The comic book was first published in 1963 Josie and the kitties, an Archie Comics production that ran until 1982 and led to the release of a cartoon show produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on Saturday mornings. In 2001, the story of this female band was filmed again, this time for the silver screen. This is how Josie and the kitties premiered, a musical comedy starring Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson, three of the most popular actresses of the time.
Josie and the kitties features Josie, Melody and Val, three teenagers with a common dream: to position their band among the most popular of the time. Though the girls’ goal seems unattainable, things take a turn when they run into Wyatt, a MegaRecords executive who offers them a deal and propels them to fame almost immediately. As much as they enjoy their newfound fame and popularity, these young musicians run into trouble when they discover that the record label is using their music to spread subliminal messages to encourage teens to buy various products, and as if this situation doesn’t exist. It’s complicated enough, the label is trying to wreak havoc between them, potentially ending the band’s journey.
Although the soundtrack of this film, written and directed by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, turned out to be quite successful, the film was not so lucky: due to a weak performance in theaters, Josie and the kitties became a blockbuster, which did not return as much as the money invested in its production. Despite that and despite mixed reviews from critics, this comedy gained a huge cult following over the years and the reviews improved quite a bit. Most of the cast of Josie and the kitties still works in the industry. Here’s a look at their latest projects.
Rachel Leigh Cook
Rachel Leigh Cook stars inside Josie and the kitties as Josie, the band’s singer and guitarist and at the same time the one who is most hesitant about the label’s proposal. By the time this movie came out, Cook had become quite famous among young audiences for her role in She’s it allthe 1999 film in which she teamed up with Freddie Prinze Jr.
Over the years, the actress remained active, especially in feature films and TV movies. In 2021 she appeared in He is all that, a remake of the movie that made her famous, directed by Mark Waters and starring Addison Rae and Tanner Buchanan. She was also part of it Ghost Halloween: The Movie, David Poag’s directorial debut in which she starred alongside Christopher Lloyd and Marla Gibbs. Her latest project to date is A tourist guide to lovea Netflix romcom that premiered last April.
Tara Reid
Tara Reid is Melody Valentine, a pretty absent-minded animal lover who serves as the drummer for The Pussycats. Like Leigh Cook, Reid also rose to fame a few years before the musical comedy came out for her role as Vicky in American pie, a role she reprized in two of the sequels. In 2013, she became even more popular with her role in the Sharknado film series, starring Ian Ziering.
In recent years, Reid has mainly worked in films, appearing in projects such as Attraction to Paris And Sally Floss: Digital Detective. This year, she stepped into the role of director for the horror film Air Force Z.
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson rounds out The Pussycats as Val, the band’s bassist and young girl who proves she can’t mock. By then, she was taking her first steps in the industry, appearing in films such as Children And He got gameand over the years she became part of ever larger projects, such as Men in Black II, sin city, And Zoo workerto name a few.
Over the years, Dawson kept busy with both film and television. She joined the cast of The Mandalorian And Boba Fett’s book Play Ahsoka Tano, a character who will star in her own series on Disney+ in August. She has also been active in film, participating in feature films such as Space Jam: A New Legacy And Clerks III. She is expected in this year Haunted housea horror comedy by Justin Simien in which she will play the lead role alongside LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson and Danny DeVito, among others.
Gabriel Mann
Gabriel Mann plays Alan M., a young guitarist who is in love with Josie, but takes too long to show it. After showing up Josie and the kittiesthe actor starred in a few film projects, until the 2014 movie Cesar Chavez, which is the latest in his repertoire so far. By that time, Mann was already famous for his role as Nolan Ross in the TV series Revenge and as the years passed, he decided to focus his efforts mainly on TV productions.
His latest major projects to date are the Netflix thriller miniseries What if and the TV series about superheroes Batwomana production in which he played Tommy Elliot/Hush in a recurring role. Batwoman got cancelled in early 2022 after three seasons on the air.
Miss Pyle
Miss Pyle is a well known face in the film industry and has been involved in very popular projects such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The artist, And Missing girl. Over the years she has acted in both film and television and has been involved in projects across all genres. One of the most notable is the 2019 horror movie Monstarring Octavia Spencer, and A tourist guide to loveagain sharing cast with Rachael Leigh Cook.
Pyle has been very active on TV over the past year, landing roles in series like Y: The last man And A Dark & Grimm story. In Josie and the kittiesplays Pyle Alexandra, the twin sister of The Pussycats’ manager, who insists on accompanying them everywhere, despite having absolutely nothing useful to offer in return.
Alan Cumming
By the time he played villainous promoter Wyatt Frame Josie and the kitties, Alan Cumming was already known in the industry thanks to his work in film, television and theatre. The same year this musical comedy was released, Cumming made his dramatic comedy directorial debut The Anniversary Party, in which he co-starred, wrote and directed with Jennifer Jason Leigh. Over the years, the actor and filmmaker continued to play various roles in popular projects, such as the 2022 films My father’s dragon And Marlowejust to name a few of his more current ones.
That same year, he reprized his role as Eli Gold The good fightthe spin off of The good womanand joined the cast of Horrible and the invisible citya series that follows the main characters of the animated film Terrible. In January, his latest project, the reality TV series, premiered The traitorsin which he acts as host.
Parker Posey
Parker Posey plays Fiona, CEO of MegaRecords and the mastermind behind the manipulation of teens through subliminal messages in music. By the time this musical comedy was released, Posey had already been in the industry for a few years, starring in several indie films of the era. Throughout the years, she remained involved in the industry, taking on roles that eventually earned her nominations for Golden Globe Awards and Independent Spirit Awards, among others.
In recent years, the actress has been cast in a number of highly popular productions, including the miniseries HBO Max The stairs and Ari Aster’s highly anticipated film Beau is scared, released last April. Posey is currently working on two upcoming projects, the horror comedy The parenting and the TV series Mr. and Mrs. Smith, based on the 2005 blockbuster movie starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. None of these projects have a set release date yet.
Donald Faison
By the time he starred as a DJ in this musical comedy, Donald Faison was already quite well known thanks to his roles in movies like Ignorant And trippingalthough the same year that Josie and the kitties was released, he would become even more famous by starring in the TV series scrubsa production that aired until 2010.
In recent years, Faison has been less active in the industry than usual, although he did participate in some TV projects such as The L Word: Generation Q And Legends of tomorrow. He is expected to appear as Professor Utonium in the live-action adaptation of the children’s show The Powerpuff Girlsalthough not much is known about this project yet.
Seth Green
In the film by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, Seth Green plays Travis, one of four members of the boy band DuJour, and by then Green was already known for playing Scott Evil in the Austin Powers movies, among other projects. Throughout his career, he mainly worked in TV productions and appeared in series like Cross swords And Star girl, the superhero show that aired for three seasons. However, he was also cast in several movies and voiced Howard the Duck in a number of MCU productions.
Green is also a co-creator, co-producer, writer and director of the TV series Robot Chickenan animated production that was critically acclaimed, and in 2019 he took the lead Land of changea comedy-drama directed, written and acted by him.
Breckin Meyer
Rounding out this list is Breckin Meyerwho in it Josie and the kitties plays Marco, another member of the boy band DuJour. Like Faison, Meyer was fairly well known at the time for his role in Ignorantand over the years he starred in productions in various genres.
Meyer has not been very active in the industry in recent years, but has participated in some relevant projects. Among them it is worth mentioning Seth Green’s film Land of change And Unpregnantas well as the TV series The solution And Good girls. Land of change is not the only project in which he worked with Green afterwards Josie and the kitties: Meyer also participates Robot Chickenexpressing different characters and serving as a writer.