Do you ever watch an episode of your favorite show and kind of simply assume that the actors portraying the characters will be the same ones that played them the week before? Yes, it appears that’s not always the case. We’re listing them here for fun since it’s actually astounding how many programs (Game of Thrones included) have shamelessly recast important characters without any justification…
10+ Actors Who Were Subtly Replaced On Their Own TV Shows
Mandy Milkovich (Shameless)
The Shameless character Mandy Milkovich added to the chaos of this terribly dysfunctional family story. Mandy was portrayed by Jane Levy for the first five episodes of the first season, but she departed the program to star in the ABC comedy Suburgatory. The part was played by actress Emma Greenwell until season 6, when she was fired from the program.
Mandy Milkovich (Shameless)
Meg Griffin (Family Guy)
Meg was initially portrayed by Lacey Chabert before Mila Kunis took over. You wouldn’t know this unless you were mining IMDb on a really chill Monday night. Lacey reportedly had too much on her plate between Party of Five and school.
Meg Griffin (Family Guy)
Morty (Seinfeld)
Morty, Jerry’s father, is one of the best characters in Seinfeld because of Barney Martin’s eminent performance. However, Phil Bruns, who temporarily played Morty in season 1, was replaced because Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David wanted the character to have a more irritable demeanor…
Morty (Seinfeld)
The Night King (Game of Thrones)
When a completely different Night King arrived during season 6, Game of Thrones apparently didn’t expect anyone would notice. They also didn’t anticipate that Starbucks coffee cup would be noticed, but hey. Vladimir Furdik, who had previously played the first White Walker Jon Snow killed, took over for Richard Brake, who had previously played the original Night King.
The Night King (Game Of Thrones)
Beric Dondarrion (Game of Thrones)
Of course there is another cast member from Game of Thrones on this list. Fun fact: He is the second actor to be recast out of freaking ELEVEN because it seems that this show cannot commit. An example would be replacing David Michael Scott as Beric Dondarrion after one episode with Richard Dormer in the hopes that no one would notice.
Beric Dondarrion (Game Of Thrones)
Ann (Arrested Development)
The fact that Mae Whitman played Ann in Arrested Development instead of the character’s original actress Alessandra Torresani is the finest part of the change. To keep you on your toes, they originally planned to constantly switching around the actress who played Ann, according to Mae, who spoke to People TV. Then they persisted with me, which I consider to be a true insult. “No, no, you’re making the whole unmemorable thing work, let’s just go with that,” they said.
Ann (Arrested Development)
Carol (Friends)
RIGHT?! Anita Barone played Carol for just *one* episode, but it was a crucial scene because Ross learned he was going to become a father there. In the end, Anita decided against continuing the show in order to pursue additional full-time acting roles (RIP, Friends residual checks), thus Jane Sibbett was cast in her place.
Carol (Friends)
Aunt Viv (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
Interested in some drama? Good thing, since Will Smith and the original Aunt Vivian actor, Janet Hubert-Whitten, had a crazy feud. She reportedly told TMZ, “I will never do anything with an a—hole like Will Smith,” Cool-cool-cool. It’s not surprising that Daphne Maxwell Reid took her place.
Aunt Viv (The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air)
Daario Naharis (Game of Thrones)
Oh look, another casually recast Game of Thrones character. I can’t stress enough how little Michiel Huisman and Ed Skrein of the Fulsome Beard resemble one another. To be fair, Ed may have chosen to leave the show in order to star in Transformers, but still!
