MSCL alumni on VH-1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I know that VH-1 already did a similar list last June (100 Greatest Child Stars), but they decided to do another ranking of the 100 Greatest Teen Stars, and three MSCL alumni were featured!

Wilson Cruz was #90, AJ Langer was #62, and Claire was #49.

The blurb on Claire focused on how convincing she was on MSCL and included interviews with Wilson Cruz and AJ Langer commenting on the show as well as Claire. The segment talked about how Claire's popularity soared after Romeo+Juliet. AJ mentioned that when they were filming MSCL, Claire had a crush on Leonardo di Caprio and said that might have had something to do with why Claire agreed to do Romeo+Juliet. Wilson said MSCL was one of the most realistical teen shows and predicted that Claire will win an Oscar one day. AJ talked about how incredible it was to watch Claire act on MSCL. The entire segment was pretty brief, but it made me go awwww!

The rest of the list:
1. Molly Ringwald / Sixteen Candles
2. Rob Lowe
3. Britney Spears
4. Anthony Michael Hall / Sixteen Candles
5. Shannen Doherty / Beverly Hills, 90210
6. David Cassidy / Partridge Family
7. Winona Ryder / Heathers
8. Corey Haim
9. River Phoenix
10. Matt Dillon
11. N'Sync
12. Alicia Silverstone / Clueless
13. Michael J. Fox / Family Ties
14. Brooke Shields
15. Kirk Cameron / Growing Pains
16. Donny Osmond
17. Sarah Michelle Gellar / Buffy the Vampire Slayer
18. Scott Baio / Happy Days
19. Lindsay Lohan
20. Debbie Gibson
21. Tiffany
22. John Cusack / Say Anything
23. Tori Spelling / Beverly Hills, 90210
24. Jennifer Love Hewitt
25. Corey Feldman
26. Joey Lawrence
27. The Backstreet Boys
28. Matthew Broderick / Ferris Bueller's Day Off
29. Leif Garrett
30. Alyssa Milano / Who's The Boss?
31. Leonardo DiCaprio
32. Dustin Diamond / Saved By the Bell
33. Rick Schroder / Silver Spoons
34. Ally Sheedy / The Breakfast Club
35. Jason Priestley / Beverly Hills, 90210
36. Willie Aames / Eight is Enough
37. Brandy / Moesha
38. Tom Cruise / Risky Business
39. Tracey Gold / Growing Pains
40. Andrew McCarthy / Pretty in Pink
41. Jennie Garth / Beverly Hills, 90210
42. Irene Cara / Fame
43. Tiffani-Amber Thiessen / Saved By the Bell
44. Shaun Cassidy
45. Zach Galligan / Gremlins
46. Christina Aguilera
47. Jason Bateman
48. Usher
49. Claire Danes / My So-Called Life
50. Kristy McNichol / Little Darlings
51. Chad Allen / Our House
52. Neve Campbell / Party of Five
53. James Van Der Beek / Dawson's Creek
54. Ilan Mitchell Smith / Weird Science
55. Phoebe Cates / Fast Times at Ridgemont High
56. Mackenzie Phillips / One Day at a Time
57. Melissa Sue Anderson / Little House on the Prairie
58. Mark Paul Gosselaar / Saved By the Bell
59. Justine Bateman / Family Ties
60. Christina Applegate / Married With Children
61. Susan Dey / The Partridge Family
62. AJ Langer / My So-Called Life
63. Glenn Scarpelli / One Day at a Time
64. Christian Slater / Heathers
65. Meredith Salenger / Dream a Little Dream
66. Will Smith
67. Hilary Duff
68. Lawrence Monoson / The Last American Virgin
69. Jami Gertz / Square Pegs
70. Helen Slater / Supergirl
71. Jennifer Jason Leigh / Fast Times At Ridgemont High
72. Jon Cryer / Pretty in Pink
73. C. Thomas Howell / The Outsiders
74. Lisa Bonet / The Cosby Show
75. Neil Patrick Harris / Doogie Howser, M.D.
76. Christopher Atkins / The Blue Lagoon
77. Jason London / Dazed & Confused
78. Brian Austin Green / Beverly Hills, 90210
79. Lynn Holly Johnson / Ice Castles
80. Ralph Macchio / The Karate Kid
81. Sean Penn / Fast Times At Ridgemont High
82. Katie Holmes / Dawson's Creek
83. Donavan Freberg / Encyclopedia Britannica commercials
84. Ione Skye / Say Anything
85. Ralph Carter / Good Times
86. Maureen McCormick / The Brady Bunch
87. LL Cool J
88. Kenan Thompson / Good Burger
89. Nicole Eggert / Charles in Charge
90. Wilson Cruz / My So-Called Life
91. Melissa Joan Hart / Clarissa Explains it All
92. Deborah Foreman / Valley Girl
93. Jack Wild / HR Pufnstuf
94. John Francis Daley / Freaks and Geeks
95. Jessica Biel / 7th Heaven
96. Robert Romanus / Fast Times at Ridgemont High
97. William Zabka / The Karate Kid
98. Helen Hunt / Desperate Lives
99. Lee Curreri / Fame
100. Patrick Dempsey / Can't Buy Me Love

