10 TV Characters Who Kept Returning After Their Actors Left The Show

Summary

• Some actors exit popular shows but return as guest stars, wrapping up storylines and maintaining character significance.
• Networks welcome back old stars because it will boost ratings and delight fans.
• Showrunners make efforts to secure former stars for special episodes or finales to keep their characters in the story.

Some actors have officially exited popular shows, most likely giving up their regular status, only to return to the show as a guest star more than once in years to come. Many TV shows survive the main characters’ exit, but that character likely still plays a major role in the story and is referenced often. In this case, the showrunners do whatever they can to occasionally secure a former star for an episode, possibly the series finale, to wrap everything up.

Maybe the actor just didn’t want to continue being a regular but is more than happy to show up for a few episodes every season, and they are essentially still a recurring character. In several cases, an actor left a popular TV show for something that failed, and came back to that show in the aftermath. Fans are typically eager to see one of the TV show’s best characters return, and networks will gladly welcome back old regulars as guest stars for the ratings and publicity benefits.

10 Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo)

Grey’s Anatomy (2005-Present)

According to Deadline, Ellen Pompeo never lost her regular status on the show for which her character is named. However, Meredith’s role has been significantly reduced, leaving Richard Webber and Miranda Bailey as the only remaining original characters who are regularly part of the show. Since her send-off in the Grey’s Anatomy mid-season 19 finale, at which point Meredith officially leaves her job at Grey Sloan Memorial, she has reappeared on the show for several episodes.

The plan going forward appears to be that Meredith will continue to guest star in Grey’s Anatomy, and still serves as a pillar of the show. Meredith is at the center of her own minor but complete storylines happening in the background, while the remaining veteran characters and the new interns carry most of the show’s plot. Although Pompeo may have wanted out of the show that has been her life for two decades, Grey’s Anatomy has refused to call it quits and is still using her character as the story’s symbolic figurehead.

9 Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres)

Suits (2011-2019)

Several main Suits characters left the show early, including Gina Torres’ Jessica. Torres cited the demanding schedule and lengthy commute as her reason for leaving Suits after the season 6 finale. However, she guest stars throughout the final season and leads the spin-off Pearson with Jessica as its protagonist. In-universe, Jessica leaves Specter Litt in New York for the similar reason of pursuing an individual career; in her case, she relocates to Chicago to further her law career there.

Torres’ cameo was cut from Suits’ series finale due to conflicts created by her still working on Pearson at the time.

Torres returns as Jessica in seven of Suits season 7’s 16 episodes, making it seem like she never really left the show, just transitioned to recurring character status. However, she does not appear at all in the show’s final two seasons. Torres’ cameo was cut from Suits’ series finale due to conflicts created by her still working on Pearson at the time.

8 Dr. Whale/Dr. Frankestein (David Anders)

Once Upon A Time (2011-2018)

Dr. Whale serves as a background resident of Storybrooke and a recurring character in the first two seasons of Once Upon a Time. He doesn’t appear often enough to be a regular — credited with only five episodes in each of the 22-episode seasons — but he’s an established character who the main cast and the audience are familiar with. David Anders supposedly “left” Once Upon a Time after season 3, in which he appears in only three episodes. However, Once Upon a Time makes a habit of its characters who are no longer regulars or even recurring characters cropping up occasionally.

In Dr. Whale’s case, he turns up in one episode of season 5 and one in season 6 to provide some quick assistance to the main characters. Meghan Ory’s Ruby has a similar treatment, as Ory left the show after season 2 for another opportunity but came back for seasons 3 and 5. Similarly, cast members Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, and Emilie de Raven are all no longer regulars after season 6, but make multiple cameos a piece in the final season.

7 Wes Gibbins (Alfred Enoch)

How To Get Away With Murder (2014-2020)

Alfred Enoch’s Wes is killed in the How to Get Away with Murder season 3 finale, making for the most shocking moment of the show. After three years as one of the show’s main characters, Enoch was no longer appearing in every episode, and the Keating 5 became the Keating 4. However, Wes is still very much a part of the story when Laurel is pregnant with his child and the whole cast is dedicated to unraveling the mystery of his murder.

Enoch appears as Wes in three episodes of How to Get Away with Murder season 4 (in one instance, just for an uncredited voice cameo) as more information about the circumstances of his death comes to light. He then makes a very strange appearance midway through season 6 that seems to imply that Wes survived. Enoch makes one last appearance in the How to Get Away with Murder series finale as Wes and Laurel’s son.

6 Roy Harper/Arsenal (Colton Haynes)

Arrow (2012-2020)

Colton Haynes has a rocky history with the show Arrow, having gone back and forth between regular status several times. Haynes portrays Roy Harper, one of the most important members of Team Arrow, throughout the show’s eight seasons. He is a recurring character for season 1, a regular for seasons 2 and 3, a guest star for certain episodes of seasons 4 and 6, a regular again for season 7, and finally, a guest star in a few episodes of season 8.

