Jessie’s Cast Then Vs Now

     You may have watched Disney Channel as a kid, but do you ever wonder what those characters are doing now? The Walt Disney Company has been around for 97 years, and in April 1983 it launched as a premium channel! Since then, 90 different shows have been released, including Jessie, one of the most popular shows ever made.  

     Jessie started on Sept. 30, 2011, and continued until Oct. 16, 2015. Debbie Ryan played the main character, Jessie, who was the nanny for the Ross family. Ryan also played Bailey Pickett on The Suite Life on Deck, another popular Disney Channel show. Since then she has been in 15 different movies and started a singing career. However, she has gone through a few setbacks. In 2016 she was arrested for driving under the influence, and was initially charged with felony DUI but was later reduced to two misdemeanors. According to TheThings their relationship was always very secretive and under the radar. After a close friend’s passing, Ryan married her now husband, Josh Dun in 2020. 

     Ryan’s close friend that recently passed away was Cameron Boyce who she spent years working with on ‘Jesse’. Boyce played Luke Ross, a boy who was adopted from Detoriot, Michigan when he was 4 years old. Luke was the second oldest child in the Ross family after Emma. Unfortunately on July 6, 2019 Boyce passed away in his sleep due to a seizure that was a result of an ongoing medical condition. Boyce dedicated himself to charity work and raised $30,000 to build wells so people in Swaziland could have clean drinking water. “I remember waking up and seeing all the posts on social media about his death, I was so shocked to hear that he died. I grew up watching him on Disney Channel so he was a huge part of my childhood,” said Braden Kopp. 

     Peyton List was famous long before she played Emma Ross on Jessie. However the show attained millions of viewers on average per episode, so it soon became List’s biggest role at the time. Emma Ross was the oldest of the four kids, she was super into fashion and popularity. She was known as a diva and was out to reorder the world the way she wanted it. Emma spent most of her time with her younger sister Zuri, but absolutely despised Luke. After Jessie ended, List started making music and released her first music single titled, “Liar Liar.” She also has been modeling for most of her life and has played a role in 29 different movies! 

     Overall each one of these actors turned out to be very successful. Peyton List and Debbie Ryan will continue on creating more songs and starring in more movies, and Cameron Boyce left this earth with millions of fans who are so grateful for what he has done for them. 

Jessie TV Review
Photo from Common Sense Media.