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Kids of the '90s had plenty of shows to get hooked on, from Boy Meets World pourClarissa Explains It All pourPokémon. But you didn't have to be a '90s kid to recognize the massive pop culture impact ofMighty Morphin Power Rangers, which spawned toys, movies, and continuation series and reboots that continue to this day. Adapted from the Japanese series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger,Power Rangers cast new actors to don the costumes from the original show—and few made as strong an impression as Amy Jo Johnson, who starred as Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart. Now 51, the actor-turned-filmmaker has had quite a career over the past few decades. Read on to see Johnson now, and to find out what she's been up to since the '90s.

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Don't let this ruin your childhood: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was largely repurposed from an existing series, specifically the Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger installment of Japan's long-running Super Sentai la franchise. To create the U.S. version, producers cast new actors, including Johnson. In a 2020 interview with IndieWire, the actor said that she was just 18 and had been in Los Angeles for six months when she landed herbreakthrough role.

Playing Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart was a major step forward for the then-unknown Johnson. She appeared on the series from 1993 to 1995, then chose to leave after the 1995 feature film Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. As she told IndieWire, she had aspirations of bigger and better things, but felt held back by her association with the campy kids show.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb

"At that time [I was] 22, 23 [and] I was like, 'I'm going to be a star. I'm going to Julia Robert," she said. "And I felt like, for at least the first year or two [after leaving the series] it was very hard to get a role because they're like, 'Oh, that's the girl from Power Rangers.'"

Those of us who grew up in the '90s likely remember Johnson from TV movies like Disney's Suzie Q and NBC's Corps parfait, in which she played a gymnast struggling with an eating disorder. As far as she's concerned, however, the opportunity to prove herself didn't come until she was cast on the series Félicité in 1998, she told IndieWire.

For the first three seasons of the hit WB drama—like Power Rangers, a '90s staple—Johnson starred as Julie Emrick, a close friend of Felicity, played by Keri Russell. Johnson left the series of her own volition to cope with the death of her mother, as sherevealed to Page Six in a 2018 interview. "[My mom] got sick when we were doing the pilot and then that summer when we were filming she passed away," Johnson said. "It was just sort of this like rollercoaster ride for me emotionally for two years. I think I just needed to go fall apart somewhere."

Series co-creator J.J. Abrams wrote Johnson off the show, but not before making her promise she'd come back for the end. She stayed true to her word, and appeared as a special guest star in Félicité's fourth and final season in 2002.

You may have caught Johnson making appearances on a number of TV shows in the early 2000s, including Euh etSpin City. But Johnson's longest TV run was actually on the Canadian crime dramaPoint de rupture, on which she played Jules Callaghan for five seasons, from 2008 to 2012. She and husband Olivier Giner welcomed a daughter the same year Point de rupture premiered—Johnson filmed while pregnant, though her character was written off for several episodes while she was on maternity leave.

Now, Johnson seems pretty focused on other creative pursuits. She wrote and directed the 2017 film The Space Between, which was crowd-funded. Johnson credits the fans of Power Rangers etFélicité for helping her make it happen. "I raised the money by the support of these kids who are now adults who have just followed me on my ride through … all the shows I've done," she told IndieWire.

More recently, Johnson directed 2019's Tammy's Always Dying. Now based in Toronto, she told Page Six, "It's my passion now—all I want to do is write, direct and be a filmmaker. I love it and I love doing it in Toronto as well. I find that city to be quite nurturing and comforting. I don't feel overwhelmed. I was very overwhelmed in Los Angeles and I don't feel that there."

Johnson est peut-être plus intéressé à être derrière la caméra que devant cela ces jours-ci, mais elle ne craint pas son passé, y compris son passage en tant que ranger rose. Johnson apparaît régulièrement dans les conventions des fans, qui, selon elle, a aidé à financer son cinéma au-delà du financement participatif de son premier long métrage.Power Rangers Les fans "se sentent comme le carburant du moteur deMa nouvelle carrière», a-t-elle déclaré à Refinery29 dans une interview de 2019." Il est vraiment alimenté par l'amour et la passion de ces gens pour ce spectacle. Je rencontre des gens à travers ces conventions et je fais également passer le mot que j'écris, réalise et réalise maintenant. "

Dans la même interview, elle a appeléMighty Morphin Power Rangers Un "mauvais spectacle terrible" qui était "ringard", mais a également reconnu que l'énorme impact étant que le rangeur rose avait sur sa vie - et l'impact du spectacle sur tant de jeunes qui ont grandi dans les années 90.

"En regardant en arrière maintenant, c'était un tel cadeau qui est tombé sur mes genoux. C'est vraiment cool à quel point cela a affecté positivement tant d'enfants", a déclaré Johnson à Refinery29. "J'entends des histoires de personnes dont les parents ont divorcé et c'était leur sursis de cette douleur. J'ai rencontré ce type nommé Matt lors de la dernière convention où j'étais. Il a dit quand il était enfant,Power Rangers était son meilleur ami parce qu'il était tellement victime d'intimidation. Puis il me regarde et il dit: «Merci d'être là avant de savoir rire. C'était juste la chose la plus douce que tout le monde m'a jamais dit. "

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