When the newfangled actor playing Morgan debuted onBoy fill Worldhalfway through the season , Cory told her , " Morgan , farsighted prison term , no see ! " She replied , " Yeah , that was the tenacious timeout I ’ve ever had ! "
While filming a movie generally only takes a few weeks or months, shooting a TV show can stretch on for years. Just like with any other job, some people quit or get fired. Then, the studio has to decide whether they’re going to write their character out of the show or hire a new actor to play them.
Here are 14 TV shows the replaced an actor in the middle of filming (and why):
1.On the second episode ofFriends, Carol Willick, Ross’s ex-wife, wasplayedby Anita Barone, who had initially auditioned for a main role. She allegedly quit because she wanted to pursue a more full-time role, which lines up with the fact that she eventually starred onThe Jeff Foxworthy Show.
Jane Sibbett played Carol for the remainder of the show.
Jane was actually range asRachel Greenoriginally . However , after producers find out she was significant , they told her that " it would n’t work out . "
She toldNews.com.au , " So I got home from infirmary after giving birth to my Word , and I got a phone call saying that they were supersede Carol and could I come to act the next daylight . Two daylight after I deliver my son , he and I were on the hardening . I was in a milklike haze . But it was fishy . It was only supposed to be a two - week job , so I ’m very thankful . "
2.OnFamily Matters, Jo Marie Payton played Harriette Winslow until midway through Season 9, when she left because she was unhappy on set.
She toldEntertainment Weekly , " I actually made the decisiveness to leave the show two years before I left . I was unhappy about a slew of thing ; I was buy the farm through a divorcement , I was n’t happy on the show — it did n’t mean I did not need to execute as an actress or an artist . The path I explain it is that , when you ’re a bread maker , you do n’t always want to broil patty or cookie ; you require to broil pies , you want to broil bread . I want to do something else . I do n’t regret that I leave . "
Judyann Elder took over the role for the final nine episodes.
3.ForModern FamilySeasons 1 and 2, Jaden and Ella Hiller, who are identical twins, played Lily Tucker-Pritchett. However, their parents allowed them to quit because they no longer enjoyed acting, becoming irritable and unhappy on set.
Their mom , Michelle Hiller , toldPeople , " Ella and Jaden are enjoying new bambino adventures in swim , dance , gymnastics , and stone climbing . They are happy with the exemption of being 3 [ years sure-enough ] ! "
Aubrey Anderson-Emmonsplayed Lily for Seasons 3–11.
The show quietlyagedLily up , making her six at the oddment of Season 4 when she should ’ve been four or five .
4.OnThe Baby-Sitters Club,Xochitl Gomezplayed Dawn Schafer in Season 1, but she left to play America Chavez inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
She toldEntertainment Tonight , " I felt really sad , but I knew that , just because of COVID , I could n’t be at one piazza and then another and then have to just switch all the clip . "
Kyndra Sanchez played Dawn in Season 2.
In Kyndra ’s first scene as Dawn , who ’d just returned from a trip , she said , " Three weeks in southern California , where the sunshine radiate as advertised . I feel like a whole new somebody ! "
5.In theDynastyreboot, Nicollette Sheridan was originally cast as Alexis Carrington Colby. However, sheleftnear the end of Season 2 “in order to focus on some personal family responsibilities.”
In anofficial statement , Nicollette said , " figure out on theDynastyreboot and reprising the iconic role of Alexis has been exhaustively pleasurable , but the chance to spend precious time with my terminally inauspicious mother is more important to me correctly now . I am deeply grateful to Mark Pedowitz ( The CW ) and David Stapf ( CBS ) for graciously let me to retrovert to Los Angeles to be with her , and I wish them and everyone consort with the show nothing but continued succeeder . I am promising that my fan will embrace my successor with as much passionateness as they sweep up me . "
Then, Elizabeth Gillies — who already starred as Alexis’s daughter, Fallon Carrington — temporarily took over the role for three episodes at the end of Season 2.
