Entertainment
11 Times They Recast Actors On Your Favorite Shows
Hey gang, let's do a little regression therapy. Relax, then breathe in and out. Imagine yourself in your living room rocking some footie pajamas. It's 1993 and you are so excited for the premiere of the fourth season of your favorite show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. You sit on your parents' couch with a Capri Sun in one hand and a Fruit Roll-up in the other and quote along with the Muzzy commercial "Je suis a jeune fille!" in nervous anticipation of what will befall the Banks family this season. Suddenly the familiar theme song fills your ears, "Iiiiiiin west Philadelphia born and raised..." and you do a happy dance and sing along with the lyrics you know by heart. The characters pop on the screen, it seems all your favorites are back: Will, Carlton, Hilary, Aunt Viv... wait where's Aunt Viv? And who's this woman who is masquerading as her?
Due to alleged issues with Will Smith (whom the actress told TMZ was an "egomaniac" who has "not grown up" back in 2011), Janet Hubert was replaced on The Fresh Prince with Daphne Reid. And while that shocked us all, any good TV fans knows that replacing actors and acting like it never happened is as Hollywood as smog and freeway driving. The only casualties (besides the actors and sometimes the shows themselves)? Our pysches. The following are 11 examples of actors who were replaced. Thank goodness we all have each other.
1. Vivian Banks from The Fresh Prince
Janet Hubert (1990-1992)
Only Jazzy Jeff, the seer of all that can be seen, noticed.
Daphne Reid (1993-1996)
2. Becky from Roseanne
Lecy Goranson (1998-1992, 1995)
The oldest sister of much sass on Roseanne, Becky was played by Lecy Goranson until the fifth season when the actress left the series to go to college and was replaced by Sarah Chalke. Goranson returned for the eighth season but Chalke was back at it in Season 9 until the finale. During the eighth season, characters would often ask Becky "Where have you been?" in a nod to the change.
Sarah Chalke (1993-1994, 1996-1997)
3. Laurie from That 70s Show
Lisa Robin Kelly (1998-2002)
Eric's rebellious sister Laurie was initially played by Lisa Robin Kelly but was swapped out Season 6 for Christina Moore because Kelly had a drug problem. Then in the seventh season and final season, they dropped both Laurie actresses and only referenced the character in the finale when the question was asked, "Has anybody seen Laurie?"
Christina Moore (2003)
4. Bobby Draper from Mad Men
Maxwell Huckabee (2007), Aaron Hart (2006-2008), Jared Gilmore (2009-2010), Mason Vale Cotton (2012-2015)
Little Bobby Draper proves that when Jon Hamm is in the room, no one pays attention to anyone else. Bobby was replaced four times over but the longest-running and ending Draper child was Mason Vale Cotton.
5. Darrin from "Bewitched"
Dick York (1964-1969)
This is the original actor swap and why the phenomenon is known as Darrin Syndrome. This title is due the swap of Dick Sargent for Dick York as Bewitched's Darrin, Samantha's easily startled husband. Did they think if they used actors with the same name nobody would notice? Instead, they started a movement.
Dick Sargent (1969-1971)
6. Ann from "Arrested Development"
Alessandra Torresani (2004)
Arrested Development in all it's meta glory plays around with the concept of the Darrin Syndrome with its character Ann. Yes. Her. Egg, excuse me, Ann is George Michael's uninteresting girlfriend. Show creator Mitch Hurwitz toyed with the idea of replacing Ann in each episode but decided to settle for just two actresses: Alessandra Torresani for the Season 1 finale and Mae Whitman for all the rest.
Mae Whitman (2005-2006)
7. Jason Dilaurentis from Pretty Little Liars
Parker Bagley (2010-2011)
Take one hottie replace with another. This was the recipe for Pretty Little Liars when they replaced cutie Parker Bagley with another cutie, Drew Van Acker. Swoons all around.
Drew Van Acker (2011-2015)
8. Daario Naharis from Game of Thrones
Ed Skrein (2013)
For some reason, the actor who formerly played Daario (one of Daenerys woes), Ed Skrein decided to leave the role so he could be in a Transporter movie as a young Jason Statham. He was replaced by Michiel Huisman. Why would anyone ever choose any other show over GoT? Does not compute.
Michael Huisman (2014-2016)
9. Morgan Matthews from "Boy Meets World"
Lily Nicksay (1993-1995)
The series replaced Lily Nicksay with Lindsay Ridgeway and nobody ever quite found out why, but it didn't seem to bother fans all that much.
Lindsay Ridgeway (1996-2000)
10. Kaitlyn Cooper from The O.C.
Shailene Woodley (2003-2004)
Kaitlyn (Shailene Woodley) got sent to boarding school Season 2. But instead of returning from school after a semester of pillow fights and questionable dining hall food, the character came back with a performance by Willa Holland instead. Woodley has no hard feelings and told Moviefone in 2011, "But I didn't go through puberty until late: I was the 15-year-old who had no boobs. So, at 11, I was like a little mouse-child. I looked like an 8-year-old. So, there was no weirdness when Willa Holland got it because she was so obviously right for the role ... and I was so obviously not."
Willa Holland (2006-2007)
11. Claire Kyle from My Wife and Kids
Jazz Raycole (2001-2002)
Jazz Raycole started out in this role from Damon Wayans popular show but left after one season. She was replaced by Jennifer Freeman for the rest of the show.
Jennifer Freeman (2001-2005)
It is whacky to think of all the role shifting that happened in so many television series. Some of them I knew (pour some out for Aunt Viv, y'all), and some I didn't realize even though the change was staring right in my face (Heyyo, Bland... I mean Ann). The Darrin Syndrome, guys. It's real and it doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.
Images: Patron Saint of the Denial/Tumblr; Fox (2); HBO; ABC (4); AMC; Giphy