she shares one daughter.
LeAnn Rimes
While LeAnn only appeared in Coyote Ugly as herself for the feel-good final scene, her Diane Warren penned hit Can’t Fight the Moonlight is intrinsically tied to the film.
Since the movie she has continued to release albums worldwide, adding to her Grammy collection and selling more than 37 million records worldwide.
Her private life has also hit the headlines plenty of times after she began dating future husband Eddie Cibrian while still married to Dean Sheremet, and Eddie was still wed to Brandi Glanville, the mother of his two kids.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
