Bit Part to Series Star: TV Actors Who Became Fan Favorites

Even the most successful TV producers and execs can't always predict which characters will resonate with their audience and fanbase. Sometimes, all it takes to make a great TV character is good timing and great casting. Here's a look at a few fan favorites who started on their shows in much more minor roles.

Pratt's Parks and Rec character Andy Dwyer evolved from a six-episode arc as Rashida Jones' boorish boyfriend to a beloved, adorably dumb main character.

"Almost at the point of the audition we were like, 'Oh, we have to reconceive this, because this guy’s the funniest person we’ve ever seen. We’re not letting that guy go,'" said series co-creator Michael Schur of the Jurassic World star.

Young won fans, if not supporters, for her portrayal of Scandal's catty and ambitious First Lady Mellie Grant and was bumped up to a series regular when the show returned for its second season in 2012.

Collins' Castiel introduced angels to the mythology of The CW's Supernatural in the show's fourth season and response to his character was so favorable that he became a series regular for the fifth and sixth season.

After recurring again in season seven and being credited as a "special guest star" in season eight, fans undertook a letter writing campaign to bring the character back in a larger capacity. Collins returned as a series regular for the show's ninth season in 2014-15.

Originally conceived as a one-off role, response from fans and studio brass alike helped Rickards' Felicity Smoak  grow into one of Arrow's central characters and the titular hero's main love interest.

 

"Felicity was never part of the plan," executive producer Marc Guggenheim said of the character. "She was this wonderful surprise. But we realized that there’s only so many BS excuses that Oliver can give her before it started to really strain credulity... In many ways, it was a choice that Felicity either learns the secret, or she goes away, and her going away was never an option."

Fresh off The Daily Show success, Helms was cast for 10 episodes in The Office's second season as obnoxious, a cappella-belting Ivy Leaguer Andy Bernard, co-worker to Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) in the show's Stamford office. 

However, when the Stamford office merged with Scranton in the show's third season, Bernard was the only one to stick around, replacing Michael Scott (Steve Carell, another Daily Show alum) as the branch's regional manager in season eight.

Computer whiz Chloe O'Brian was just a recurring character when she began helping Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) fight terrorism one day at a time in 24's third season. But by season five Rajskub was a regular, by season six she was second-billed, and in 2014, Chloe was named on AOL TV's list of the 100 Most Memorable Female TV Characters.

Emerson's bug-eyed Henry Gale was originally slated for just three episodes during the second season of the mysterious island drama. But producers liked his mannerisms and manipulative powers so much, he became the leader of "The Others."

It's hard to imagine the sitcom Family Matters without Steve Urkel wincing "Did I do that?" or lusting after his "Snookums" Laura Winslow. But the boy who became the prototypical '90s nerd was conceived as an occasionally recurring character before becoming a breakout hit. 

Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli was merely a fringe character when Happy Days began its 11-season run in 1974, however, the character was such a hit with fans that the character grew, along with his popularity, to be one of the best friends to main character Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard).

Getty's character, Sophia Petrillo, mother of Bea Arthur's Dorothy Zbornak, was originally intended as a one-off for the Golden Girls pilot, but her character's blunt wisecracking soon made her a fan favorite.

Lloyd's beloved Reverend Jim "Iggy" Ignatowski was first introduced when he presided over a "paper marriage" between Latka (Andy Kaufman) and a prostitute in Taxi's first season. By the 10th episode of season two, he was a series regular and in 1999, TV Guide ranked him no. 32 on their list of "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time."