'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' Cast Then and Now: Photos

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Kevin Sorbo first won our admiration playing Hercules on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys back on January 16, 1995. The series ran for six seasons and amassing tons of followers until it ended on November 22, 1999. Thankfully, though, it spawned two spinoffs in the form of Xena: Warrior Princess and Young Hercules. But what is the iconic show’s cast up to now? Let’s investigate!

Well, before Hercules: The Legendary Journeys took off, it was preceded by a number of TV movies featuring the same characters. These, of course, included Hercules and the Amazon Women, Hercules and the Lost Kingdom, Hercules and the Circle of Fire, Hercules in the Underworld and Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur.

It was at this point that the cast — which also included Michael Hurst, Tawny Kitaen and the late Kevin Smith — were catapulted to fame. Michael, 62, played Hercules’ sidekick, Iolaus; Tawny, 58, played Hercules’ beautiful wife, Deianeira; and Kevin — who passed away in 2002 at the age of 38 in 2002 — played Hercules’ half-brother Ares.

While we explore the trio who are still with us in the below slides, let’s take a look at the career Kevin — who hailed from New Zealand, where the show was filmed — had after it ended. He seemed to make the shift into movies, landing a high-profile role in Tears of the Sun opposite Bruce Willis. Sadly, though, he never got to play the part. He was tragically killed in an accident while visiting a film set in Beijing.

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys spawned a wave of numerous other shows set in ancient times and with characters from either mythology or legend. Despite us living in the era of the reboot and revival, there hasn’t been much word on whether or not we’ll see this series brought back to life. That said, we should probably never say never.

Scroll down to see the cast of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys now, 25 years after the show first aired!

Kevin Sorbo

Though the titular Greek hero labored through encounters with the Hydra and hellhound Cerberus, Kevin, hasn’t had to work too hard to find a role. He’s starred on TV’s Andromeda, appeared on shows from Dharma & Greg to Supergirl, directed the movie Let There Be Light and was cast in over 50 movies, most notably God’s Not Dead.

Tawny Kitaen

After her turn as Herc’s ill-fated wife Deianeira, Tawny engaged herself with the reality shows The Surreal Life, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and Botched…and had some real-life drama with charges of spousal abuse, cocaine possession and a DUI. However, she’s recently starred in the streaming series Moms Anonymous.

Michael Hurst

While Iolaus played sidekick to Hercules, Michael showed that he could easily take the lead — whether directing episodes of Legend of the Seeker, Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Ash vs. Evil Dead or becoming a mainstay of the New Zealand stage through such one-man shows as No Holds Bard and, now, An Iliad.