There's No Way You Can Name The Show From Just One Secondary Character
- by Dylan Dembrow
- – on
- in Movies and TV
Some people like to claim that they've seen every show that's currently the topic of conversation around the water cooler. But as soon as you question them about something specific that happened in the series, they suddenly fall mute.
These are the types of people who only bother to watch clips on Youtube, read Wikipedia pages, or catch the first and last episode of each series -- all of which are horribly inferior ways to enjoy a TV series.
While no show will last very long if their few main characters aren't interesting, what keeps all shows engaging on a week-to-week basis is the large cast of supporting characters that move through the series.
They are often played by actors and actresses that you've seen dozens of times before but have never committed their names to memory. Not to mention that these characters are often entertaining and over-the-top in ways that the main characters never get to be.
With TV shows only continuing to grow in scope, that means there are more supporting characters now than ever before that you have to keep track of. So let's take a look at some of the best dramas, sci-fi, and fantasy shows of the last few decades and see just how many of these supporting characters you can recognize!
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After briefly appearing in the first season of this series, fans were left to wonder if this character would ever make a reappearance on the show. Luckily, he did — and this performance by legendary actor Michael Rooker did not go to waste. While this character was largely an antagonist on this hit series, he’s undeniably captivating, and he eventually does go on to redeem himself before his time on the show is up. Rooker more recently had another heartfelt send-off as Yondu in the Guardians of the Galaxy series.
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Based on the comic book character of the same name, this character made his debut in season one of the Marvel/ Netflix show, and he has gone on to appear in a number of the spin-off series that exist in the same universe. The character is a close friend of protagonist Matt Murdock, and he also serves as the shows comic relief in many instances. The character is played by Elden Henson, who played Fulton Reed in the ‘90s Disney film The Mighty Ducks, and he also had a supporting role in the Hunger Games film series.
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Like too many great shows, this sci-fi series was unfortunately canceled after only one season — though the main characters were at least all brought together for a follow-up feature film. Here, Summer Glau plays the character of River Tam, one of the more mysterious characters on this Joss Whedon series. In fact, this role ended up turning Glau into somewhat of an action star, despite the actress admitting that she’s felt very out of her element in the genre. In fact, many of her action scenes were choreographed as if they were dance routines to appeal to her training.
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Easily one of the most talked about shows of the decade, this series made its debut on HBO back in 2011 with plans to wrap up sometime next year. However, this character will not be making a reappearance on the show, as he was very likely killed back in season two. The characters is the self-proclaimed King of Qarth, which is said to be the greatest city that ever was and will be. Though he claims to be wealthier than almost any other man, he is proven to be full of hot air moments before his fate is sealed.
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Though this show may have been canceled in the early ‘90s after only two seasons, that didn’t stop its strong cult following from bringing back the show for a third season just last year. Though this character has appeared in all three seasons, she played a more prominent role in the original series when it aired on ABC. Though this character has a real name, she most often goes by “The Log Lady” by the townsfolk. The show is often cited as one of the greatest and strangest series to ever make it on TV.
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Easily one of the most popular series of the 1990s, this show was created by Joss Whedon and starred Sarah Michelle Gellar in the title role. Of course, the character pictured here wasn’t played by Gellar, but rather actress Michelle Trachtenberg, who played the main character’s younger sister in season five and onward. Trachtenberg has appeared in a number of other popular shows since, including Gossip Girl and Six Feet Under. She more recently appeared in the 2016 TV film Sister Cities.
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Before Netflix was turning out one original movie or show after another, they launched their original content with this series, which went on to garner critical acclaim and win numerous awards. This character appeared during the early days as the show, and she worked at a reporter that has a behind the scenes looks at the shady political happenings in Washington. The character was played by Kate Mara, who has appeared in a number of hit films (We Are Marshall, Shooter, The Martian) as well as other popular TV shows (24, American Horror Story).
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Easily one the best Netflix shows to date, this series became the most talked about entertainment event of the summer of 2016, and it just currently went into production for their third season. The show takes place in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, which is subject to a number of supernatural occurrences when a portal to another dimension is accidentally opened in their town. This character first appeared in season two of the show and is one of the few antagonists that isn’t from another world.
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After being off the air for over a year, this series finally debuted its second season on April 22nd of this year. The HBO series is actually based on the 1973 science fiction film that was written and directed by Michael Crichton — the same author that gave us Jurassic Park and Timeline. This particular secondary character is played by Louis Herthum. His backstory is that he was a lawman who became a rancher after the birth of his daughter. But for anyone who’s watched the show, you know that there’s far more to this character than meets the eye.
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Once the most watched show in cable history, even hardcore fans of this ongoing drama series have to admit that the show’s quality has significantly dropped with the last few seasons. However, this character has still managed to be one of the more interesting new additions to the show, who constantly leaves the viewer guessing as to where his allegiance is at. The character is played by America actor Austin Amelio, who previously appeared in the TV movie Deliverance Creek just a year before landing a role on this show.