And just for comparison's sake, this is the 100 Greatest Child Stars that VH-1 put out last year:
1. Gary Coleman (Diff'rent Strokes)
2. Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone)
3. Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen (Full House)
4. Jodie Foster (Taxi Driver, Freaky Friday)
5. Drew Barrymore (E.T.)
6. Emmanuel Lewis (Webster)
7. Ron Howard (The Andy Griffith Show)
8. Corey Feldman (Stand by Me, Goonies)
9. Maureen McCormick (The Brady Bunch)
10. Danny Bonaduce (The Patridge Family)
11. The Jackson Five
12. Brooke Shields (Pretty Baby)
13. Jonathan Lipnicki (Jerry Maguire)
14. Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon)
15. Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains)
16. Dustin Diamond (Saved by the Bell)
17. Molly Ringwald (16 Candles)
18. Ricky Schroder (The Champ, Silver Spoons)
19. Keshia Knight Pulliam (The Cosby Show)
20. Christopher Knight (The Brady Bunch)
21. Joey Lawrence (Gimme a Break!)
22. Barry Williams (The Brady Bunch)
23. Kim Fields (The Facts of Life)
24. Henry Thomas (E.T.)
25. Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Home Improvement)
26. Corey Haim (Lucas, The Lost Boys)
27. Fred Savage (The Wonder Years)
28. Alyssa Milano (Who's the Boss?)
29. Valerie Bertinelli (One Day at a Time)
30. Lisa Whelchel (The Facts of Life)
31. Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie)
32. Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show)
33. New Edition
34. Susan Olsen (The Brady Bunch)
35. Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster)
36. Linda Blair (The Exorcist)
37. Jaleel White (Family Matters)
38. Sara Gilbert (Roseanne)
39. Sarah Jessica Parker (Square Pegs)
40. Todd Bridges (Diff'rent Strokes)
41. Anthony Michael Hall (16 Candles)
42. Mike Lookingland (The Brady Bunch)
43. Mindy Cohn (The Facts of Life)
44. Joey McIntyre (New Kids on the Block)
45. Butch Patrick (The Munsters)
46. Tina Yothers (Family Ties)
47. Leann Rimes
48. David Faustino (Married ... with Children)
49. Kristy McNichol (Family)
50. Danielle Brisebois (All in the Family)
51. Tempest Bledsoe (The Cosby Show)
52. Michael Fishman (Roseanne)
53. Mayim Bialik (Blossom)
54. Quinn Cummings (The Goodbye Girl)
55. Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years)
56. Danny Pintauro (Who's the Boss?)
57. Danielle Spencer (What's Happening!!)
58. Brian Bonsall (Family Ties)
59. Kirsten Dunst (Interview with the Vampire)
60. Jason Bateman (Silver Spoons)
61. Eve Plumb (The Brady Bunch)
62. Wil Wheaton (Stand by Me)
63. Peter Billingsley (A Christmas Story)
64. Lara Jill Miller (Gimme a Break!)
65. Heather O'Rourke (Poltergeist)
66. Jill Whelan (The Love Boat)
67. Jonathan Ke Quan (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
68. Michael Oliver (Problem Child)
69. Edward Furlong (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
70. Jerry O'Connell (Stand by Me)
71. Erin Moran (Happy Days)
72. Jason Hervey (The Wonder Years)
73. Adam Rich (Eight is Enough)
74. Tatyana Ali (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
75. Elijah Wood (Avalon)
76. Robbie Rist (The Brady Bunch)
77. Diane Lane (A Little Romance)
78. Peter Ostrum (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
79. Menudo
80. Justin Henry (Kramer Vs. Kramer)
81. Nancy McKeon (The Facts of Life)
82. Lance Kerwin (James at 15)
83. Jeremy Miller (Growing Pains)
84. Raven-Symone (The Cosby Show)
85. Scott Schwartz (The Toy, A Christmas Story)
86. Shannen Doherty (Little House on the Prairie)
87. Jackie Earle Haley (The Bad News Bears)
88. Cynthia Nixon (Little Darlings)
89. Amy Linker (Square Pegs)
90. Kris Kross
91. Dana Plato (Diff'rent Strokes)
92. Lecy Goranson (Roseanne)
93. Anna Paquin (The Piano)
94. Jenna Von Oy (Blossom)
95. Alfonso Ribeiro (Silver Spoons)
96. Alison Arngrim (Little House on the Prairie)
97. Christina Ricci (Mermaids)
98. Hanson
99. Lacey Chabert (Party of Five)
100. Candace Cameron (Full House)

