What Happened To The Original Cast Of 21 Jump Street?

Before it was reimagined as a big-screen comedy with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, "21 Jump Street" debuted on Fox and ran for five seasons and 103 episodes.

The television series is perhaps best known for launching Johnny Depp's career. He played Tom Hanson, one of a group of undercover cops who posed as high school students to investigate youth crime. You can currently stream the first season on Tubi. 

Depp was part of a diverse ensemble featuring two Black leads, a female lead and an Asian male actor. The show also tackled dark subject matter for network TV, addressing issues such as drugs, racism, and sexual abuse during the "Just Say No" era. 

Episodes include "Swallowed Alive," which confronts corruption and poor conditions in a juvenile detention facility, while "Blindsided" sees Hanson asked by a student to assassinate her father. When "21 Jump Street" ended in 1991, its stars had plenty more ahead of them. 

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Johnny Depp played the lead role of Tom Hanson on "21 Jump Street" before leaving the hit series at the end of its fourth season in 1990, hoping to shed his teen-heartthrob image and continue building his film career. "I was so miserable doing 'Jump Street,'" Depp told The Times. "I mean, I was lucky as a b*****d, but it was uncomfortable. It was around then people started whispering when I walked in a room. This image is cultivated that you can't control."

The same year Depp left "21 Jump Street," he appeared in two wildly different films from auteur directors: John Waters' "Cry-Baby" and Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands." From there, his career skyrocketed, making him one of Hollywood's most recognizable stars. He went on to work with directors like Terry Gilliam on "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and Lasse Hallström on "Chocolat" before starring as Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," a role that earned him an Oscar nomination.

In 2022, Depp was at the center of a defamation trial involving Amber Heard, which later became the subject of a Tubi adaptation and the documentary series "Surviving Amber Heard." He is next set to play Ebenezer Scrooge in the 2026 Christmas film "Ebenezer."

Following "21 Jump Street," Holly Robinson, now Holly Robinson Peete, built a prolific television career. She briefly reprised Judy Hoffs on the short-lived "21 Jump Street" spin-off "Booker" before landing major roles on sitcoms including "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" and "For Your Love." She later had recurring roles on "Mike & Molly" and "Chicago Fire" and was one of the original co-hosts of CBS' "The Talk." 

Peete has continued working in television, including voice roles on the PBS children's series "Weather Hunters" and Disney's "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder." She has also become a Hallmark regular, starring in movies including "Christmas in Evergreen"; "Our Christmas Journey," about a single mother and her teenage son with autism celebrating Christmas; and "Holiday Heritage," about a family learning to combine Christmas and Kwanzaa.

Peter DeLuise became a jack of all trades in the entertainment industry, working both in front of and behind the camera. After "21 Jump Street," DeLuise popped up in shows including "Friends," "3rd Rock from the Sun" and "Supernatural," and appeared in 35 episodes of "SeaQuest DSV," including a Season 1 guest role before playing Dagwood in Seasons 2 and 3. He also appeared in genre movies including "Children of the Night," "The Silence of the Hams" and "Bloodsuckers."  

DeLuise had already directed three episodes of "21 Jump Street" before building an extensive career behind the camera. He spent roughly a decade working on the "Stargate" franchise as a director, writer, and producer, including directing 56 episodes of "Stargate SG-1." More recently, he directed 33 episodes of Hallmark Channel's "When Calls the Heart" and the 2020 TV movie "Love Under the Olive Tree." 

DeLuise also returned as Doug Penhall for a cameo in 2012's "21 Jump Street," alongside fellow original stars Holly Robinson Peete and Johnny Depp. TVLine previously included the film on its list of the best movies based on TV shows, noting that one reason it works is the way it turns the original series' serious police drama into a raunchy, self-referential comedy.

After "21 Jump Street," Dustin Nguyen made one-episode appearances on "Murder, She Wrote," "JAG" and "This Is Us." He also joined the main cast of "V.I.P.," the action-comedy series starring Pamela Anderson. In 2019, Nguyen was promoted to series regular for Season 2 of "Warrior," which premiered in 2020.

Nguyen also drew on his martial arts background in films including "The Rebel" and "Once Upon a Time in Vietnam," which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. He later had a cameo in "22 Jump Street" and appeared in "The Accidental Getaway Driver." His most recent film appearance as of this writing was "Double Couple Trouble," a 2026 Vietnamese comedy directed by Vũ Hà. It's about a lavish wedding that takes place directly across from a modest one.

Steven Williams reprised his role as stern Captain Adam Fuller in the "Booker" spin-off before playing mysterious informant Mr. X across several seasons of "The X-Files." He also appeared as General Vidrine on "Stargate SG-1," one of the best television shows set in space. 

Williams continued appearing in shows including "Veronica Mars," "The Bernie Mac Show," "Criminal Minds" and "iZombie," and played hunter Rufus Turner across six episodes of "Supernatural." He took on another law-enforcement role in DC's "Birds of Prey," playing Captain Erickson, and appeared in the Stephen King big-screen adaptation of "It" as Leroy Hanlon, the grandfather of Mike Hanlon. 

More recently, Williams appeared in "Snowfall," the crime drama about the crack cocaine epidemic in 1980s Los Angeles, and "FBI: Most Wanted," an "FBI" spin-off that's also a crime show similar to "Criminal Minds."

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