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Played by Martin Starr, this character appeared in the cult TV series which only ran for one season back from 1999 to 2000. But that hasn’t stopped this series from being just as beloved today, if not more so. One reason that the show has maintained such popularity is the number of actors in it who have gone on to be stars. These include James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, Linda Cardellini, and, of course, Starr. This actor currently plays Bertram Gilfoyle on Silicon Valley, but can you name this show?
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While this character only appeared in a supporting role in this AMC series, he would go on to be featured in a more central role in the spin-off series — which is currently airing on the same network. The character is portrayed by American actor Jonathan Banks, who has been working in show business since the early 1970s. He’s starred in such hit movies including Airplane!, Beverly Hills Cop, and 48 Hrs. In this series, Bank plays Mike Ehrmantraut, a private investigator and hitman who works for a number of unsavory individuals.
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Often considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time, this series has only grown in popularity since it first debuted on HBO back in 2002. This character was played by Michael K. Williams, who appeared in multiple seasons of the show as a drug dealer and all around criminal, Omar Little. Though he character was known to walk around in broad daylight with a shotgun under his coat, Omar was known to have a sensitive side as well — making him one of the more interesting criminals throughout the five seasons of the series.
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Though this character only appears in about a third of the episodes of this classic series, his story runs all the way from the pilot episode to the second last — which makes his character arc just as interesting as many of the series regulars. His name is Arthur “Artie” Bucco and he is played by American actor John Ventimiglia. Artie is a restaurant owner and a lifelong friend of the main character of this series. Though his upscale restaurant is sometimes used for mafia activities, this character is far from a sharp or resourceful criminal.
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Played by America actress Christina Hendricks, this character appeared in all seven seasons of this AMC show, which has since gone on to be considered one of the greatest series of all time. Though the character may be yet another secretary at the start of the series, she goes on to become one of the highest-ranking members of this prestigious ad agency — which would have been no small feat back in the 1970s. Hendricks currently stars in the NBC show Good Girls.
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Though this popular science fiction show often featured antagonists of a supernatural nature, this 100% human character was one of the primary villains who always seemed like he was up to no good behind the scenes. Since this character didn’t even have a name for over ten seasons, fans often referred to him simply as the Smoking Man or the Cancer Man — since he was rarely seen without a cigarette between his lips. Due to his popularity in this series, actor William B. Davis has gone on to star in a number of other sci-fi shows.
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This character appeared in nearly every episode of the acclaim science fiction series, though he was rarely ever given the spotlight. Instead, he was portrayed as an extremely capable office who is always standing nearby to lend a helping hand to those in charge. Though his feelings are often conflicted, this soldier rarely steps out of line or questions the commands of his superior officers. The character often goes by his last name, Gaeta, and is played by Canadian actor Alessandro Juliani.
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This character appeared in the first five season of his respective series, before he was brutally killed off before the final two seasons of the show. The character is named Harry Winston, though he more often goes by his nickname Opie. He is played by American actor Ryan Hurst, who first gained widespread recognition for his performance as Gerry Bertier in Remember the Titans. He also appeared in the 2002 war film We Were Soldiers, and other TV shows, including Taken and Bates Motel.
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After being a regular for the first four seasons of the Showtime series, this character is tragically killed off in the season four cliffhanger in a tragic and unexpected turn of events. The character was played by Julie Benz, who began acting professionally back in the early ‘90s. Before landing a role in this series, she starred in a number of other hit shows, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off series Angel. More recently she has appeared in Hawaii Five-0 and Training Day.
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Before he wowed audiences with his performance as the main character in last year’s horror masterpiece, Get Out, actor Daniel Kaluuya also stole the show during this episode of the popular anthology series. Since then, the English actor has popped up in a number of the years biggest films, including 2015’s Sicario and this year’s Black Panther — which has gone on to be one of the highest grossing movies of all time. But do you remember the show that finally brought the actor such widespread recognition?
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Peter Stormare is one of those actors who you see everywhere but probably have never committed his name to memory. Back in 2005, he appeared on this FOX crime drama as convicted criminal John Abruzzi, who showed up throughout the first and second season of the show. Stormare is a Swedish actor who has been acting since the mid-1970s. Some of his biggest films to date include Fargo, Armageddon, and The Big Lebowski. More recently he appeared as Abram Tarasov in John Wick: Chapter 2.
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After director David Fincher was responsible for helping launch the first Netflix original series with House of Cards, he ended up bringing this show to the streaming service just last year which has received just as much critical acclaim. The show is loosely based on the FBI and their exploration into the minds and motives of serial killers back in the 1970s. This character, Edmund Kemper, is based on the real-life murder who happens to be the first serial killer that the agents actually get to interview.
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Even if you haven’t seen this HBO series, just looking at this character for more than a second is bound to give you the creeps. And in the actual context of the show, he is no doubt one of the most disturbing TV characters in recent memory. The series first debuted on January 12, 2014, as an eight-part mini-series. But after its massive popularity, the show was re-conceived as an anthology, with the second season premiering the following year. Unfortunately, the show took a massive dip in quality during its second outing.
