Actors appearing in. tV show as a guest, but get casted as another

[roadman65]

I was watching Law and Order SVU and saw an earlier episode of that series long before Dianne Neal was cast as series regular Casey Novak. She played a suspect in that performance and was a different character.

Raul Esperanza also of that show appeared first as a suspect before given the role of ADA of a totally unrelated character.

Also on the main Law and Order both Jerry Orbach and S. Eperata Merikkison who were long time regulars appeared as other guest star characters unrelated to their permanent roles at first.


Then Harry Morgan was an eccentric General before he became a series regular on Mash as Col. Sherman Potter.

Ron Carey, who portrayed Officer Carl Levitt on Barney Miller, first was a criminal guest star who led Sergeant Harris into a sewer in an iconic second season episode. Carey replaced departing star Gregory Sierra after he left between the second and third season.


So who do you know that was a regular cast member of a program that first appeared as another character before originating their permanent roles?

[Max Rockatansky]

Wasn't there some girl I the most recent iteration of Doctor Who was only on screen in a couple scenes in an episode and was later recast as a major main character the next season?  I want to say the episode I'm thinking of involved the Cyber Men somehow?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Marc Alaimo first appeared as the introductory Cardassian villain of the week on Star Trek TNG "The Wounded" , then was cast as Gul Dukat on DS9. I think Alaimo played another minor alien or two on TNG before that, but playing two different Cardassians fit the thread.

[Life in Paradise]

Wasn't there some girl I the most recent iteration of Doctor Who was only on screen in a couple scenes in an episode and was later recast as a major main character the next season?  I want to say the episode I'm thinking of involved the Cyber Men somehow?

I don't know about the most recent iteration, but Peter Capaldi (previous doctor) was in the Fires of Pompeii with David Tennant as the doctor (probably four or five years before Capaldi became doctor).

[vdeane]

Wasn't there some girl I the most recent iteration of Doctor Who was only on screen in a couple scenes in an episode and was later recast as a major main character the next season?  I want to say the episode I'm thinking of involved the Cyber Men somehow?

I don't know about the most recent iteration, but Peter Capaldi (previous doctor) was in the Fires of Pompeii with David Tennant as the doctor (probably four or five years before Capaldi became doctor).

Yep, and Karen Gillan appeared in the same episode as a soothsayer before being cast as Amy Pond in series 5.

Then there's Jenna Coleman, who appeared in Asylum of the Daleks as Oswin Oswald and then The Snowmen as Clara Oswin Oswald before properly appearing in the very next episode as Clara Oswald... but that one is wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.

[Max Rockatansky]

Wasn't there some girl I the most recent iteration of Doctor Who was only on screen in a couple scenes in an episode and was later recast as a major main character the next season?  I want to say the episode I'm thinking of involved the Cyber Men somehow?

I don't know about the most recent iteration, but Peter Capaldi (previous doctor) was in the Fires of Pompeii with David Tennant as the doctor (probably four or five years before Capaldi became doctor).

Yep, and Karen Gillan appeared in the same episode as a soothsayer before being cast as Amy Pond in series 5.

Then there's Jenna Coleman, who appeared in Asylum of the Daleks as Oswin Oswald and then The Snowmen as Clara Oswin Oswald before properly appearing in the very next episode as Clara Oswald... but that one is wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.

Heh, it's not Karen Gillan that I'm thinking of as I would have remembered that (reasons...).  I want to say it was the female companion after the Rose Tyler character, the name eludes me. 

[KeithE4Phx]

Larry Hovis played a Lieutenant who was trying to escape in the pilot episode of Hogan's Heroes.  When the series was picked up, he joined the cast as Sgt. Carter.

Paul Lynde played a frazzled driving instructor in an early Bewitched episode.  He later was cast as Uncle Arthur.

[SP Cook]

On JAG Catherine Bell played a navy lieutenant who is a murder victim.  NBC cancelled the series, but CBS brought it back on condition of making several changes to the cast, including dumping the female lead.  Bell was then recast as a Marine major and the female lead. 

The fact that she looked a lot like the aforesaid murder victim was mentioned a few times early in the recast version.   

[Takumi]

A couple more from the Law & Order franchise: Jeremy Sisto played a defense attorney before he was cast as Cyrus Lupo in the original series, and Anthony Anderson appeared on SVU as a different character than the one he played on the original series.