She wore face prosthetics to play Alexis post - plastic surgery .
explicate how she transubstantiate into Alexis , Elizabeth toldTV Line , " I had to get a life cast done , and I ’m a lilliputian queasy and claustrophobic , so I was worried how I would do with that . They make a mold of your face and you have to breathe through your nose for an minute and a one-half . The prosthetics we ended up going with were implausibly thin and very telling ; it was done by Blue Whale Studios , go by Matthew Silva and Jonah Levy . It took five hours to get into them and about 45 second to get out . I started to get used to it , though . It became like a very calming face mask towards the last of it . I would sometimes pass asleep , which was very unusual . It was oddly therapeutic . And I knew it was worth it . The detail they expire into — you ’ll see they painted my chest , my arms , my hands . I ’ve never done anything like that . "
Having Elizabeth play two main roles was “challenging” production-wise, so for Season 3, they recast Elaine Hendrix as Alexis.
The CW toldTV Line , " Alexis is back in Atlanta , with a young look , a fresh human beings , and plenty of account to settle . "
Elaine toldTV Line,"[The manufacturer ] encouraged me to make it my own , and I have been . "
6.InDynastySeason 1, Nathalie Kelley played Cristal Flores, but she announced her departure during the summer hiatus, tellingE! News, “I know that I’m not going to Atlanta in July, that I’m staying here [in LA], and I’ve got my life back.”
She later toldTV Insider , " I signed on before I ever read the playscript . There was a canonic outline . I consider I was n’t up to the challenge of a nighttime soap . I was n’t prepared for that literary genre . It was n’t something I had experience in … I felt modified and I felt stay put . At the same time , the writing was boxing me in a little bit . And I think the best thing they felt they could do is start afresh …. That ’s obviously a backbreaking telephone set call to get as an actor [ telling me I was not come back ] . It took me by surprisal . It institutionalise [ sic ] me into a circle of mortal - searching and a actualization that I could have dug deep . "
The Cristal that Nathalie played was killed off , and the show land on the " real " Cristal .
Ana Brenda Contreras then played Cristal for Season 2, but sheleftdue to “personal reasons.”
She toldPeople Spain , " It was a decision I made with the producers , and it engage a flock of piece of work . I had been carrying a heavy work load , accent , and personal things that made my check in Atlanta very unmanageable and had an impact on my health . I ’m taking with me the nicest thing from my character and my stamp mates . I am very grateful to CW , and we are on the dear term . In fact , I keep in ghost with the creatives , and I do n’t doubt that we will work on together again . "
And lastly, for this show, Daniella Alonso played Cristal for Seasons 3–5.
7.Santino Fontana left his role as Greg Serrano onCrazy Ex-Girlfriendearly in Season 2 because, when the show’s future was still up in the air, he signed on to other projects.
As a result , his character left for byplay , dramatically transgress up with Rebecca at the airport .
Describing the plan for the show if he had n’t left , series carbon monoxide gas - creator Aline Brosh McKenna toldEntertainment Weekly , " We always opine they would break up because their thing was so toxic and terrible , and that they would become near friend . "
When Greg returned in Season 4, he was played by Skylar Astin.
The showexplainedit as Rebecca seeing Greg other than . Now emotionally intelligent , he was basically a newfangled someone .
8.After playing Jesus for two seasons onThe Fosters, Jake T. Austinlearnedthat his role was going to be significantly reduced in the next season, so he left.
He did n’t require to be held back from taking on other projects .
Noah Centineo took over the role in Season 3.
The showexplainedaway Jesus ’s fresh look as the result of surgeries he had after the car chance event he had in the Season 2 finale .
9.OnMy Wife and KidsSeason 1, Jazz Raycole played Claire Kylie, but shereportedlyleft the role because her mom objected to a storyline about one of her character’s friends getting pregnant.
Jazz told theChristian Post , " I was 12 year old when I get that problem . The producers wanted a different thing , they wanted someone a little bit old . I was n’t quick for that . "
Jennifer Nicole Freeman then played Claire for Seasons 2–5.
The show jokinglyacknowledgedthe recasting . Her daddy , Michael , said , " Claire , what ’s different about you ? "
She replied , " What are you blab out about ? I just pull my hair back , that ’s all . "
He said , " Whatever it is , you look like a whole raw somebody . "
10.For the first two seasons ofBoy Meets World, Lily Nicksay played Morgan Matthews.
