Neve Campbell, Matthew Fox, Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert in Party of Five. Photo / Supplied
Neve Campbell, Matthew Fox, Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert in Party of Five. Photo / Supplied
Party Of Five had a grim premise: what if a set of siblings were left orphaned after their parents' car crash? How would they cope?
And where other teen dramas might have tried to lighten the load by adding some comedic relief, for the six seasons that this series ran between 1994 and 2000, producers doubled down on the pathos.
The Salinger siblings – Bailey, Charlie, Julia, Claudia and Owen – dealt with cancer, alcoholism, San Francisco mortgages, social services and financial ruin. And they did it all together. As a family.
The immensely popular 90s teen series kickstarted the careers of stars Neve Campbell, Matthew Fox, Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert, all while serving as a launch pad for other teen stars including Jennifer Love Hewitt and Andrew Keegan.
Actor Matthew Fox struggled to land a good role after Party of Five. Photo / AP
MATTHEW FOX
Eldest Salinger sibling Charlie had dropped out of college and was working on growing an impressive beard when, in the pilot episode of Party Of Five, he learned of his parents' death.
Suddenly, Charlie became the legal guardian for his four younger siblings, and his life was turned upside down.
Only Matthew Fox, the actor who would later go on to lead the television series Lost as Jack Shephard, could imbue the role with equal parts brooding introspection and responsible eldest sibling energy.
Between Party Of Five and Lost, Fox spent the bulk of his career locked into popular, award-nominated television series.
But when Lost ended in 2007, Fox found himself adrift.
His attempts to transition into Hollywood, such as the blockbusters Speed Racer, Alex Cross and World War Z, were either box office failures or were released with Fox's scenes on the cutting room floor.
Then, in 2011 Fox was accused of assaulting a woman while filming scenes on the crime thriller Alex Cross.
Fox denied the claims, telling a magazine: "In the 46 years I've been breathing on this planet, I have never hit a woman before. Never have, never will."
In 2012, Fox was arrested for driving under the influence in his home state of Oregon.
"I was terribly embarrassed by that," he told Ellen in 2012.
"I really own that and have done every single thing the state of Oregon requires for a first-time DUI offender.
"I have learned a ton. I did four weeks of alcohol informational training. And just learned an enormous amount."
Fox still lives in Oregon to this day and has mostly retreated from public life. His most recent films were released in 2015, a pair of low-budget horror movies.
Actor Scott Wolf misses the show. Photo / Getty
SCOTT WOLF
The role of Bailey, second sibling of the Salinger family and the one who would later battle substance abuse on the show, secured Scott Wolf his big break.
Before taking on the role, his only other on screen appearance was as a waiter in Saved By The Bell.
Party Of Five sent him into the stratosphere, covering teen magazines and adorning the walls of adolescent girls across the world.
Wolf's post-Party Of Five career never quite matched that heyday.
The actor went on to star in Spin City, Everwood and, more recently, the 2019 CW reboot of Nancy Drew as Carson, Nancy's dad.
Wolf came on board after the pilot had already been filmed, which starred Freddie Prinze Jr – another 90s teen idol – in the role.
In 2019, Wolf admitted that he once cried watching old episodes of his alma mater.
"I had tears dripping down my face," he said, of watching the series.
"I totally binged. I didn't do it in order. I was just zipping around.
"It was like a family reunion. I was surprised at how emotional it still made me after all that time. I think that was the defining quality of that show. It did feel honest."
Canadian actor Neve Campbell in 2017. Photo /Getty
NEVE CAMPBELL
The 90s was the decade of Neve Campbell.
The actor, who starred as eldest Salinger daughter Julia, an intelligent and generous teenager who took on a caring role in the family, spent the mid-90s juggling filming on the television series with roles in movies like The Craft, Scream, Wild Things and Three To Tango.
Of these films, it's the Scream franchise that most cemented Campbell's position as the new plus ultra of Hollywood it girls. As Sidney Prescott, Scream's resident wonder woman, responsible for vanquishing the Ghostface killer (again, and again, and again), Campbell proved both her comedic and dramatic acting chops.
Fans of the series are overjoyed that she will be returning in Scream 5, after being convinced by the new directors that they wanted to honour the legacy of the original films and director Wes Craven's vision.
"It was just beautiful, and I was really grateful," Campbell told The Hollywood Reporter. "I had really thought that the only way I'd step into a new project with new directors is if they really wanted to honour him."
Outside of horror, Campbell has starred in Grey's Anatomy (as one of McDreamy's sisters) and House Of Cards, as well as in Skyscraper, the action thriller co-starring The Rock. Speaking to Refinery 29, Campbell has said that she once turned down 11 roles in a year, purely because Hollywood wasn't willing to be flexible to her family needs.
She has two children with her long-term partner, actor JJ Field, and all work must slot in around their schedules.
Before she started a family, Campbell spent a decade living in London, which some took as a sign that she wanted to leave Hollywood behind.
"I didn't quit the business. It wasn't about that," she has said.
"I think people made the assumption just because I wasn't showing up in things in America that I left being an artist, which I didn't … I never strove to be famous; I was going to be a dancer, I was going to be in the corps de ballet the rest of my life.
"No one teaches you how to be famous, and it's a lot to ask of someone in their teens (and) twenties. I needed to leave."
Lacey Chabert is still going strong with her acting game in Hollywood. Photo / News Limited
LACEY CHABERT
When Lacey Chabert won the role of youngest Salinger daughter Claudia she was a pre-teen … who happened to already have a starring role in a television series on her resume.
When Party Of Five started back in 1994, Chabert had already appeared in All My Children as the young Bianca Montgomery, a role she played between 1992 and 1993.
One of Chabert's biggest post-Party Of Five roles was the 2004 teen classic Mean Girls, in which she played Gretchen Wieners. (It was she who, famously, tried to make fetch happen. Unsuccessfully.)
Since then, Chabert has struck gold in two different genres: Hallmark movies and voice over work.
She has appeared in 18 Hallmark movies and a gaggle of high profile animation projects, including The Thornberries, The Rugrats Movie and Family Guy, for which she voiced Meg Griffin in season one.
In fact, Chabert's voice is in high demand. The actor has lent her vocal chords to animated movies (Anastasia, Balto 2), television series (The Spectacular Spider-Man) and video games, including Star Wars and Sonic The Hedgehog).
"I like that in voice acting you can play different characters than you can when you're on camera and you're limited by your physical being," she told Entertainment Weekly in 2014.
"The upside is you don't have to have hair and makeup. You can go in your sweats if you want – that's always a plus!"
