film / tv / substack / social media / lists / web / celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / substack / web / celeb

tvcharactersoldroles_mal_main.jpg

Former Lives: 11 Actors Who Amusingly Acknowledged Their Past Roles

By Nadia Chaudhury | Lists | July 18, 2014 |

By Nadia Chaudhury | Lists | July 18, 2014 |


Nathan Fillion
Castle’s Richard Castle’s nod to Mal Reynolds in Firefly

A space cowboy is the perfect Halloween costume for a mystery writer, right? There was also the added Buffy the Vampire Slayer homage with the case of the vampire corpse and stake.
tvcharacterspreviousroles_elishacuthbert_happyendings24.jpg


Elisha Cuthbert
Happy Endings’s Alex Kerkovich’s nod to Kim Bauer in 24

Penny throws out a hypothetical—wherein Alex would’ve been trapped in the woods, and a cougar’s about to eat her, and her dad’s some big guy in a counter terrorist agency, and there’s only 24 hours—to encourage her to date again. Totally hypothetical.


tvcharacterspreviousroles_michaelkwilliams_communitywire.png
Michael K. Williams
Community’s Marshall Kane’s nod to Omar Little in The Wire

No matter if you’re a hitman and robber in Baltimore or a wise biology professor at a community college in Colorado, a man has to live his life with a code of honor.


tvcharacterspreviousroles_johnlithgow_3rdrockfromthesunfootloose.png
John Lithgow
3rd Rock from the Sun’s Dick Solomon’s nod to Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose

After getting annoyed at the garage rock band figuring themselves out while cooking in the kitchen, Dick breaks out a familiar rant about stopping that consarned rock ‘n’ roll music and how it leads to dirty dancing, wait, wrong movie.


tvcharacterspreviousroles_julialouisdreyfus_newadventuresofoldchristineseinfeld.png
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
The New Adventures of Old Christine’s Christine Campbell’s nod to Elaine Benes in Seinfeld

Christine’s early ’90s digs look a whole lot like the Upper West Side…


tvcharacterspreviousroles_hjonbenjamin_archerbobsburgers.jpg
H. Jon Benjamin
Archer’s Archer Sterling’s nod to Bob Belcher in Bob’s Burgers

Benjamin’s magnificent voice somehow embodies both sleek alcoholic Archer and schlubby culinary genius Bob, and in this crossover episode, amnesiac Archer marries into the Belcher clan and takes over the burger joint. Until KGB agents come charging in, guns blazin’, that is.


tvcharacterspreviousroles_wallaceshawn_gossipgirlprinccessbride.jpg
Wallace Shawn
Gossip Girl’s Cyrus Rose’s nod to Vizzini in The Princess Bride

It’s a very slight nod, but when stepdaughter royalty-to-be Blair Waldorf is ready to be walked down the aisle, he exclaims, “Hey, she’s here, the princess bride.”


tvcharacterspreviousroles_neilpatrickharris_howimetyourmotherdoogiehowser.png
Neil Patrick Harris
How I Met Your Mother’s Barney Stinson’s nod to Doogie Howser in Doogie Howser, M.D.

Barney celebrates his latest conquest by typing up a blog entry on a laptop with an old-old-old looking word processor with a familiar theme song playing in the background.


tvcharacterspreviousroles_carriefisher_30rockstarwars.gif
Carrie Fisher
30 Rock’s Rosemary Howard’s nod to Princess Leia in Star Wars
Liz Lemon is Rosemary Howard’s Obi-Wan Kenobi as she yells, “Help me, Liz Lemon. You’re my only hope!”


tvcharacterspreviousroles_davidtenant_doctorwhocasanova.jpg
David Tennant
Doctor Who’s Tenth Doctor’s nod to Casanova in Casanova

In his newly regenerated body as the Tenth Doctor, the Doctor browses through his wardrobe, passing up a sexy red period outfit that seduced so many ladies.
tvcharacterspreviousroles_davidtenant_casanova.jpg


tvcharacterspreviousroles_dancastellaneta_arresteddevelopmentsimpsons.jpg
Dan Castellaneta
Arrested Development’s Dr. Frank Stein’s nod to Homer Simpson in The Simpsons

After realizing he’s made a HUGE mistake, Dr. Stein slips in a “D’oh!”


And a bonus:
tvcharacterspreviousroles_theofficeusuk.jpg
The Office
Michael Scott meets David Brent

The American paper company boss meets the British paper company boss in the elevator, but sadly, no guitars were brought out.

Nadia Chaudhury wants Peter Krause and Lauren Graham to make Six Feet Under and Gilmore Girls references on Parenthood.