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I still haven't seen the Wilson Cruz segment, but I transcribed the other two segments!

AJ Langer #62

(MSCL still from the pilot set to "Girl All the Bad Guys Want" by Bowling for Soup)

Voiceover (the annoying Rachel Perry): She was the one you didn't want your daughter hanging with - AJ Langer as Rayanne Graff on the mid90s teen drama My So-Called Life.

Old MTV Clip of AJ wearing a black MSCL t-shirt: Hi, I'm AJ Langer from My So-Called Life.

Jorge Ramon (Teen People): I think she was the most fun to watch because she was such a train wreck. She was always getting in trouble.

(still of AJ wearing a black long sleeved shirt with MSCL logo while sitting on the ground with one leg in a pool)

AJ: As a teenager, Rayanne represents everything that you wish you could do and be.

Wilson Cruz: She wasn't afraid of anything: about wearing anything, about doing anything, about saying anything. She was just balls to the walls.

VO: But her reign was short lived. The network committed a tv felong by cancelling My So-Called Life after just one season.

Old clip of AJ with her hair in two braids and wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt at the beach: Even though it went out early, it kinda went out on top. It's kinda become like a legend kind of thing.

VO: AJ then tried a tv comeback in ill-fated series like 1999's It's, Like, You Know, 2001's Three Sisters, and the recently departed Eyes.

AJ: I've had a run of them, of just great shows with potential that just their life gets a little cut short.

VO: Not that she's dwelling on it. In 2005, the thirty-something AJ married a real life Prince Charming, British lord Charles Courtenay.

AJ: He lives in a castle. It's grey stone, turrets, a flag. I'm Lady Courtenay and he's going to be the next Earl of Devon.

Wilson Cruz: I'm just thrilled that she's happy and that she's found the love of her life.

Claire Danes #49

VO: In the grunge era, no teen star was more real than, like, Claire Danes in My So-Called Life.

Lori Majewski (Teen People): I loved My So-Called Life because it was a fantastic show and it had everything to do with Claire Danes.

Wilson Cruz: I thought it was some of the most brutally honest acting I have seen on tv.

old MTV clip of Claire: Thank you for your time.

VO: Claire was totally believable as a 15 year old, mostly because she was 15 years old.

(footage of Claire doing a cartwheel wearing a pink fuzzy short sleeved sweater and overalls)

1995 MTV clip of Claire: Often the issues that Angela is going through are isues that I'm going through in my own life.

AJ: Claire was the angst-ridden teen and she was completely open to sharing it. It was amazing to watch.

(clips of fans holding up signs for Claire outside TRL)

VO: Despite critical acclaim and rabid fans, My So-Called Life was cancelled after one season, but Claire did earn a Golden Globe.

Claire Danes' Golden Globes acceptance speech: Thank you. It's a huge honor to be, you know, acknowledged at such a young age. Thank you.

(stills of Romeo+Juliet set to Calling All Angels by Train)

VO: In 1996, Claire starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in a modern movie version of Romeo and Juliet, which put her in the teen star stratosphere.

Clip from Romeo+Juliet of Claire doing the balcony scene: Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight til it be morrow.

AJ: She had a huge crush on Leo when we were filming way back. I don't know if she still had the crush when they booked the role but I have a feeling it had something to do with the chemistry.

VO: Claire's been busy ever since. She's moved on to more grown up roles and managed to work a Yale education into her schedule.

Claire talking on the red carpet at the Romeo+Juliet premiere: I want to fit it all in if I can.

VO: Which for this New Yorker means being a fashion plate, and with 2005's Shopgirl a bonafide leading lady.

Wilson Cruz: I think Claire is going to win an Oscar. If not this year, very soon. I think that's where she's headed.