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Twenty four years ago, Do The Right Thing changed the face of black Hollywood. Spike Lee created a masterpiece; a movie that showcased race relations, while capturing the true essence of Brooklyn, New York City. 

The film’s characters Radio Raheem, Mookie, Bugging Out, Sal and the whole gang left an impression on our souls.

The film also launched the careers of many hugely successful actors. Spike points out on Twitter:

 

 

The movie was nominated for an Oscar because it was powerful, entertaining to all and did everything right! 

So fast forward up until today.

Twenty four years later, we take a look back to see that the cast of this movie went on to do several of the right things. Check out some of the super amazing things the cast of Do The Right Thing went on to do after the movie. 

Rosie Perez played Spike’s love interest Tina in the movie, which also happened to be her debut role. She later went on to choreograph dancers for the hit Fox show In Living Color and star alongside Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in White Men Can’t Jump. 

Bill Nunn played everyone’s favorite Radio Raheem. Dude had the love and hate thing going on. He blasted his boom box and was a visionary for hip-hop because he knew it was the biggest thing since sliced bread. After DTRT, Bill went on to star in all three Spider-Man movies, as well as many TV series. 

Sal’s Pizzeria man Danny Aiello copped an Oscar nomination for his role as Sal, also going on to play Phil Cantone in the hit movie Harlem Nights. As for his movie son John Turturro, he went on to star in the smash hits Transformers and O’Brother, Where Art Thou.

Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were the OG’s of Do The Right Thing, but their legacy didn’t start or stop there. In fact, Ruby went on to star in American Ganger, Jungle Fever, Baby Geniuses and more. Ossie, on the other hand, did his thing in his movie career, starring on The Cosby Show, 12 Angry Men, and She Hate Me. 

Samuel L. Jackson is the truth! Ruth! This man blazed Do The Right Thing, but he didn’t stop there. After one of his breakout roles, SLJ went on to star in hits like Mo Better Blue, Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained. 

Robin Harris and Frankie Faison had small roles in Do The Right Thing, but they went on to bigger and better things. Robin Harris starred in House Party and his own cartoon Bey Bey’s Kids, while Frankie went on to star on True Colors and The Wire.

Then there was Martin Lawrence. He had one of the smallest roles in the film, but was definitely one of the biggest stars to come out of Do The Right Thing. He starred in the movie Bad Boys, You So Crazy, Big Mama’s House and much more. 

Oh yeah, and we didn’t even have to count all the other amazing movies that Spike Lee made; his resume speaks for itself. 

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures