It’s happened to all of us: you’ll be tuning into your TV, when an all-too familiar face appears. Didn’t you just see them in that old show you binged on Netflix last month? Placing actors becomes difficult, because you’ve watched so much TV, and your brain is a big goopy goop-mess. Never fear, we’re here to fill in the gaps!
Willow Rosenberg is Trina Echolls is Lily Aldrin
Ahhh, the most adorbs Alyson Hannigan. It all started on Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1996, where Willow went from computer nerd to badass wiccan (plus, I think she was kinda gay). In 2002, she added another appearance on the WB as Trina Echolls, sister to bad boy Logan on Veronica Mars. Where are you seeing her now? As Lily Aldrin, of course, married to Jason Segel’s character on How I Met Your Mother. And yet, to the common folk, she’ll still always be the band camp girl from the American Pie movie franchise. Le sigh.
Connor is Pete Campbell
Long ago, in a dimension not too far away, before the deliciously hateable Pete Campbell existed on Mad Men, there was Connor, the son of vampire Angel, on well, Angel. It’s pretty trippy that Vincent Kartheiser used to battle demons and vamps (not just Bob Benson), but alas, as Pete Campbell knows best: everyone’s gotta start somewhere. Also trippy? The fact that Angel has a teenage son. Don’t ask.
Joyce Ramsay is Shoshanna Shapiro
And in 1960’s Manhattan, there was an extremely confident, power suit wearing lesbian version of Shoshanna from Girls named Joyce. Zosia Mamet can apparently do it all, and is dearly missed as Peggy Olson’s feminist besty on Mad Men. Not that we don’t love Shosh. Perhaps we’ll just imagine that Joyce is actually Shosh’s lesbian mom.
Inara Serra is Jessica Brody
Before Jessica Brody wondered what was up with her hubby on Homeland, she was kickin’ it in space with Captain Mal’s crew on Firefly. Morena Baccarin played our favorite socialite companion Inara for a whopping 14 episodes (and a movie) that will live forever in our hearts.
Ruth Fisher is Moira is The Angel of Death
If you’ve watched the last two seasons of American Horror Story, and wondered where you’ve seen that delightfully creepy old lady, first as Moira in season 1 and later as The Angel of Death in season 2, look no further than HBO’s critically acclaimed Six Feet Under. Francis Conroy killed it as Ruth, the mother to the Fisher children, and then literally killed lots of people in Horror Story. Dexter actor Michael C. Hall played Ruth’s son David Fisher, so there’s lots of killers in the family, it’s cool.
Mac is Molly is Dr. Heather Brooks
What good is Veronica Mars without her computer whiz besty Cindy “Mac” Mackenzie? Truth is, she’s still pretty damn good. But Mac was loveable as heck, and reprised her techie-ness vampire-style last season on True Blood as Molly, who made gadgets for the Authority. Now, apparently, you might be watching her on Grey’s Anatomy, as Dr. Heather Brooks, but since no one has actually watched that show since season 3, here’s a nice summary of her character, courtesy of Wikipedia:
“Dr.Brooks is a new intern in Grey Sloan Memorial since the beginning of season 9. Derek Shepherd believes she will do good in neurology due to fact that she has fast hands.” – Grey’s Wiki
Alright then. We’re thrilled to see actress Tina Majorino reprising the role of Mac in the Veronica Mars Movie, coming in 2014!
Lindsay Weir is Sylvia Rosen
Mad Men fans raised their eyebrows when the character of Sylvia was introduced in season 6 as a new love interest for Don. “I’ve seen her before!” They angrily shouted at their TVs. It was hard to recognize actress Linda Cardellini under all that 60s-ness, aka our favorite army-jacket-wearing rebellious teen Lindsay Weir from 1999’s Freaks and Geeks. Oh, how our favorite characters grow up, and then time-travel back to the 60s.
Pornstache is Creepy Guy on Law & Order: SVU
If you’re a Netflixer, Orange is the New Black has probably caught your attention, and if so, you’ve also probably come to hate George “Pornstache” Mendez, the super awful prison guard who feels up the inmates and generally looks gross all the time. And while actor Pablo Schreiber was also on acclaimed shows like The Wire, he seems to be more recognized for his stint as the creep-of-the-week on last season of Law and Order: SVU. Basically, Pablo’s creep factor? A+
