Elisa Donovan starred with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Melissa Joan Hart on Sabrina, see her now at 54

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Elisa Donovan was a big star in the 1990s.

She’s best known for her role as the snobby Amber Mariens in the 1995 teen comedy Clueless, where she starred alongside Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd, and Jeremy Sisto.

And Donovan reprised her role in the TV series of the same name which aired from 1996 until 1999.

The actress then played Morgan Cavanaugh on the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch from 2000 to 2003.

And she was in the movies Roxbury and The Dog Who Saved Christmas. 

The actress attended the premiere of ‘The Housemaid’ on Monday evening, a new film featuring Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, and Brandon Sklenar.

See what the movie icon looks like now at age 54. 

She also played memorable characters like Ginger LaMonica in Beverly Hills, 90210 and Sharona on Disney Channel’s Sonny with a Chance.

Donovan appeared in the web series The Lake on TheWB.com and played the character Gayle in In Gayle We Trust on NBC.com.

Donovan had a role in the film A Golden Christmas, where she played Anna.

In 2006, she appeared in an episode of NCIS titled ‘Dead and Unburied.’ Earlier, in 1999, she was in *NSYNC’s music video for ‘Thinking of You (I Drive Myself Crazy),’ playing Joey Fatone’s love interest.

She competed on Worst Cooks in America for season 24.

Donovan and her husband, Charlie Bigelow, have been married since 2012 and are parents to their daughter, Scarlett Avery Bigelow.

In 2021 she talked to Australia’s The Morning Show about working on Clueless. 

Elisa admitted her portrayal of the spoiled Amber was largely based on girls she knew in high school who hadn’t treated her well.

‘As soon as I read [the script] I was like, “I know exactly who this person is.'” 

Elisa remembered the well-known argument between Amber and Cher (played by Alicia Silverstone), where Amber famously said ‘Whatever!’ – a line that became incredibly popular.

She explained that the scene was likely the very first one filmed for the entire movie, and it was definitely her first day on set.

Elisa explained that Alicia accidentally said ‘Haitians’ incorrectly, but the director, Amy Heckerling, liked the flub so much she decided to leave it in the movie.

Elisa explained that the moment wasn’t planned; it just happened naturally. She recalled looking at Amy, still in her character, and thinking ‘of course’ she would react that way, anticipating Amy would stop filming.

I distinctly remember Amy saying something like, “This is great, let’s keep it!” That’s a really strong memory for me.

I remember Elisa saying back then that we all just knew we were part of something special, a real success story. She even told Alicia, the lead actress, that she had superstar potential – and I totally agreed! It was clear even then that Alicia was destined for big things.

She then spoke about her co-star Brittany Murphy’s death in 2009.  

‘It’s terribly sad. She was just one of these very magical kind of people,’ she said. 

She had a vibrant, youthful creativity. I always thought of her as being like a hummingbird – full of life and delicate. It was heartbreaking when she passed away.

During the peak of her popularity in the 1990s, Elisa appeared as Morgan Cavanaugh on Sabrina: The Teenage Witch and as Ginger LaMonica on Beverly Hills, 90210.

The actress’ memoir Wake Me When You Leave, which was written after her father died of cancer. 

She explained that it’s a story about how losing him to cancer impacted both her personal life and her work, and how she dealt with the grief and eventually healed.

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2025-12-16 18:49