[Mr_Northside]

A couple more from the Law & Order franchise: Jeremy Sisto played a defense attorney before he was cast as Cyrus Lupo in the original series

While Law & Order is good for this (as other posts mentioned, and all the examples may not even be covered yet.) - this particular example always strikes me as more extreme, as this happens in back-to-back episodes.   Granted, at the time (first-run) there was a whole summer/season break between the episodes, but with the one-off character being in the season finale, and Lupo appearing in the next season premier, when paired in a marathon airing (as the show is many nights of the week) it could be a little more confusing.

And as other posts have mentioned examples, the entire Star Trek franchise is also littered with same-actor, different-characters. 

[KeithE4Phx]

And as other posts have mentioned examples, the entire Star Trek franchise is also littered with same-actor, different-characters.

Most notably Majel Barrett, who played "Number One" in the original Star Trek pilot, and Nurse Chapel during the run of the series.  Those were among many other roles, both on-camera and voice-only, she played throughout the franchise. 

Of course, being Mrs. Gene Roddenberry certainly helped her Star Trek career. 

[kenarmy]

I was watching Law and Order SVU and saw an earlier episode of that series long before Dianne Neal was cast as series regular Casey Novak. She played a suspect in that performance and was a different character?

Also, Kelli Giddish (Detective Rollins) was a victim and Peter Scanavino (ADA Carisi) was a suspect before they were cast as season regulars. I love SVU btw.

[wanderer2575]

Larry Hovis played a Lieutenant who was trying to escape in the pilot episode of Hogan's Heroes.  When the series was picked up, he joined the cast as Sgt. Carter.

He played Lt. Carter in the pilot.  Leonid Kinsky played one of the Heroes, but decided to not continue when the series was picked up.  Producer Edward Feldman was impressed with Hovis' performance in the pilot and offered him the role of Sgt. Carter to replace Kinsky.  Hovis pointed out that his character had escaped from the camp at the end of the pilot episode, to which Feldman famously replied "Nobody will care."

Howard Caine originally appeared in two episodes as two different Gestapo officers (Major Keitel and Colonel Feldkamp).  Feldman liked his performance so much that the recurring role of Major Hochstetter was created for him.

And one in reverse:  Cynthia Lynn appeared in the recurring role of Helga during the first season.  She left the series but appeared in other minor roles in two or three episodes over the remaining seasons.

[Stephane Dumas]

Wasn't there some girl I the most recent iteration of Doctor Who was only on screen in a couple scenes in an episode and was later recast as a major main character the next season?  I want to say the episode I'm thinking of involved the Cyber Men somehow?

I don't know about the most recent iteration, but Peter Capaldi (previous doctor) was in the Fires of Pompeii with David Tennant as the doctor (probably four or five years before Capaldi became doctor).

Yep, and Karen Gillan appeared in the same episode as a soothsayer before being cast as Amy Pond in series 5.

Then there's Jenna Coleman, who appeared in Asylum of the Daleks as Oswin Oswald and then The Snowmen as Clara Oswin Oswald before properly appearing in the very next episode as Clara Oswald... but that one is wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.

Going further back in time, Colin Baker appeared as Commander Maxil in the Peter Davison-era story Arc of Infinity before he was cast as the 6th Doctor and Nicholas Courtney appeared first in the role of a space security agent before his more well known role of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

[hbelkins]

And as other posts have mentioned examples, the entire Star Trek franchise is also littered with same-actor, different-characters.

Mark Lenard was the Romulan commander in the early episode where we got the first look at the Romulans, and then he played Sarek (Spock's father) later. I guess the pointed ears looked good on him.

[vdeane]

Wasn't there some girl I the most recent iteration of Doctor Who was only on screen in a couple scenes in an episode and was later recast as a major main character the next season?  I want to say the episode I'm thinking of involved the Cyber Men somehow?

I don't know about the most recent iteration, but Peter Capaldi (previous doctor) was in the Fires of Pompeii with David Tennant as the doctor (probably four or five years before Capaldi became doctor).

Yep, and Karen Gillan appeared in the same episode as a soothsayer before being cast as Amy Pond in series 5.

Then there's Jenna Coleman, who appeared in Asylum of the Daleks as Oswin Oswald and then The Snowmen as Clara Oswin Oswald before properly appearing in the very next episode as Clara Oswald... but that one is wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.