As revealed in his memoir, Haynes left Arrow because of his mental health, as well as a difficult relationship with an unnamed member of the cast. However, it is not clear whether Haynes is referring to leaving Arrow after season 3 or season 7, although he returns for a few episodes after both departures. Since the conclusion of Arrow, Haynes has not returned to appear in any of the connected shows within the Arrowverse.

5 Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster)

Criminal Minds (2005-Present)

Paget Brewster is another actor that came and went from her most famous show. Joining the Criminal Minds team in season 2, Brewster’s Agent Emily Prentiss quickly became a fan favorite character. She supposedly left the show after season 5 but continues to appear as a recurring character often enough in seasons 6 and 7 that she might as well be a regular. Her departure after season 7 has a more definite feeling.

Despite this, Brewster guest stars in two episodes of Criminals Minds across the next few seasons before officially returning as a regular in season 12. She remains a part of the show, her role extending into the revival titled Criminal Minds: Evolution. However, Brewster’s occasional breaks from Criminal Minds have allowed her to pursue work in other genres, including comedic roles in Modern Family, Key and Peele, and The Venture Bros.

4 Maggie Greene/Rhee (Lauren Cohan)

The Walking Dead (2010-2022)

Like several of her Walking Dead co-stars, Lauren Cohan apparently left behind the series for other opportunities but eventually returned to the regular work the franchise provided with a spinoff focusing on her character. The longtime member of Rick Grimes’ group Maggie left The Walking Dead in season 9 due to AMC’s dispute with Cohan when she requested the same pay as her male co-stars. They reached an agreement that Maggie would only appear in a few episodes of season 9 before leaving the show.

However, Maggie ended up appearing in another few episodes of season 10 before returning full-time for the final season and leading The Walking Dead: Dead City alongside Jeffrey Morgan. While Cohan also left The Walking Dead for a series that was shortly canceled, she doesn’t appear to have had a problem with staying with the franchise for the long run. Presumably, she now receives equal pay if she continues to star as a regular.

3 Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia)

Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)

As one of Rory’s main love interests in Gilmore Girls, Jess Mariano is played by Milo Ventimiglia as a regular-adjacent character throughout Gilmore Girls season 2 and 3.Rory and Jess have a messy relationship that overlaps with Rory’s romance with Dean, causing even more drama. They break up at the end of season 3 when Jess moves away. However, Jess appears several more times in the Gilmore Girls story to spark more romantic and sexual tension.

In the few episodes Jess guest stars in from season 4, he and Rory discuss their relationship and feelings for one another but ultimately do not get back together. Jess then comes back for two more episodes in season 6, only to get caught up in Rory’s tumultuous relationship with Logan. Ventimiglia then played Jess one last time in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, in which he and Rory seem to have finally worked out how to be supportive friends.

2 Rebekah Mikaelson (Claire Holt)

The Originals (2013-2018)

The Originals was the chance for the Mikaelson family to tell their story, which would work best if they were all a part of it. However, the show was given the problem of Claire Holt’s contract expiring midway through season 1. Rebekah is given a fairly emotional farewell when she and Klaus address the problems in their relationship that have persisted for centuries, and he gives her his blessing to go live her own life. However, Holt appears to have been amenable to Rebekah remaining a part of the story.

The Originals was the chance for the Mikaelson family to tell their story, which would work best if they were all a part of it.

Rebekah is a recurring guest character for the rest of the series, with Holt typically being credited as a “special guest star.” The narrative finds excuses for her not to be there: She is caring for Klaus’ daughter away from the violence in New Orleans, she is possessing someone else’s body, etc. Additionally, The Originals introduces the long-lost Mikaelson sibling Freya in season 2, who takes Rebekah’s place as the long-suffering sister in the main dynamic with Klaus and Elijah.

1 Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy)

The Crown (2016-2023)

Claire Foy originated the role of Queen Elizabeth II as she is seen in The Crown, leading the show for the first two seasons. The plan was always that Foy would eventually be replaced by an older actress to show the queen’s reign in its entirety; however, the show is never able to entirely let go of Foy. After all, Olivia Coleman and Imelda Staunton were both A-listers before The Crown, known for numerous award-winning roles. Foy saw her breakthrough with The Crown and helped the show get past the initial barrier to success.

After her two seasons as the present-day Elizabeth, Foy returned for cameos in season 4, 5 and 6, playing Elizabeth in flashbacks and symbolic vision-like sequences. Every time she appears in The Crown despite no longer being a regular, it is a predictably powerful moment. Unlike some other actors who left their shows and returned, the showrunners probably always had it in mind that Foy would occasionally cameo. Therefore, her appearances are far more strategic.

Source: Deadline