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On top of dominating the music world, Stefani Joanna Angelina Germanotta — better known as Lady Gaga — has also been wowing audiences with her impressive acting abilities in recent years. In 2013, she popped up as La Camaleon in the action film Machete Kills before going on to star in another Robert Rodriguez film the following year with Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. She then secured a recurring role on this horror anthology series, which earned her critical acclaim as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actress.
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Thanks to Mad Men and his performance as the extremely complicated Don Draper, American actor Jon Hamm has gone on to become a household name. But after he skyrocketed to stardom, we quickly learned that Hamm wasn’t just good at playing a brooding character in a period drama, but that he can steal the show in everything from broad comedies to science fiction shows to live performances. While he may have only appeared in one episode of this anthology series, his time on the show was no doubt a memorable one.
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Though Marc Maron is better known as a stand-up comedian and a podcaster, he’s slowly been breaking into the world of acting. After appearing on his own sitcom Maron — which was loosely based on his own life — the actor has popped up in a number of Netflix shows, including this one which made its debut last year. Here, Maron plays Sam Sylvia, a sleazy movie director in the ‘80s who has a crazy idea that happens to turn into a cultural phenomenon. But if we told you any more, we’d certainly be given the title of this show away.
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Actress Rosario Dawson began acting professionally in 1995, making her debut in Kids — a controversial movie that followed a group of teenagers living in New York City during the AIDS epidemic. She went on to achieve widespread recognition in the early 2000s for performances in Men in Black II, Sin City, and Death Proof. Though the actress may not look it, Dawson is a self-proclaimed nerd and a Star Trek fan. This might help explain why she’s shown up in a number of comic book projects, including this Netflix series.
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This series debuted on ABC back in September of 2004. It ran for six seasons and captured the public’s imagination in ways that had not been seen before — at least on such a massive scale. The show featured an impressive number of engaging and distinct characters, including this one, who first showed up in season three of the show. While this character may have only appeared in nine episodes, he ended up playing a significant role in the series by killing one of the series regulars after he detonates a grenade.
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This sci-fi series first debuted on FX back in early 2017 and is currently in the midst of its second season. Even if you haven’t seen the series, you might recognize this actor as Jemaine Clement — a member of the New Zealand musical comedy group known as the Flight of the Conchords. But outside of this groups TV series, Clement has continued to branch out into the acting world. He appeared in Men in Black 3 in 2012 and starred in a 2014 horror mockumentary which he also wrote, titled What We Do in the Shadows.
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This character goes by both Whiterose and Zhang in this dramatic thriller which first debuted on USA back in 2015. The character is played B. D. Wong, and Whiterose — a cyberterrorist who leads the Dark Army — appears sporadically throughout the first three seasons of the show. Before appearing on this series, you probably spotted Wong during his long-running role as Dr. George Haung on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. But the actor has also starred in a number of blockbuster films, including Focus and Jurassic World.
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Though The Hound has long been painted as a series antagonist, the character is so expertly played by Scottish actor Rory McCann that we always knew deep down this character had a conscious. Now that we’re in the later season of this HBO series, this character’s humanity is finally taken center stage as he works to prevent the world from falling into total devastation. Before he landed a supporting role in this series, you may have spotted McCann in the 2007 film Hot Fuzz.
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Though this character didn’t pop up until the later seasons of this popular AMC show, she played a vital role in helping the series protagonist climb to the top of the ladder when it comes to illegal drug distribution. She is played by Scottish actress Laura Fraser, who previously appeared in the popular fantasy series Neverwhere back in mid-‘90s. She has reprised her role as this perfectionistic character on the spin-off series, as well as starred in both 2017 films Man with Van and In the Cloud.
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Few supporting characters get introductions quite like this one. The character popped up in the season two premiere of this massively popular science fiction series. Audiences no doubt tuned in in masses to figure out what was hiding in this mysterious hatch for most of season one, only to find this character living below the earth — where he pushed a button every 108 minutes under the belief that he was saving the world. So long as you were alive in the early 2000s and owned a TV, you should surely know what show this character was on.
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Shows these days have a tendency to introduce you to a character, making you think that the majority of the series is going to revolve around them, and then end up killing them out of no where when you least expect it. That was exactly the case with this character, who meets his untimely demise right when his career seems like it’s beginning to pick up steam in this political drama. The character is played by Corey Stoll, who recently played the villain in 2015’s Ant-Man.
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This character might not do much besides sit in a rocking chair in front of the TV, but her backstory is what arguably put the events of this entire series into motion. Here, American actress Aimee Mullins plays Terry Ives, a women who’s brain has been fried due to the mind-altering experiments she took part in as a young woman. However, she didn’t know that she was pregnant at the time, which resulting in her birthing a child with supernatural abilities. Sound familiar yet? This character has made brief appearances in season one and two of this Netflix series.