Some might think of the House of Wax cast and picture legendary horror movie icon Vincent Price, who led the 1953 version. However, others may picture Paris Hilton, who was one of the stars of the 2005 remake from Dark Castle Entertainment and director Jaume Collet-Sera.
The slasher flick followed a group of road-tripping twenty-somethings who, after some car trouble, are forced to seek help in a mysterious small town which is home to a museum hiding a horrifying secret underneath its astonishingly detailed wax figures. If you believe that House of Wax is one of the best horror movies of the early 2000s and have been curious what its stars have been up to since, read on.
Elisha Cuthbert (Carly Jones)
Carly, the Final Girl of the 2005 House of Wax cast, is played by Elisha Cuthbert, whose experience with horror began when she joined the Midnight Society on Nickelodeon’s family-friendly horror anthology TV show Are You Afraid of the Dark? She was previously famous for playing Jack Bauer’s daughter, Kim, on 24, and as the title role of the raunchy coming-of-age comedy, The Girl Next Door in 2004.
The Canadian actor and model went on to lead more horror movies, such as 2007’s Captive and Shudder’s The Cellar from 2022, but became better known for starring in TV comedies like the short-lived but much-loved Happy Endings and Netflix’s The Ranch. Cuthbert most recently starred opposite Josh Duhamel and Mel Gibson in the 2022 thriller, Bandit, and has a comedy called Friday Afternoon in the Universe in pre-production.
Chad Michael Murray (Nick Jones)
Playing Carly’s rebellious twin brother, Nick, is fellow model-turned-actor Chad Michael Murray, whose main claim to fame at the time was starring in the One Tree Hill cast as Lucas Scott. House of Wax was also his third movie based on a pre-existing work, after appearing in 2003’s Freaky Friday as Jake (whom he is set to reprise in the upcoming sequel, Freakier Friday) and A Cinderella Story with Hilary Duff in 2004.
Murray would also return to The CW with a recurring role alongside the Riverdale cast in 2019, having previously starred on another comic book TV show (Marvel’s Agent Carter) as a spy and having played a cop in Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station in 2013. Other projects on the actor’s agenda include his latest upcoming Netflix movie (a holiday rom-com called The Merry Gentlemen), Fortress 3 (the third installment of a straight-to-video action movie franchise he headlined with Bruce Willis), and a Western with Bruce Dern called Bad Men Must Bleed.
Brian Van Holt (Bo Sinclair/Vincent Sinclair)
The other pair of twins from House of Wax — murderous mechanic Bo Sinclair and his demented, masked wax sculptor brother Vincent — are both played by Brian Van Holt, who also played the bad guy in Man of the House the same year. Arguably the actor’s most famous role following the horror flick is Bobby Cobb on Cougar Town, opposite former Friends cast member Courteney Cox as his ex-wife, Jules.
He more recently starred in modern action movie favorite, 2018’s Den of Thieves, Fox’s short-lived Neo-Western series, Deputy, and Peacock’s dramatized account of the story that inspired Tiger King, Joe and Carole. In 2024, he starred opposite Johnny Knoxville in the sports dramedy, Sweet Dreams, and opposite Mel Gibson and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson in a cop drama called Boneyard.
Paris Hilton (Paige Edwards)
There was a viral marketing campaign for House of Wax centered around the death scene of Paige, the character played by Paris Hilton. The horror film was the reality TV star and singer’s first starring movie role before leading the 2007 comedy The Hottie & the Nottie and appearing in another horror film from 2008 called Repo! The Genetic Opera.
Outside of her hit Peacock original reality TV show, Paris in Love, Hilton’s more recent acting credits include a 2022 horror movie called Alone at Night and an animated series called Rainbow High, in which she voices herself in four episodes. She is about to release her first music album since 2006 called Infinite Icon and there is an upcoming A24 TV show based on her memoir in the works.
Jared Padalecki (Wade Felton)
Hilton also appeared as herself (more accurately, a forest god that assumed her form) in a Supernatural episode called “Fallen Idols,” opposite Jared Padalecki, who previously starred alongside her in House of Wax as Carly’s boyfriend, Wade. His 15-year-stint in the Supernatural cast as Sam Winchester also began in 2005, which also saw the end of his Gilmore Girls cast stint as Dean Forester.
The actor went on to lead another slasher — namely the 2009 reboot of the Friday the 13th movies — and followed up Supernatural by playing the title role of The CW’s Walker, Texas Ranger reimagining, Walker, which ended in 2024. Next, Padalecki is joining Fire Country for Season 3.
Jon Abrahams (Dalton Chapman)
Nick’s absent-minded best friend Dalton is played by Jon Abrahams, whose previous horror experience includes a small part in the ‘90s sci-fi movie The Faculty, the Wes Craven-produced They from 2002, and a classic spoof movie that sends up the genre called Scary Movie. He also made his acting debut in 1995’s Kids, played Robert DeNiro’s onscreen son in Meet the Parents, and reunited with Paris Hilton in 2006’s Bottoms Up.
More recently, you might have seen Abrahams in TV crime dramas liked ABC’s short-lived Stumptown and FX’s Snowfall, to name a few. He has a feature-length crime drama in post-production now called Cutman.
Robert Ri’chard (Blake Johnson)
Paige’s boyfriend, Blake, is played by Robert Ri’Chard, who was best-known at the time for sitcoms like Nickelodeon’s Cousin Skeeter and One on One, and for the Samuel L. Jackson-led sports movie, Coach Carter, which also came out in 2005. He later poked fun at sports movies in 2007’s The Comebacks and was on a few seasons of Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns, to name some of his most notable credits.
Ri’chard recently guest-starred alongside his Cousin Skeeter co-star Meagan Goode on Amazon Prime’s Harlem, has had a regular role on the UMC original dramedy The Rich and the Ruthless since 2017, and has appeared in movies like the 2023 sports biopic, Sweetwater. In 2024, he starred in a BET+ original thriller called RSVP, and has a number of upcoming projects in the works.
Damon Herriman (Lester Sinclair)
Australian actor Damon Herriman makes a memorably creepy impression in very little time as “Roadkill Driver,” who is revealed to be Bo and Vincent’s brother, Lester, at the very end of House of Wax. He would later channel that same energy into two performances as notorious cult leader Charles Manson on Netflix’s Mindhunter and in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood cast in 2019.
Some of Herriman’s other notable credits include his recurring role in the Justified cast as Dewey Crowe, a great horror movie that addresses grief called Run Rabbit Run, and the star-studded 2024 drama The Bikeriders. He is set to reprise his role as Quan Chi in the upcoming 2025 movie, Mortal Kombat 2, and that same year he will star in a horror TV show called The Bondsman.
We figured this list of the House of Wax cast members’ career achievements was a better way to show our appreciation than preserving them in wax.
