When you think “Disney Channel Original Movie,” what do you think of? Odds are, you probably think of High School Musical, Camp Rock, Teen Beach Movie or The Cheetah Girls—all franchises and extremely popular Disney Channel Original Movies, aka DCOMs. While all of those are undoubtedly on my list, another one that comes to mind is 2010’s Starstruck, starring Danielle Campbell (who went on to a leading role in The Originals), Chelsea Kane (from Jonas) and Sterling Knight, the man of the hour.
A decade ago, after watching the premiere of Starstruck, I had a new Disney crush: Sterling Knight, who played Christopher Wilde. Maybe I was half in love with his character, but I was also enamored with Sterling Knight’s beauty, smile and bright blue eyes. I was a smitten tween. In 2010, Sterling Knight seemed to have a promising career ahead of him. He was a main character in Sonny With A Chance (starring Demi Lovato), the TV show that first cemented my crush, and he was coming off the heels of 2009’s 17 Again (starring Zac Efron, a tween crush who remains famous to this day).
Though Sterling Knight was seemingly everywhere in 2010, he hasn’t graced my screen in some time. What happened to the tween heartthrob with whom I was once so smitten? I decided to find out.
According to Sterling’s IMDb page, he’s been pretty busy. After Sonny with a Chance was canceled (and So Random soon thereafter), Knight’s first notable role was in the sitcom Melissa and Joey. Since that stint, which ended in 2015, Knight hasn’t been involved in another notable project.
How can we keep up with our tween dream? Although he rarely posts on his Instagram, he does seem relatively active on his Twitter. He seems to be based in Texas, or, at least, he has quite a rapport with The University of Texas at Austin. This year, Sterling will be returning to cable TV in the CW show Katy Keene, which stars Lucy Hale and is set in the same universe as Riverdale. Sterling Knight will play the role of Randy Van Ronson, one of the titular character’s love interests. Not much is known yet, but he’s going to be in at least one episode.
Sterling Knight might never have our hearts as fully as he did a decade ago, but I look forward to seeing him again on my screen soon. In the meantime, I’ll cue up Starstruck on Disney+ and sing my heart out to “Hero,” transporting myself back to a simpler time when Chad Dylan Cooper and Christopher Wilde had my full attention.