Sam Emerson/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock Before girlbossing was a thing, there wasThe Baby-Sitters Club. Based onAnn M. Martin's beloved book series, thecoming-of-age storyfollows seven preteen girls who open a day camp to expand their babysitting business while navigating crushes, family drama, friendship and responsibility (of course). Debuting on Aug. 18, 1995, the movie helped raise a generation by treating kids like real people and celebrating different versions of girlhood. "Just the idea of kids being able to make their own money — have their own business — that's powerful stuff,"Rachael Leigh Cook, who played Mary Anne, said inVulture's oral history of the filmin July 2020. "It grabbed me as a kid, and I think it grabs people now." The young stars behind the club have gone on to pursue all types of paths since theirBSCdays, and Netflix has sinceadapted the story of these seven friendsinto an eponymous series starringAlicia Silverstoneas Kristy's (Sophie Grace) mom. In honor of the film's 30th anniversary, let's check in with the OG cast who once got this unforgettable chant stuck in our heads: "the brain, the brain, the center of the chain." Sam Emerson/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock; John Sciulli/Getty Type-A tomboy Kristy was played bySchuyler Fisk— the daughter of actressSissy Spacekand production designer Jack Fisk, who was 11 years old working on her first major film role (and first credit without involvement from her parents). "It was actually accidental how I got cast inBaby-Sitters Club," Fisktold Yahoo! Entertainmentin 2022. "My cousin was working for the director [Melanie Mayron], and they had their lead fall through. Randomly, he was like, 'My cousin's acting,' so I put myself on tape and got the part. It was one of those random coincidences where things lined up for me." She added, "My parents let me do it — they weren't going to ruin my career that much! But they also weren't taking me out to auditions in L.A. and that whole thing." FollowingThe Baby-Sitters Club, Fisk continued to act, appearing inSnow Day(2000),Orange County(2002),The Best of Me(2014) andSam & Kate(2022). She has starred alongsideLea Thompsonon Hallmark+'sThe Chicken Sisterssince 2024. In addition to acting, Fisk is also a folk singer, having released three studio albums and three EPs. In 2012, Fisk married production designer Chapman Bullock. Sam Emerson/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock; Jon Kopaloff/Getty Cook made her acting debut inThe Baby-Sitters Clubas the smart but shy Mary Anne, a role she credits with launching her career. "I loved those books, and I could not believe I got cast in that movie," she said in her 2020 interview onCollider Ladies Night. "Honestly, if I hadn't gotten that role, I don't think we'd be talking today, 'cause I don't think I would've gotten anywhere. So, I am beyond grateful forThe Baby-Sitters Club." After playing Mary Anne, Cook had a recurring role onDawson's Creekin 1999 — playing the character inspired by Joey (Katie Holmes) in Dawson Leery's (James Van Der Beek) film — and then starred alongsideFreddie Prinze Jr.in the teen romanceShe's All Thatthat same year. Cook landed major parts inJosie and the Pussycats(2001),Antitrust(2001) andNancy Drew(2007). She also appeared in Netflix's 2021 reboot,He's All That, starringAddison Rae. No stranger to rom-coms and holiday films, the actress has starred in Netflix flicks such asLove, Guaranteed(2020) andA Tourist's Guide to Love(2023), as well as Hallmark movies likeA Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas(2019),Cross Country Christmas(2020),'Tis the Season to Be Merry(2021) andRescuing Christmas(2023). Cook is set toreunite with former costar Prinze Jr.in 2025 in the upcoming holiday filmThe Christmas Affair. In August 2004, Cook marriedThe Vampire DiariesactorDaniel Gillies. She gave birth to her first child,Charlotte Easton Gillies, in September 2013, and a son,Theodore Vigo Sullivan Gillies, in April 2015. The pairseparated after nearly 15 years of marriagein 2019 andfinalized their divorcein 2021. Pete Tangen/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock; Gregg DeGuire/Getty Of all the actresses to appear inThe Baby-Sitters Club, Oleynik might have been the best-known when the movie first hit theaters in August 1995: She starred on the Nickelodeon seriesThe Secret World of Alex Mack, which had debuted in October 1994. However, even with her rising star, the friendships she formed on theBSCset left a mark on the actress. "I am on a text chain with all of the Baby-Sitters. I've made some lifelong friendships fromThe Baby-Sitters Club," she said during aNetflix Family interviewin July 2020. "I just remember that was a super magical summer for a lot of us." Oleynik would go on to play the love interest ofJoseph Gordon-Levitt's character on both3rd Rock from the Sunand in the 1999 teen rom-com10 Things I Hate About You. She has had recurring roles on series such asPretty Little Liars,Hawaii Five-0,Mad Men,The Healing Powers of Dude,TrinketsandEric & Aaron.Oleynik also voiced several characters onWinx Club. For its 30th anniversary, Oleynik appeared on thePod Meets Worldpodcast in June 2025 and discussed how some of the film adaptation's storylines have translated in modern times, including the love story and age gap of Bre Blair's Stacey andChristian Oliver's Luca. According to Oleynik, Blair was actually 14 at the time, too, and Oliverfelt bad about "having to kiss" herfor their scene. "He [Oliver] was like 19," Oleynik said during the episode. "He and I had worked on something together recently, and he was like, 'I was so uncomfortable. Being like a 19-year-old man amidst all of these 13-year-old girls.' " On the plotline and age difference, Oleynik continued, "That's the one huge hole. It really is. I'm like, wow. I don't think we can dig ourselves out of that one," before describing her formerBSCcostar Cook as "the coolest." "She felt like a teenager to me," Oleynik said of Cook, who was 15 at the time of filming. Sam Emerson/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock; Facebook Tricia Joe, who played fashion maven Claudia, quit acting afterThe Baby-Sitters Club, having only appeared on-screen in three works before.According to her Facebook, Joe earned a degree in dance from Fullerton College in 1999. Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection; Manny Carabel/Getty Blair played sophisticated big-city girl Stacey and ended up growing close with her castmates off-screen, which mirrored the film's main focus on female friendship. "There was a lot of bonding happening, and we were all very different, mind you ... just as people. We were all very different personalities," the Canadian actress told Vulture in 2020. "In most movies, you can't find a scene where two girls talk about something other than a boy, right? But inTheBaby-Sitters Club, you could. In a weird way, these candy-colored G-rated books, somehow, were really relatable to women, even as adults." Since then, Blair has appeared in a handful of movies, including 1999'sCherry Fallsand 2025'sGunslingersand has had an extensive TV career with appearances onCSI: Crime Scene Investigation,What About Brian,The Unit,Brothers & Sisters,90210,Make It or Break It,Game of Silence,Station 19,Alert: Missing Persons UnitandS.W.A.T. Columbia/courtesy Everett Collection; Stacy Linn Ramsower/Instagram Stacy Linn Ramsower had a big year in 1995: Not only did she appear in the post-apocalyptic comic-book adaptationTank Girland the WesternThe Quick and the Dead, but she also brought the bookish Mallory to life on-screen inThe Baby-Sitters Club. Looking back, she told Vulture in 2020 that the cast's real-life connection helped fuel the story's heart: "Through every scene, we were becoming closer — becoming these characters who were driven and excited and struggling and just really loved each other." Beyond 1995, however, Ramsower has only one minor movie credit. She has left show business for a career as a doula in Tucson, Ariz.,according to her website, Dark Art Mother Studio. Ramsower has two children. Pete Tangen/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock; Jon Kopaloff/Getty Unlike most of her former costars, Zelda Harris had appeared in major films before and after the premiere ofThe Baby-Sitters Club. She previously starred as Troy inSpike Lee's 1994 filmCrooklynbefore taking on the role of ballet dancer Jessi — a character she admits was far from her natural type. "I am so different from Jessi. She's very prim and proper, very collected. In a lot of ways, she's the opposite of who I am," Harris told Vulture in 2020. "But I remember [thinking]:How do I explain that I'm perfect to play Jessi because I'm a girl who believes in herself? I'm a girl with a can-do attitude.I think that's the spirit behind these books and the corresponding fandom." FollowingBSC, she appeared on ABC'sSecond Noahin the mid-'90s and in Lee's 1998 filmHe Got Game. Harris later graduated from Princeton in 2007. Shetold The Cutin 2021 that she now works as a teacher. Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection; Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Importantly,Marla Sokoloff's character was not part of the Baby-Sitters Club. Cokie served as an antagonist for the club members, and Sokoloff had the mean-girl cred for the role: She'd previously played Gia, Stephanie Tanner's (Candace Cameron Bure) bully-turned-buddy onFull House. Since then, Sokoloff appeared in a slew of TV movies and films likeWhatever It Takes(2000),Dude, Where's My Car?(2000) andThe Merry Gentlemen(2024), as well as on episodes ofParty of Five,The Practice,Desperate Housewives,Big Day,The FostersandGrey's Anatomy. She also reprised Gia on 11 episodes ofFuller House. Sokoloff married musicianAlec Puroin 2009. In 2022, theywelcomed their third child, daughter Harper Bea, who joined sistersElliotte AnneandOlive Mae. Sokoloff has also blogged about parenting for PEOPLE, interviewing fellowBaby-Sitters Clubstar Cook about motherhood in 2013. "I can't wait tomake our kids watchThe Baby-Sitters Clubwith us someday and try to make them understand that we were young once, too," Cook told Sokoloff. Read the original article onPeople