Alicia Silverstone, 49, Still Captivates Fans Nearly 30 Years After ‘Batman & Robin’
Alicia Silverstone started acting at a very young age. Her first credited role was on the TV show The Wonder Years in 1992, where she played Kevin’s high school “dream girl” in the episode “Road Test”.
Soon after, she made her movie debut in the 1993 thriller The Crush. In the film, she played a teenage girl who seeks revenge on an older man who rejects her. Silverstone was only 15 at the time and had to become legally emancipated so she could work long hours on set. Her performance earned her two MTV Movie Awards in 1994 for Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Villain. She also appeared in small TV movies such as Torch Song, Cool and the Crazy, and Scattered Dreams.
Her early film work caught the attention of music video director Marty Callner, who cast her in Aerosmith’s “Cryin’” video. In it, she famously got a navel piercing, which many say helped make the trend popular.
Silverstone also appeared in Aerosmith’s “Crazy” and “Amazing” videos. Amy Heckerling, director of Clueless, saw these videos and decided Silverstone was perfect to play Cher Horowitz, a spoiled but lovable teen in Beverly Hills.
Clueless became a huge hit in 1995, and Silverstone received awards from MTV, the Kids’ Choice Awards, and the American Comedy Awards. Columbia-TriStar signed her to a deal worth $8 to $10 million and gave her a three-year first-look deal for her production company, First Kiss Productions.
After Clueless, Silverstone acted in several movies, including Le Nouveau monde, Hideaway, and The Babysitter in 1995. She starred in True Crime in 1996, then took on a major studio role as Batgirl in Batman & Robin (1997).
The movie was a commercial success, making $238 million worldwide on a $160 million budget, but critics disliked it and considered it one of the worst films ever made. Silverstone won a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress, although she also received a Kids’ Choice Award for the same role. She later said the experience was difficult but did not stop her from continuing to work in Hollywood.
Silverstone’s production company released Excess Baggage in 1997, which had a modest box office performance. She went on to star in Blast from the Past (1999) and Love’s Labour’s Lost (2000), exploring a mix of independent and theater work. In 2001, she began voicing the lead character in the animated series Braceface, which ran until 2003. She also performed on Broadway in The Graduate and took on smaller films and TV projects, including Miss Match and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
In the 2010s, Silverstone returned to theater and independent movies, appearing in plays such as Time Stands Still and The Performers. She reunited with Amy Heckerling in Vamps (2012) and took roles in Butter, Angels in Stardust, and King Cobra. She also appeared in films like The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Tribes of Palos Verdes. On television, she starred in American Woman and Netflix series like The Baby-Sitters Club and Masters of the Universe: Revelation.
Beyond acting, Silverstone is known for her activism. She became a vegan in 1998 after attending an animal rights meeting, saying, “I realized that I was the problem … I was an animal lover who was eating animals”. She has supported animal rights, environmental causes, and has written books about vegan living, including The Kind Diet and The Kind Mama.
Silverstone was married to musician Christopher Jarecki from 2005 until their divorce in 2018. They have one son together. She lives a more private life now but continues to work in film, TV, and theater.
She is also producing content, including documentaries. Although Batman & Robin brought her criticism, Silverstone’s career has survived and evolved over three decades, showing her talent beyond her early teen stardom. Today, she remains active in acting and advocacy, balancing new projects with her longtime commitment to social causes
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