Heh, it's not Karen Gillan that I'm thinking of as I would have remembered that (reasons...).  I want to say it was the female companion after the Rose Tyler character, the name eludes me. 

Ah, yes, Freema Agyeman appeared in the two-part finale to series 2 (featuring the Daleks and Cybermen both) before playing Martha Jones in series 3.  In-universe this was justified by the characters being cousins.

This seems to happen in Doctor Who a fair amount - then again, the show has been around a long time.  Peter Capaldi also played a character in the Torchwood: Children of Earth series.  The official explanation is that the Torchwood character is a descendant of the one in Pompeii, and that the Doctor based his regeneration off the one in Pompeii as a reminder to himself.  Then over in classic Who, we have Lalla Ward, who played Princess Astra in The Armageddon Factor (the final serial of season 16) before coming back as Romana II in season 17 (replacing Mary Tamm, who left the show).

[PHLBOS]

Ron Carey, who portrayed Officer Carl Levitt on Barney Miller, first was a criminal guest star who led Sergeant Harris into a sewer in an iconic second season episode. Carey replaced departing star Gregory Sierra after he left between the second and third season.

You forgot that Steve Landesberg appeared in an early episode as a Father Paul from The Church of the Street before he landed the Arthur Dietrich role.

BTW, Levitt didn't directly replace the Chano character.  Chano was a detective; Levitt was a uniformed officer during the earlier seasons.  One or two Season 4 episodes had a female guest star that played a new detective that was supposedly & much to Barney's surprise Chano's long-awaited (2 years late) replacement.  Ron Carey didn't start appearing in the title credits until Season 4.  Sierra was only on the first 2 seasons (the first Season was actually a half-season in terms of the number of episodes).

Another M*A*S*H one: Ed Winter's first role in the series was that of a Capt. Halloran in a Season 2 episode titled Deal Me Out.  Winter would appear later that season as the infamous Col. Flagg in the episode, A Smattering of Intelligence.  The Flagg character would ultimately appear in 5 later episodes.

In the original Hawaii Five-0; Al Harrington appeared in five early season episodes playing different roles before he was casted as Ben, Kono's replacement, in the show's 5th Season. 

Side bar: Harrington would appear in 10 episodes of the rebooted series as Mamo Kahake

[roadman65]

Ron Carey, who portrayed Officer Carl Levitt on Barney Miller, first was a criminal guest star who led Sergeant Harris into a sewer in an iconic second season episode. Carey replaced departing star Gregory Sierra after he left between the second and third season.

You forgot that Steve Landesberg appeared in an early episode as a Father Paul from The Church of the Street before he landed the Arthur Dietrich role.

BTW, Levitt didn't directly replace the Chano character.  Chano was a detective; Levitt was a uniformed officer during the earlier seasons.  One or two Season 4 episodes had a female guest star that played a new detective that was supposedly & much to Barney's surprise Chano's long-awaited (2 years late) replacement.  Ron Carey didn't start appearing in the title credits until Season 4.  Sierra was only on the first 2 seasons (the first Season was actually a half-season in terms of the number of episodes).

Another M*A*S*H one: Ed Winter's first role in the series was that of a Capt. Halloran in a Season 2 episode titled Deal Me Out.  Winter would appear later that season as the infamous Col. Flagg in the episode, A Smattering of Intelligence.  The Flagg character would ultimately appear in 5 later episodes.

In the original Hawaii Five-0; Al Harrington appeared in five early season episodes playing different roles before he was casted as Ben, Kono's replacement, in the show's 5th Season. 

Side bar: Harrington would appear in 10 episodes of the rebooted series as Mamo Kahake

Levitt filled the void even though not the same type of character or credited as a lead at first.  When Chano left, they got Carey to fill his void as well as Dietrich to fill the vacancy left by Barbara Barrie who played Barney's wife in the first two seasons. Later Dietrich replaced Fish when Abe Vigoda left to star in the spinoff Fish.

[GenExpwy]

In Hill Street Blues, Dennis Franz had a multi-episode guest role in season 3 as corrupt detective Sal Benedetto, who ends his own life barricaded in a bank vault. In season 6 Franz joined the regular cast as tough detective Norman Buntz, continuing the character in a spinoff after H.S.B. ended.

[catch22]

In the original Avengers TV series, Patrick Newell had a couple of guest roles and was later cast as Steed's boss, code name "Mother," in the last season (the Tara King era).