Photo: Warner Bros./courtesy Everett
WhenEmpire Recordscame out in 1995, working at an indie record store seemed like the most enviable job around.
The coming-of-age film follows the employees of a Delaware-based record store over the course of one day and stars the likes of Liv Tyler, Renée Zellweger and Ethan Embry.
Over 25 years after its release here is what the cast of Empire Records has been up to since that fateful Rex Manning Day.
Liv Tyler as Corey Mason
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Not long after the film’s release, she landed a supporting role inHeavy(1995) as Callie, a young waitress, and followed it with the Italian arthouse filmStealing Beauty(1996),where she played an American teenager in Tuscany. She finished out the ’90s with roles inThat Thing You Do!(1996),Armageddon(1998) andCookie’s Fortune(1999).
Tyler is a supporter ofUNICEFand theWomen’s Cancer Research Fund— for which she has collaborated with her mother, Bebe Buell, and grandmother, Dorthea Johnson. Tyler and Johnson also co-authoredModern Manners: Tools to Take You to the Top, a contemporary handbook on etiquette.
The star married Spacehog rocker Royston Langdon in 2003, and welcomed a son,Milo William, in 2004. They split in 2008 and Tyler got engaged to sports managerDave Gardnerin 2015. She and Gardner share a son and a daughter:Sailor GeneandLula Rose.
Renée Zellweger as Gina
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WhenRenée Zellwegerplayed Corey’s wild-child best friend, Gina, she had just appeared in two other ’90s classics —Dazed and Confused(1993) andReality Bites(1994). In the years following, Zellweger led the cast ofJerry Maguire(1996),theBridget Jones’s Diarymovies (2001, 2004, 2016) andChicago(2002), and won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role inCold Mountain(2003). After starring inMy Own Love Song(2010) as a former musician who was paralyzed, Zellweger took a six-year hiatus from acting.
In 2019, Zellweger starred asJudy Garlandin the eponymous biopicJudy(2019), for which she won theAcademy Awardfor Best Actress and scored aGrammynomination for best traditional pop vocal album. Three years later, she starred on and executive-produced NBC’s true crime dramedy,The Thing About Pam, based on the 2011 murder of Betsey Faria.
An activist too, Zellweger has supported the 2005 HIV prevention campaign of the Swiss federal health department as well asThe GREAT Initiative, a gender equality organization. In 2011, the actress partnered withTommy Hilfigerto design a purse to raise money for theBreast Health Institute.
Anthony LaPaglia asJoe Reaves
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Before the Australian-born Anthony LaPaglia played Joe — the Empire Records owner trying to wrangle his employees to save the store — he had appeared inSo I Married an Axe Murderer(1993) andThe Client(1994).
In the years following, LaPaglia only continued to build his résumé. He played inSpike Lee’sSummer of Sam(1999) and asFidel CastroinCompany Man(2000). In 2013, he appeared in the film adaptation ofStephen King’sA Good Marriage(2014) alongside Joan Allen, and in 2017, an installment of theAnnabellehorror franchise —Annabelle: Creation— as doll-maker Samuel Mullins.
He has also made a name for himself as a voice actor, lending his talent to theHappy Feetmovies (2006, 2011) as Boss Skua, a short-tempered bird. He also voiced an owl named Twilight inLegend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole(2010) and the infamously bald villain, Lex Luther, inAll-Star Superman(2011).
LaPaglia has enjoyed a rich career on the small screen as well.He starred on the second season of ABC’s legal thrillerMurder One, CBS police drama seriesWithout a Traceand Netflix’sFlorida Man.Plus, he popped up on eight episodes ofFraiseras Daphne’s brother, Simon Moon (and won a PrimetimeEmmyfor it).
On stage, LaPaglia appeared in Broadway productions ofThe Rose Tattooin 1995 andLend Me A Tenorin 2010. In 1998 he took home theTony Awardfor best actor in a play as Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’sA View from the Bridge.
The actor shares a daughter, Bridget, with his ex-wife Gia Carides, whom he divorced in April 2015 after 17 years of marriage. In 2018, he married German actress Alexandra Henkel.
Robin Tunney as Debra
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Robin Tunney shaved her head to play edgy store clerk Deb — which meant she had to wear a blonde wig to star in her next film:The Craft(1996). She went on to act in movies likeNiagara, Niagara(1997),End of Days(1999),Vertical Limit(2000) andThe Burning Plain(2008). In 2018, she led the cast ofLooking Glass, starring oppositeNicolas Cage.
