10 actors who landed major TV roles — only to be recast after the pilot

Hollywood is a fickle mistress, and nobody knows that better than actors. It's hard to imagine anyone but Jane Krakowski playing Jenna Maroney on 30 Rock, just as it's difficult to envision anyone but Emilia Clarke playing Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones — yet both roles were originally given to different actresses.

You would think that once a TV show is greenlit and its cast has been locked in, everyone on board would be on solid ground, right? But when it comes to new television, a pilot can be make or break a show — entire series have been scrapped after filming just one episode. And even if a pilot gets picked up, that doesn't always mean it's moving forward with the same people.

Actors are replaced after a filming pilot more often than you might think. Sometimes, scheduling conflicts or creative changes are to blame. Other times, an actor simply isn't clicking with their costars or the material. Whatever the reason, losing a role can sting even more when the show goes on to become a massive hit with someone else in their place.

Ahead, we look back at 10 actors who were recast after filming a pilot episode, including who replaced them and why.

01 of 10

Rachel Dratch and Jane Krakowski — 30 Rock

Jane Krakowski is virtually inseparable from her performance as Jenna Maroney on 30 Rock, but a very different actress was originally cast in the role — and the character had a different name, too.

Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch was cast as Jenna DeCarlo, and an unaired pilot was filmed with Dratch playing what was essentially Krakowski's role. Except the character's personality was very different: Instead of the delusions of grandeur and self-obsession that Krakowski's Jenna is known for, Dratch's version was more grounded and less self-absorbed.

The recast wasn't as devastating for Dratch as some might have assumed, and she would go on to play multiple characters on the NBC sitcom during its run. "When I was let go, I didn't think it was a big deal," Dratch told the New York Post in 2012. "The direction of the character had changed and pilots are recast all the time. I thought it would be a nonstory, but suddenly it blew up."

"I think the big thing was — at least what they told me — that at first they wanted to have more comedy sketches in the show," Dratch told New York in 2006. "Then they decided they weren't going to focus on the sketches, so they needed more of a sitcom actress, as opposed to a character actress."

02 of 10

John Posey and Bob Saget — Full House

Before Bob Saget became one of the most beloved TV dads in pop culture history, the role of Danny Tanner on Full House originally went to How to Get Away With Murder actor John Posey. Posey filmed the unaired pilot after being spotted at a comedy show. "I was part of a pretty successful comedy group — Comedia — in Atlanta, and somebody from ABC was in town," he told Yahoo in 2014, (via PEOPLE).

However, as Posey explained, the show's producers had wanted Saget from the start, but he was unavailable due to his commitments as the host of CBS' The Morning Program.

"But then after we shot the pilot and ABC picked up the show, Bob got fired [from CBS] because he said the word 'anus' on live TV, and that was that," creator Jeff Franklin explained to PEOPLE in October 2026. "Suddenly, Bob was available and wanted to do Full House, and I was like, "Bob, why couldn't you have said 'anus' six weeks ago?'"

Although Posey's departure was unfortunate, Saget's eventual costar Jodie Sweetin later agreed that the recast was the right move. As she reflected on the podcast Taboo's Comics & Kicks, "[Franklin] was like, 'I just know it. I just know this is who we need as the dad. This is going to be it.' And he was right."

03 of 10

Tamzin Merchant and Emilia Clarke — Game of Thrones

Emilia Clarke's performance as the "Mother of Dragons" on Game of Thrones has become iconic, but the show almost looked very different. Originally, Pride & Prejudice actress Tamzin Merchant was cast as Dany, and she filmed the show's infamously troubled original pilot, which never aired.

In 2021, Merchant spoke publicly about the pilot in detail for the first time — and revealed that she had her own hesitations about doing the show. "Shooting that pilot was a really great lesson," Merchant told Entertainment Weekly. "It was an affirmation about listening to my instincts and following them, because I tried to back out of that situation and, during the contract process, I did back out. I was talked back into it by some persuasive people. Then I found myself naked and afraid in Morocco and riding a horse that was clearly much more excited to be there than I was."

"There was a piece of casting we had to rethink, [a role] that was compromised," HBO executive Michael Lombardo reflected in the Game of Thrones oral history, Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon. "We all knew Daenerys' journey was critical. Her scenes with Jason just didn't work."

In the end, Merchant had no regrets about leaving the show. "What excites me and what drives me is a compelling story and a compelling character," she explained to EW. "So for me, Game of Thrones was never that. I think it's a testament to Emilia Clarke for making that role iconic — she was obviously excited to tell that story, and she was epic and excellent. But for me, it wasn't in my heart to tell it."

04 of 10

Nathan Wetherington and Jared Padalecki, Gilmore Girls

Supernatural star Jared Padalecki played Rory Gilmore's first boyfriend, Dean Forester. However, the role was played by Nathan Wetherington in an unaired pilot.

"Gilmore Girls was my first experience on set, ever, professionally," Wetherington told EW in 2018. "We shot that scene, like, 45 times so they could get the books to fall the right way. It took all day."

The experience ended up being less than a great memory for Wetherington, who felt uncomfortable during hair and makeup and recalled an incident that nearly shut down production when a focus puller accidentally bruised his cheek. "I remember that getting the set pretty tense, especially with the camera department," he said. "I immediately felt horrible about the whole situation. He barely touched my cheek. It was such a minimal thing but that kind of set the day off. That's the only scene I remember."

After Wetherington shot the pilot, he ended up receiving two letters, the first alerting him that the pilot had been picked up, and the second that his character was being recast. Ouch.

05 of 10

Jenna Fischer and Liza Snyder — Man With a Plan

The Office star Jenna Fischer was famously let go from Matt LeBlanc's sitcom Man With a Plan for this one amazing reason: focus groups didn't like seeing Pam from The Office in a relationship with Joey from Friends.

