1 / 10

Love Jones (1997) - When the film first came out on March 14, 1997, to critical acclaim and box-office success, Love Jones not only opened a new chapter for Black cinema (no violence, no drugs), but also the conventions of the romantic comedy. So what happened next for the promising young stars of this classic film? On the film's 20th anniversary, we pay them a visit.(Photo: New Line Cinema)

Photo By Photo: New Line Cinema

2 / 10

Nia Long - At just 27, Nia stole the show in her first leading lady role as gifted photographer Nina Mosley in Jones. Since then, she's enjoyed an illustrious career on TV and in the movies, starring in such hits as Boiler Room, two Best Man movies and Third Watch. Plus, a fulfilling personal life with her two children and her NBA player honey, Ime Udoka. Most recently, she starred alongside Idina Menzel in the Lifetime film Beaches, and has starred in several other box office smashes including The Best Man Holiday, The Single Moms Club and Keanu.(Photo:  Jonathan Leibson/FilmMagic)

3 / 10

Larenz Tate - After surprising everyone with his softer side as the love-struck young poet Darius Lovehall, Tate really flexed his range with the lead role in the Frankie Lymon biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love, as Quincy Jones in Ray and on three seasons of the FX hit Rescue Me. Tate recently had a dual role, playing both cop and con, in BET's original movie Gun Hill and starred in Showtime's House of Lies until 2015. He is currently set to star in the upcoming season of the HBO series Power. (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

4 / 10

Isaiah Washington - Despite his dozens of film credits, Washington will always be best known as gifted surgeon Dr. Preston Burke on the hit show Grey's Anatomy, and also for his controversial discharge from the series. For a few years after that, Washington involved himself in advocacy for the African republic of Sierra Leone, raising money and awareness to fight illness and poverty there, but made his return to Hollywood with acclaimed performances in the indie dramas Blackbird and Blue Caprice. He is currently starring in the TV series The 100. (Photo: Terrence Jennings/Picturegroup)

5 / 10

Lisa Nicole Carson - After a string of memorable big-screen roles following Jones (Eve's Bayou, Devil in a Blue Dress) and simultaneous roles on two hit network dramas — E.R. and Ally McBeal — Carson's promising future evaporated when she succumbed to an "undisclosed mental illness." Though there's been no official word on what ails her, Carson did make a quiet appearance for the DVD release of Ally McBeal in 2009, and most recently, appeared in the BET miniseries The New Edition Story. (Photo: Jim Smeal/WireImage)

Photo By Photo: Jim Smeal/WireImage

6 / 10

Bill Bellamy - After some success on the big screen in such movies as Any Given Sunday and How to Be a Player, Bellamy went back to his comedy roots with Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes? on TV One. The comedian currently does stand-up around the country. On the acting front, he's starred in Kindergarten Cop 2 and The Bounce Back in 2016. (Photo:  John Shearer/Getty Images for John Varvatos)

7 / 10

Khalil Kain - Following his role as Marvin Cox in Jones, Kain went on to star in the beloved series Girlfriends for six seasons and as Tiger Woods in Showtime's television biopic of the disgraced golfer. He recently had a supporting part in Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls. He is set to star in an upcoming project later this year titled Misguided Behavior. (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

8 / 10

Leonard Roberts - As Larenz Tate's pal Eddie Coles, Roberts snagged one of the most memorable lines in the whole film ("Poetry is the possibility of language.") Since then, he's kept himself busy with steady roles in film and TV, including a lead in Drumline and recurring characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Heroes. In 2016, he starred in the popular FX series American Crime Story and is set to star in Headgame later this year.(Photo:  Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

9 / 10

Bernadette L. Clarke - Unlike her co-stars, Clarke (now known as Bernadette Speakes) didn't parlay her role as record store manager Shiela Downs into an acting career, opting instead to go behind the camera and start a production company with her husband. She directed the stage musical PHI'LA in 2009. In 2013 and 2014, respectively, she starred in the shorts The Championship Rounds and Still Here and is currently filming a project titled Branded.(Photo: John Photography)

10 / 10

Theodore Witcher (Director) - After scoring a critical and commercial hit his first time out of the gate with Love Jones, writer-director Theodore Witcher never worked in Hollywood again. His only other credit is writing the 1998 thriller Body Count, starring Forest Whitaker and Ving Rhames. The blogosphere mentions "personal problems" as one reason for his long hiatus, but we're still hoping for a comeback.(Photo: New Line Cinema)