Freddie Prince Jr was the rom-com king. After one role, he quit acting for good.

Freddie Prinze Jr. has made a highly anticipated return to the franchise that launched his career in the 2025 revival of I Know What You Did Last Summer.

The iconic '90s actor reprised his role as Ray Bronson nearly three decades after the original film.

Watch the trailer for the 1996 horror classic. Post continues below.

The new instalment, directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, brings Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt back to the franchise, this time guiding a younger cast of newcomers through another deadly summer.

In a chat with People, he described the reunion with Hewitt as feeling "like a high school reunion," filled with nostalgia and will showcase how the original characters how it has evolved.

Prinze's appearance in the iconic slasher marks the first time he's had a leading role in a mainstream movie in years.

Freddie Prinze Jr.'s early success and biggest movie roles.

Freddie wasn't just a teen heartthrob in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was THE teen heartthrob.

He broke into the industry with his film debut in 1996's To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday but shot to fame with the 1997 horror hit I Know What You Did Last Summer, where he captivated slasher fans.

But it was his role as Zack Siler in the 1999 teen romantic comedy, She's All That, that solidified his status as one of Hollywood's rom-com kings — and he went on to front a huge slate of films in the genre.

Freddie Prinze Jr. and Mira Sorvino present at the 1999 MTV Music Video Awards. Image: Getty.

He acted opposite Julia Stiles in Down To You and the following year he starred with Jessica Biel in Summer Catch and other cult rom-coms like Boys and Girls and Head Over Heels.

He found more fans for his adorable lead role in the Scooby-Doo live-action movies as Fred Jones, where he worked alongside his wife Sarah Michelle Gellar, whom he first met on I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Why did Freddie Prinze Jr. quit acting?

In the years since his meteoric rise to become a Hollywood leading man, he made memorable TV appearances on Friends and Boston Legal, but it was a 2010 role in the TV show 24 that would almost send Prinze to an early retirement.

Freddie portrayed the character Cole Ortiz in all 24 episodes of Season 8 of 24, which aired in 2010.

He did not return the following season.

In a 2014 interview, he explained what happened, citing that he clashed with the show's star, Kiefer Sutherland.

Freddie Prinze Jr. and the cast of 24. Image: Getty.

"I did 24, it was terrible. I hated every moment of it. Kiefer was the most unprofessional dude in the world. That's not me talking trash, I'd say it to his face, I think everyone that's worked with him has said that," Prinze Jr. told ABC News in the US.

"I just wanted to quit the business after that. So, I just sort of stopped."

As a longtime wrestling fan, he decided to pour his energy into the WWE (naturally), where he contributed to writing and producing weekly television and pay-per-view programming, particularly for SmackDown and Monday Night Raw.

WWE wrestlers The Miz, John Morrison and Freddie Prinze Jr. at WWE Friday Night SmackDown. Image: Getty.

Freddie said his experience working with the WWE was much better than on 24 with Sutherland.

"I went and worked for Vince McMahon at the WWE for Christ's sake… but, at least he was cool and tall. I didn't have to take my shoes off to do scenes with him, which they made me do [on 24].

"Just put the guy on an apple box or don't hire me next time. You know I'm 6 feet and he's 5'4."

Freddie has been working on and off since 24, but his career hasn't reached the heights of his '90s string of movies.

The reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer is one of his biggest roles in years.

Feature image: Getty.