"I got hired, I shot the pilot," Fischer said on a 2021 episode of her podcast Office Ladies with cohost Angela Kinsey. "While I was there, the network said they wanted more scenes with me. I was like, 'I am nailing it!' More scenes means you're doing a good job. Well, I guess after we finished it, they showed it to focus groups."

"And they didn't like you?" Kinsey asked, laughing. They did like her, but viewers just couldn't separate Fischer from Pam Beasley. "They said—this is a literal quote, they said, 'I don't believe Pam would marry Joey. The chemistry doesn't work between these two,'" Fischer recalled. "That was the feedback they got," adding that, "it wasn't working for [viewers] that we got married and had a family."

Fischer only had nice things to say about LeBlanc, and back in 2016 the Episodes actor told EW that firing Fischer wasn't his decision. "Jenna's a good actor. She did a good job," he said. "The network felt like the chemistry wasn't right between her and me, and that decision was above my pay grade."

06 of 10

Riff Regan and Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Alyson Hannigan made the role of Buffy's trusty best friend Willow her own, but the character was initially played by actress Riff Regan in the unaired pilot. However, as casting director Marcia Shulman explained in a behind-the-scenes DVD featurette, the original casting "just didn't work." After Hannigan was brought on, her standout performance "made her the only one for the role."

But Regan wasn't the only actress considered for the part. Before she was cast, Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey had been in talks with Buffy creator Joss Whedon about playing Willow, though Lynskey was initially hesitant to pursue a TV role. When the producers decided to recast Willow after filming the pilot, Lynskey was approached again. "I had seen the pilot and I was like, 'Oh, this is good,'" Lynskey recalled in a 2023 interview with Shut Up Evan: The Newsletter. After she brought the project to her agent, "it became this whole thing of, 'Well, now you have to audition.' So I auditioned. Then: 'Oh, they didn't like what you were wearing.' It was a whole process. And then I didn't get it!"

Still, Lynskey agrees that Hannigan was the right actress for the part. "Alyson Hannigan got it, who was absolutely wonderful and all was [cast] as it should have been," she said.

07 of 10

Louie Anderson and Mark Linn-Baker, Perfect Strangers

The late Louie Anderson revealed in a 2016 conversation with The A.V. Club that he had been in the original, unaired pilot for the '80s sitcom Perfect Strangers. His role would ultimately go to actor Mark Linn-Baker, and although Anderson was initially hurt by the decision, he eventually came to see it as a valuable lesson.

"I had a lot to do with the shape of the show, but one day I got a call from my agent saying, 'They want to replace you." And I go, "Well, why didn't they tell me? These are all my friends, I thought!'" Anderson recalled. "But it was a great lesson. And I would've been a whole different person, had that been my path and my legacy, Perfect Strangers. Although I think I would've made the show different."

But there were no lingering hard feelings for Anderson. "I'm glad for Mark [Linn-Baker]," he continued. "You know, I like him, and he was a nice person. But I think the problem was that both Bronson [Pinchot] and I were the funny guys, and he had a lot more cred, because he'd just come off of Beverly Hills Cop. Plus, as I've said throughout this interview, I'm not a good actor!"

08 of 10

Brook Kerr and Rutina Wesley, True Blood

True Blood creator Alan Ball spoke to EW in October 2026 for a retrospective on the hit horror-drama, during which he discussed what went down when the actress originally cast as Sookie's best friend, Tara Thornton, was replaced. Initially, the role had been given to General Hospital actress Brook Kerr. However, HBO felt that Kerr "wasn't really part of the same world that all the other cast was."

"And I have to admit, they were right," Ball said. "I felt really, really bad when we had to recast her. The other actress was lovely, but she was a little soft, and she wasn't as in your face as Tara could be. Rutina [Wesley] brought this sort of rough edge that was delightful and made a lot of sense for that character."

"I actually auditioned for the pilot the first time around, and it was between me and the girl who got it," Wesley revealed. "I didn't get it the first time around, and then they wanted to recast, and it came back to me. And I remember being like, 'Oh, my goodness, I can't go through this again.' But I ended up getting it the second time."

09 of 10

Jeff Yagher and Johnny Depp, 21 Jump Street

21 Jump Street launched a young Johnny Depp to stardom, but the role of Officer Tom Hanson, Jr. had first gone to Jeff Yagher. Depp's costar on the show, Holly Robinson Peete, discussed the replacement during a June 2026 appearance on Pod Meets World.

"We shot this two hour pilot, that's something you only did in the '80s and '90s," Robinson Peete told hosts Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle. "And then we got to the middle of the pilot, or almost the end of the pilot, and they replaced the lead actor and we all got freaked out because we thought we were all getting fired. It was a scary moment, because I was so excited about this job."

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"And then in walks the replacement, and there's Johnny Depp," Robinson Peete continued, "and I remember when he came up there, he had on this like, just pretty much the same thing he wears now, like these busted up combat boots and he looks like a pirate. And he comes walking in and he was really nice and lovely, but I was just in my feelings about this other guy that I had gotten replaced, so I felt kind of bad. But we embraced him and we went back and had to reshoot everything, and we did."

10 of 10

Blythe Danner and Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men

On Two and a Half Men, Holland Taylor memorably played the overbearing mother of Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer's characters, but before she took the scene-stealing part, Blythe Danner was set to play Evelyn Harper.

However, in a 2003 interview with The Orlando Sentinel, series co-creator Chuck Lorre explained that Danner was replaced shortly after filming the pilot because the role "wasn't a really good fit for her."

Taylor played the character throughout all 12 seasons of the hit sitcom. Lorre described Evelyn as "the source of the Nile," referring to her role in shaping Charlie and Alan's neuroses.

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