Where Is the Cast of “Smash ”Now? A Look at the Stars' Careers Over a Decade After the Show Ended

More than a decade after the series finale of Smash aired in 2013, the cast has gone on to work on a number of different projects from the stage to the screen.

Smash may have only aired for two seasons, but there’s no question that in the years since it wrapped, it’s gone on to become a cult favorite. The short-lived NBC musical drama about a troubled Broadway-bound production has provided a generation of musical theater kids with audition and karaoke songs and drag queens with crowd-pleasing numbers.

Now, a musical inspired by the show is officially on Broadway — and several stars from the TV series reunited at the April 2025 premiere at the Imperial Theater in New York City.

Debra Messing, Christian Borle, Ann Harada, Will Chase, Andy Mientus, Wesley Taylor and Skye Maddox were all there to celebrate and to cheer on Krysta Rodriguez, who is the only member of the TV show's cast to appear in the new musical.

"I am so excited. I saw an early workshop of it and I cried through the whole thing," Messing told PEOPLE at the premiere. "It was always in the stars for it to come to Broadway. Those songs were just too good not to be heard. And now it's a huge reunion for all of us from the original, so it's the best night ever."

With the series now streaming on Peacock, even more fans are discovering the show today.

So what are the stars from Smash up to today? Here's a look at where the cast of the beloved musical show is now.

Debra Messing as Julia Houston

Best known for her starring role in Will & Grace — for which she won a 2003 Emmy — Debra Messing entered a period in which she starred in films like The Wedding Date and the 2008 remake of The Women in the mid-2000s and early 2010s.

In 2012, however, she returned to full-time series television, taking on the role of Julia Houston, one of the co-writers behind Smash’s musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe.

After the show ended in 2013, Messing appeared in a few more films — 2014’s Like Sunday, Like Rain, 2018’s Searching — and starred in NBC’s short-lived The Mysteries of Laura before reprising her role as Grace Adler in the 2017 Will & Grace reboot.

Since then, she has appeared in the 2020 political comedy Irresistible, directed by Jon Stewart, and made a memorable cameo as herself in 2022’s Bros. More recently, Messing starred opposite Robert De Niro in director Barry Levinson’s 2025 crime drama Alto Knights.

During a 2020 livestream that reunited the Smash cast, Messing told PEOPLE that if a reboot of the show were to film in New York, “I’m in.”

Messing married actor and screenwriter Daniel Zelman in 2000. The couple welcomed a son, Roman, in 2004. In 2011, Messing and Zelman separated and their divorce was finalized in 2016.

Jack Davenport as Derek Willis

A mainstay of British TV, Jack Davenport also appeared in 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, several films in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and starred opposite Messing in The Wedding Date, before taking on the role of musical theater director Derek Willis in Smash.

He has continued to work steadily in film and TV since the series ended, most notably appearing in 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service and in guest roles on American TV shows like The Good Wife, The Mindy Project, The Morning Show and season 2 of Dr. Death.

Davenport has been married to Scottish actress Michelle Gomez since 2000. The couple have one son, born in 2010.

Katharine McPhee as Karen Cartwright

Katharine McPhee rose to fame in 2006 as the runner-up on the fifth season of American Idol. She released three albums and appeared in films like The House Bunny and shows like Ugly Betty and Community before landing a starring role as Karen Cartwright, a New York newbie vying for the role of Marilyn Monroe in Smash’s in-world musical Bombshell.

In the years since, McPhee has continued to make music, releasing three albums between 2015 and 2023. She’s also appeared in movies like Bayou Caviar and The Tiger Rising, and starred on the CBS action drama Scorpion from 2014 to 2018. That same year, she made her Broadway debut starring in Waitress, reprising the role in the show’s West End production the following year before returning to Broadway. Most recently, she appeared on The Masked Singer in 2021 alongside record producer husband David Foster.

In 2022, McPhee launched a her KMF Jewelry collection, which led to a collaboration with HSN.

McPhee’s first marriage to Nick Cokas lasted from 2008 to 2016. She married Foster in 2019, and the couple welcomed a son, Rennie, in 2021.

Megan Hilty as Ivy Lynn

Megan Hilty brought some major Broadway cred to the role of Ivy Lynn in Smash. Before taking on the role, she starred as Glinda in the Broadway production of Wicked from 2005 to 2006, originated the role of Doralee Rhodes in the 2009 Broadway musical adaptation of 9 to 5 and starred in the 2012 Broadway revival of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Following Smash’s cancellation, she starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom Sean Saves the World with Will & Grace’s Sean Hayes.

In the years since, she’s appeared on The Good Wife and spinoff The Good Fight, and done a ton of voice work in animated films and TV shows like Sofia the First, T.O.T.S. and Centaurworld.

Hilty returned to the stage in 2015, starring in the Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun. The following year, she appeared in the Broadway revival of Noises Off, earning her first Tony nomination for best featured actress in a play. In 2021, she appeared in NBC’s Annie Live!, and most recently originated the role of Madeline Ashton in a musical adaptation of Death Becomes Her.

Hilty has been married to fellow actor Brian Gallagher since 2013. In 2014, the couple welcomed a daughter Viola, followed by a son, Ronan, in 2017.

Christian Borle as Tom Levitt

Another Broadway veteran and multiple Tony nominee, Christian Borle’s pre-Smash credits included roles in Jesus Christ Superstar, Footloose, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Spamalot, Legally Blonde and Mary Poppins. In 2012, he won his first Tony for his role in Peter and the Starcatcher.

After starring in Smash as composer Tom Levitt, Borle had recurring roles in The Good Wife and Masters of Sex and appeared in NBC’s Peter Pan Live!. In 2015, he won his second Tony for his role as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten!.

He earned Tony nominations for his roles in the 2016 revival of Falsettos and 2023’s Some Like it Hot, and starred as Willy Wonka in the 2017 Broadway adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Borle married fellow Tony winner Sutton Foster in 2006. The couple divorced in 2009, but have reportedly remained friendly.

Raza Jaffrey as Dev Sundaram

Before joining the cast of Smash as Karen’s boyfriend Dev, British Raza Jaffrey got his start on the London stage. He appeared in the West End production of Mama Mia! in 2001 and had also appeared in long-running British TV shows EastEnders and Casualty.

Since 2013, Jaffrey has had recurring roles in American TV shows like Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Elementary and Homeland. From 2018 to 2021, he starred in a recurring role in Netflix’s Lost in Space reboot, and since 2022 he has starred in Starz’s The Serpent Queen.

Jaffrey was married to actress Miranda Raison from 2007 to 2009. In 2014, he married actress Lara Pulver. The couple have two children.

Anjelica Huston as Eileen Rand

Model, actress, director, author, Academy Award winner and all-around Hollywood icon Anjelica Huston’s pre-Smash résumé goes on forever, but highlights include 1987’s The Dead (her director father John Huston’s final film) and 1991’s The Addams Family.

Following her role as Broadway producer Eileen Rand in Smash, Huston had a recurring part on Transparent and as the voice of a character on BoJack Horseman. She re-teamed with Anderson to provide the narration for 2021’s The French Dispatch, and appeared as The Director in 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Huston will reprise her John Wick role in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, which is set for a June 2025 release.

She has also written two memoirs, 2013’s A Story Lately Told about her early life and 2014’s Watch Me which covers her career in the entertainment business.

Following high-profile relationships with Jack Nicholson and Ryan O’Neal in the 1970s and '80s, Huston married sculptor Robert Graham in 1992. The couple remained together until Graham’s death in 2008.

Brian d'Arcy James as Frank Houston

Another Broadway vet, Brian d’Arcy James first stepped onto the Great White Way in the 1993 musical Blood Brothers, and did time in Carousel, Titanic, Sweet Smell of Success and other productions in the ’90s and early 2000s before winning a Tony in 2009 for his lead role in Shrek the Musical.

After playing Julia’s husband and high-school chemistry teacher, Frank Houston, in Smash, James went on to star alongside Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams in the Oscar-winning 2015 film Spotlight.

His subsequent film credits also include director Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game and 2019’s Dark Phoenix. In 2021, he starred as Officer Krupke in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story and has continued to appear on Broadway in Hamilton, The Ferryman, Into the Woods and opposite Smash costar Borle in Something Rotten. Most recently, he starred in Days of Wine and Roses.

James shares a daughter with wife Jennifer Prescott.

Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Strickland

A Tony and Grammy winner and a two-time Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee, Leslie Odom Jr. first appeared on Broadway in 1998 in the cast of Rent during the beloved musical’s original 1996–2008 run. He’d also appeared in guest and recurring roles on numerous TV series — including CSI: Miami, Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy and Supernatural — before joining the cast of Smash as Bombshell cast member Sam Strickland.

Odom returned to Broadway in 2015, winning a Tony for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton, and has since starred in Purlie Victorious and Gutenberg! The Musical!.

His film appearances since Smash have been relatively few, but certainly high impact. He was among the star-studded casts of 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express and 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. He starred alongside fellow Tony winner Cynthia Erivo in 2019’s Harriet, scored an Oscar nomination for his supporting role as Sam Cooke in One Night in Miami... and starred in the Sopranos spinoff film The Many Saints of Newark in 2021.

Since 2014, Odom has released five albums, including 2023’s When a Crooner Dies.

Odom married actress Nicolette Kloe Robinson in late 2012. In 2017, the couple welcomed a daughter, Lucille, and in 2021, their son Phineas was born.

Will Chase as Michael Swift

Will Chase also came to Smash with an extensive list of Broadway credits. Like Odom, he appeared on Broadway in Rent in 1998, as well as Miss Saigon, The Full Monty and Aida before returning to Rent in the role of Roger in 2005. In 2013, he earned a Tony nomination for his role in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

After playing Bombshell star — and Julia’s ex — Michael Swift in Smash, Chase appeared in Nashville as country music star Luke Wheeler from 2013 to 2018. His extensive TV credits also include guest and recurring roles on The Good Wife, The Deuce, Stranger Things and Madam Secretary. In 2021, he starred in the Hulu limited series Dopesick alongside Michael Keaton.

In 2024, Chase returned to Broadway for the first time since starring in the 2019 revival of Kiss Me Kate when he played Sir Harry in a new production of Once Upon a Mattress.

Chase is the father of two children, Daisy and Gracie, from his first marriage to Lori Davis, who died in 2008. Chase reportedly began dating musician Ingrid Michaelson in 2015.

Jaime Cepero as Ellis Boyd

After playing conniving personal assistant Ellis Boyd in Smash, Jaime Cepero went on to appear in two 2015 films: I Am Michael and Daddy. Cepero also appeared in 2017’s Dating My Mother and in an episode of the 2020 pandemic series Connecting…

The actor, writer and activist has appeared in Broadway productions of Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair and Porgy and Bess, according to Broadway World, and has written two musicals, Francois and The Rebels and A Punk Rock Ritual as well as song cycle, Songs About Anxiety. Cepero, who uses they/he pronouns, was also featured on Playbill’s Songwriter Series.

Read the original article on People