Elisa Donovan was a big star in the 1990s.
Her most celebrated hit was the high school comedy Clueless from 1995 where she played mean girl Amber Mariens next to Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd and Jeremy Sisto.
And Donovan reprised her role in the TV series of the same name which aired from 1996 until 1999.
The redheaded star next appeared as Morgan Cavanaugh in the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch from 2000 until 2003.
And she was in the movies Roxbury and The Dog Who Saved Christmas.
The beauty stepped out on Monday evening to the premiere of The Housemaid which stars Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar.
See what the movie icon looks like now at age 54.
Elisa Donovan was a big star in the 1990s; now she is 54
Her biggest hit was the high school comedy Clueless from 1995 where she played mean girl Amber Mariens next to Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Jeremy Sisto
Here she is seen far left with Murphy center and Silverstone right
Other roles included starring as Ginger LaMonica on Beverly Hills, 90210 and Sharona on Disney Channel’s Sonny with a Chance.
Donovan starred in the web series, The Lake on TheWB.com. She played Gayle in the web series In Gayle We Trust on NBC.com.
Donovan had a role in the film A Golden Christmas, where she played Anna.
In 2006, she played a guest role in the NCIS episode Dead and Unburied. She was featured in ‘N Sync’s 1999 music video for Thinking of You (I Drive Myself Crazy) as the love interest for Joey Fatone.
She competed on Worst Cooks in America for season 24.
Donovan has been married to her husband Charlie Bigelow since 2012 and they have a daughter, Scarlett Avery Bigelow.
In 2021 she talked to Australia’s The Morning Show about working on Clueless.
When asked if anybody in particular had inspired her portrayal of spoiled rich girl Amber, Elisa said: ‘I have to admit I pretty much based that character on some girls I knew from high school, who weren’t very nice to me!
Seen right with Dash left in the hit movie
Seen in a red outfit with Silverstone behind her
Donovan spoke about her co-star Brittany Murphy’s (center) death in 2009. Pictured with Silverstone and Dash
‘As soon as I read [the script] I was like, “I know exactly who this person is.'”
Elisa then recalled the famous debate scene between Amber and Alicia Silverstone’s character, Cher, in which Amber dropped the now-famous ‘Whatever!’ catchphrase.
‘I think that was the first scene that we shot in the entire film. And it was certainly my first scene and it was the first day,’ she said.
Elisa added that Alicia had unintentionally mispronounced the word ‘Haitians’, but the mistake was kept in the film because the director, Amy Heckerling, loved it.
‘That was not scripted; that was just something that she did,’ Elisa said. ‘And I remember looking at her in character like “of course” and I expected Amy to cut.
In the Clueless TV series in 1996 with, from left, Sean Holland, Rachel Blanchard, Stacey Dash, and Donald Faison
Donovan during the There’s Something About Mary premiere in Los Angeles in 1998
The redheaded star next appeared as Morgan Cavanaugh in the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch from 2000 until 2003
‘Then Amy was like back there, “This is amazing, we’re going to leave it in.” That is definitely what I remember a lot.’
Elisa said she knew at the time they were all working on a successful project, and remembers telling leading lady Alicia she was going to be a big star.
She then spoke about her co-star Brittany Murphy’s death in 2009.
‘It’s terribly sad. She was just one of these very magical kind of people,’ she said.
‘She had such an energy about her that was really just young and creative. Kind of always like a humming bird is how I looked at her. She just was precious. It was terribly sad.’
The beauty stepped out on Monday evening to the premiere of The Housemaid which stars Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar
The Hollywood vet looked slender in an emerald green gown with a black feathered shawl
At the height of her fame in the ’90s, Elisa also starred as Morgan Cavanaugh in Sabrina: The Teenage Witch, and as Ginger LaMonica in Beverly Hills, 90210.
The actress’ memoir Wake Me When You Leave, which was written after her father died of cancer.
‘It is about how losing him to cancer affected my life and career, and how I kind of went through the grief and recovered,’ she said.