Tunney is an avid poker player and, in 2006, won her table in the eighth tournament of Bravo’sCelebrity Poker Showdown. Although fellow actor Jason Alexander trumped her in the final round, Tunney scored a whopping $200,000 and donated her winnings toThe Children’s Health Fund.
The actress has been engaged to interior designer Nicky Marmet since 2012, and the couple shares two children:Oscar HollyandColette Kathleen.
Ethan Embry as Mark
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Embry was featured inThat Thing You Do!,Vegas Vacation(1997),Can’t Hardly Wait(1998),Reese Witherspoonbox office smash rom-comSweet Home Alabama(2002),Vacancy(2007) and played astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. in Damien Chazelle’sFirst Man(2018). He stood out on the small screen with roles like Rhode Island state trooper Declan Griggs onBrotherhoodand the real Pete Murphy inSneaky Pete.Embry also played Coyote Bergstein, one of Frankie’s sons, onGrace and Frankie.
He married actress Amelinda Smith in 1998, and they welcomed a son, Cogeian Sky, the following year. Embry and Smith divorced in 2002, and he married actress Sunny Mabrey in 2005. They divorced in 2012 but remarried in 2015.
In 2017, Embryopened up on Twitter about his opiate addictionand encouraged others to seek help when needed. He revealed he had been drug-free for six years.
Rory Cochrane as Lucas
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When he played Lucas — the clerk who gambles (and loses) a day’s worth of profits — Rory Cochrane was already a familiar face from his role as Ron Slater, a stoner, inDazed and Confused. A year before the release ofEmpire Records, he was featured alongside future co-star Zellweger inLove and a .45. (1994).
Johnny Whitworth as A.J.
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After playing A.J., the store manager who was seriously hung up on Corey, Johnny Whitworth scored a supporting role inFrancis Ford Coppola’sThe Rainmaker(1997) and portrayed Vernon Gant inLimitless(2011). Whitworth also played Marvel supervillain Blackout inGhost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance(2012).
The actor scored recurring roles on The CW’sThe 100, NBC’sBlindspotandCSI: MiamialongsideEmpire Recordscostar Cochrane.
Brendan Sexton III as Warren
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Brendan Sexton III played the would-be shoplifter who notoriously claims his name isWarren Beatty. Before his role, Sexton had only appeared in the indie faveWelcome to the Dollhouse(1995).
He went on to feature in John Waters’Pecker(1998), Boys Don’t Cry (1998)andBlack Hawk Down(2001). Sexton has also appeared on AMC’sThe Killingand Netflix’sRussian Dollas Horse. He’s slated to play Granny Boy in Nick Cassavetes’God Is a Bullet(2023).
Sexton owns and runs a New York City-based independent record label: Big Bit of Beauty.
Maxwell Caulfield as Rex Manning
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For a different generation, Maxwell Caulfield is best known for leading the cast ofGrease 2as Sandy’s cousinMichael Carrington. For ’90s kids, however, Caulfield will forever be Rex Manning — the washed-up ’80s idol of “Say No More, Mon Amour” fame who makes an ill-fated appearance at the store.
He is no stranger to the stage, either. Caulfield has appeared in numerous Broadway, Off-Broadway and West End productions, includingChicago, Cactus FlowerandHangmen.
Since 1980, Caulfield has been married to actress Juliet Mills, daughter of actor Sir John Mills and sister to actressHayley Mills. He is stepfather to Mills' two children, Melissa and Sean.
Debi Mazar as Jane
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A longtimefriend of Madonna,Debi Mazaralready had an impressive résumé before joining the cast ofEmpire Recordsas Jane. Career highlights included appearing in several ofMadonna’s music videos (“True Blue” anyone?) and bit parts inGoodfellas(1990) andBatman Forever(1995) as evil henchwoman Spice (oppositeDrew Barrymore’s Sugar). Her real breakout moment, though, was on ABC’sCivil Warsin the early ’90s.
Since 2002, she has been married to celebrity cookGabriele Corcos, with whom she hosted the Cooking Channel seriesExtra Virgin. The couple shares two daughters,Evelina Maria and Giulia Isabel, andmoved their family to Italy.
source: people.com
