The 10 Most Controversial TV Recastings Ever

Television is the perfect medium for longform storytelling, mainly because a multi-season TV show gives its audience plenty of time to connect and bond with its characters over the course of many years. Characters have whole seasons in which to establish their personalities and then evolve beyond them as they learn more about their friends or their world or whatever mysteries drive the plot forward. The fans grow accustomed to seeing their faves again and again every week, which can make things slightly difficult when, due to one hardship or another, a major character has to be recast.

Shows deal with cast changes in a few different ways. Some of them just write the character the actor played off the show entirely, whether by killing them or sending them on some vague mission, or to a new school or job. The ones that can’t spare the loss of a major character take a different route, and recast them with a new actor. Sometimes it works, and the show’s fans might even enjoy the newbie’s portrayal over the original. Other times it doesn’t, and a show might never recover from trying to convince those who know better that this person who doesn’t look anything like this other person is the same.

TV recasting usually come with a little or a lot of controversy, with fan speculation spurring rumors of creative disagreements or on-set abuse or personal trouble bad enough to keep an actor from reprising their beloved role. Maybe it worked out and maybe it didn’t, but these are the TV character recasts that remain controversial to this day.