OnPod Meets World , William " Rusty " Russ , who played Morgan ’s pa , say , " I call back there was some issue that had to do with growing up . I ’m not sure she was very well-chosen at the time and [ serial Lord ] Michael Jacobs , to his credit , could see that . He decided what was considerably in person for her was to lease her try something else , go somewhere else . "
Costar Danielle Fishel added , " We were talking about the pressure . You really have to require it . It ’s a lot on your shoulders , and she was six age old . I think eventually she just acquire to a point where she was like , ' This is n’t as fun as you bozo all recollect it is . ' "
For Seasons 3–7, Lindsay Ridgeway took over the role.
She did n’t appear until Season 3 Episode 14 . It waswrittenoff as a joke .
Cory told his mom and old brother , " You know , why ca n’t you guys memorize from Morgan ? She is a great sis . I have in mind , she stays in her room , you do n’t try from her , you do n’t see her , and best of all , she stay on out of my personal sprightliness . " When Morgan came downstairs to stick her nose in his business , he say , " Morgan , long time , no see ! "
She answer , " Yeah , that was the retentive timeout I ’ve ever had ! "
Both actors reprised the role on the series finale ofGirl Meets World.
11.OnThe GoldbergsSeasons 4–5, Rowan Blanchard played Jackie Geary. However, shepassedon Season 6.
OnTwitter , series creator Adam F. Goldberg said , " Let me make this clear . I did n’t fire her and never would ’ve . She turned us down , and that meant suffer the character vanish , and this is my life story , and Jackie did n’t vanish suddenly . Their story continues . "
Alexis G. Zall took over the role for Season 6 then returned in Season 10.
The show yield a tongue - in - impertinence acknowledgment to the change in Jackie ’s casting as well as her new vogue and pastime .
When she come back from NYU on Season 6 Episode 2 , Adam narrated , " turn out , there was one person who change a ton over the summer — my sci - fi loving , theater geek girlfriend , Jackie Geary . "
12.OnAmerican Housewife, Julia Buttersleftthe role of Anna-Kat Otto after four seasons so that she could go after new opportunities.
For the final season, Giselle Eisenberg played Anna-Kat.
The first installment of time of year 5 open with the new Anna - Kat ’s cheek popping out from behind her laptop . Breaking the quaternary wall , her mom , Katie , quipped , " Yeah , kid change . "
13.After playing Reggie Mantle for one season onRiverdale, Ross Butler made the decision to have a bigger role on13 Reasons Whyrather than continue playing two small parts on both shows.
He toldVulture , " Reggie ’s a great persona , but it ’s a different tone . I connected with Zach on a much more real layer where I did n’t have to make so much of a character for him . Reggie ’s more outspoken , like that jock archetype . Zach is too , but Zach has more colour , at least from what I learn . "
In the 100th episode , Rossreturnedas Reggie from an alternating universe . He saw Charles ’s Reggie with Veronica Lodge , then the two Reggies fought to the death .
Charles Melton played Reggie for the remainder of the series.
14.And finally, onSupernatural, Katie Cassidy played Ruby in Season 3. Series creator Eric Kripkereportedlysaid that she wasn’t brought back for “purely budgetary” reasons, but Katie said that she left for a different role.
Katie toldTV Guide , " Warner Bros. was n’t on the button sure what they were going to be doing with my character , and I had the alternative to stay or entrust . WhenHarper ’s Islandcame about , I was really into it , so I call for them to have me go . Luckily , they did . "
In Season 4, she wasreplacedby Genevieve Padalecki (née Cortese), who went on to marry lead actor Jared Padalecki. She reprised the role on Season 15.
She toldEntertainment Weekly , " Danneel [ Ackles , who played a recur role and is married to guide worker Jensen Ackles ] and I both from path back , belike around the time we got married , we ’ve always jest about wanting to be a part of it in the end . And so I palpate like it ’s always been out there . The show is a vast matter in our life and in my life , and so initially they approach Jared , who never order me . We were up there for Thanksgiving or something , and Kevin Parks , who is the AD on the show , was like , ' Hey , Gen. I ’m trying to schedule when you ’re come up to Vancouver . ' And I aver , ' What ? What are you talking about ? ' He ’s like , ' What do you think ? Are n’t you support ? ' I was like , ' Dang it . Of course I ’ll do it . ' There was a communicating breakdown in our family . Jared knew I really wanted to be a part of it . It ’s part of my family . So for me , it ’s always been a no brainer . "
