Where original 21 Jump Street cast are now 40 years after show launched Johnny Depp to stardom
The Jump Street franchise may now be best known for the film series starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, but once upon a time it was known as the TV show which launched the career of Johnny Depp.
Depp actually appeared in 21 Jump Street briefly reprising his role as Officer Tom Hanson before his character was shot.
Now, Hill and Tatum are set to return for an upcoming sequel titled 24 Jump Street, returning to the franchise after 12 years away.
Though the duo were both well-known prior to 21 Jump Street it definitely helped solidify their place as rising stars, just as it did for Depp in the 1980s.
Advert
He is not, however, the only familiar face to have appeared on the show, and is not even the only person to have returned to their role for the film. Several of the actors on the show have gone on to have successful careers and that isn’t even including major actors who made small appearances in the series such as Brad Pitt, Josh Brolin, Christina Applegate, Shawn Levy, Thomas Haden Church, and Vince Vaughn, all of whom appeared in just one episode.
Johnny Depp – Tom Hanson
Everyone knows that Depp starred in 21 Jump Street, but a lesser known part of the story is that he actually tried to get himself fired from the set.
Frustrating with being typecast as a ‘teen star’ and being contractually forced to star in anti-drug PSAs whilst himself struggling with substance abuse, he trashed his trailer to try and get fired.
He has stated he was ‘in a prison, creatively’, and wanted to be let go from his contract despite it paying $45,000 an episode, eventually leaving the show after a fourth season. He went on to be nominated for three Oscars and become a household name – but disappeared from the spotlight after allegations he abused Amber Heard, leading to a high profile legal trial.
Depp is now dipping his toe back into Hollywood after years away, having been cast in an upcoming adaptation of A Christmas Carol as Scrooge alongside Rupert Grint, Ian McKellen, and Daisy Ridley.
Holly Robinson Peete – Judy Hoffs
Holly Robinson Peete stars alongside Depp as Judy Hoffs, and even made a brief cameo in the film to return as her character.
She has been working as an actor essentially ever since, but her success has not reached the heights of Depp’s.
The actor has appeared mostly in Hallmark movies and network shows such as Mike & Molly, Like Family, Love Inc, and Hanging with Mr Cooper.
There had been rumours her and Johnny Depp dated during the show, but she has stated that this never happened as she kept to a strict rule about dating co-stars. She has been married to NFL player Rodney Peete since 1995, and the pair have four children together.
Speaking about her time on Jump Street with FOX, Robinson Peete: “The show was a blessing. We were tackling topics that nobody else was tackling. It was just super ahead of its time, whether it was LGBT, guns in school. We were ahead of our game.”
Dustin Nguyen – Harry Truman Ioki
Nguyen is the biggest member of the original cast to not appear in the 21 Jump Street film, though he did have a brief cameo in the post-credits montage of 22 Jump Street.
Nguyen was born in Vietnam and there was even an episode of Jump Street about Harry’s experience escaping the country which was based on the real actors life. He starred in Little Fish opposite Cate Blanchett but mostly didn’t have great success until he left Hollywood and moved back to Vietnam in 2007. He had appeared in a Vietnamese film The Rebel, which was a huge success, and was convinced to move back and be part of the country’s film renaissance.
Speaking to Variety he said: “I made a decision to just move and hope for the best. I opened a production company there, and I started directing and producing and telling stories that I really wanted to do, and never looked back.”
He returned to appearing in Hollywood films in 2025 after being spotted having appeared as a cameo in This Is Us, something that came about through links to 21 Jump Street and a desire to shoot episodes in Vietnam. He has since appeared in Warrior and Dope Thief.
He told Variety: “Jump Street, that was the jackpot for me, in terms of having a character like that.
“Back then, it was really difficult to find parts for Asian Americans… Some actors on Warrior came up to me on my first day on the set, and told me how inspired they were seeing me on ‘21 Jump Street.’ That just meant a lot to me."
Peter Deluise – Doug Penhall
Deluise joined Depp in returning for the 2012 film, reprising his role as Doug Penhall.
He still works regularly in Hollywood but has taken up more of a career behind the camera rather than in front of it.
This includes a lot of work on Sci-Fi shows, particularly in the Stargate universe where he writes and directs.
In returning as Doug Penhall however that was apparently a condition of Johnny Depp’s return, who stated he would only make a cameo if they also were able to bring in Deluise.
He is the son of an actor, Dom DeLuise, and told the LA Times of auditioning for roles: “When I first started making the rounds, everyone expected me to be a younger version of my father. They already had a preconceived notion. But I don't think I could come close to what he does. He's a master. What I do is special and different.”
Steven Williams - Captain Adam Fuller
Williams plays Captain Fuller, taking over control of the Jump Street squad in season one after the previous captain is killed.
Despite his character not receiving as much focus as the others considering he rarely went undercover, Williams has arguably had the most successful career outside of Depp.
He went on to star in The X Files, the 2017 It, and had already had a role on The Blues Brothers when he appeared on 21 Jump Street.
Add to that a small role in Supernatural and Williams has had a pretty stacked career outside of 21 Jump Street and continues to work regularly to this day.
Prior to his career as an actor he was in the army, becoming a US Army Divisional boxing champion, and has two children and six grandchildren.
Speaking about the show, he looked back with fondness, saying: "It was such a socially conscious show. We won quite a few awards for it.
"A lot of these storylines were taken straight from the headlines, straight from news, and it imparted a lot of information to a lot of young people."
Topics: Johnny Depp, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, TV and Film, Nostalgia
Michael Slavin