25 favorite ’80s and ’90s teenage heartthrobs and what they’re doing now
By Sundi Rose
Jaleel White
What made him a heartthrob: Poor Jaleel White wasn’t really a heartthrob in his role as Steven Urquel. It was only until his character drank a special potion for coolness and became Stephan Urquelle. Only then did audiences even consider him a real contender until this transformation, but once he got rid of those dumb glasses and red suspenders, he was a real smoke show.
What he’s doing now: White, a real hunk in real life, has enjoyed a pretty successful acting career. He’s made appearances on Hawaii Five-O, CSI, Atlanta, and Hollywood Darlings (as himself). He starred as Daryl in the quickly canceled CBS comedy, Me, Myself, and I, and he’s got some movies upcoming in 2019, so standby. Without the contrived affectations of Steve Urquel, he’s a perfectly pleasant actor, capable of not making you want to scratch your own eyes out.
Jaleel at his best: His breakout character, Urkel. was completely insufferable and grating, so anything is better than that. However, he’s not a bad actor, and did some good work in Drunk History. You should definitely check out the season 2 episode, “American Music.”