5 Shows That Recast Characters (And No One Noticed)

Sometimes when characters are recast with a new actor, it's a big deal. Just look at the reaction to the recasting of Geralt of Rivia for The Witcher TV show. People are still arguing about it in the forums, and probably in the comments of this very article.

At other times, a character is recast and no one seems to notice. Of course, we're not talking about recasting a lead actor here, but many of these stealth recastings were for pretty prominent members of the cast. So, did you even know about these surreptitious changes?

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air—Aunt Viv

I watched the Fresh Prince doing his thing right from the start back in the 90s, and as a child I never noticed that Aunt Viv—the mother of the family—completely changed actors. Janet Hubert played the character for three whole seasons, but then the role was recast and Daphne Maxwell Reid stepped into her shoes.

As our friends over at ScreenRant note, this is a recasting with a lot of drama behind the scenes . The facts are hard to come by, but ultimately it seemed that Hubert and Will Smith just didn't get along, and so someone else had to fill the role.

I think both did a great job rewatching this show as an adult, and honestly I have no idea how I didn't notice the change back then.

Roseanne—Becky

Becky Conner was played by Lecy Goranson, then Sarah Chalke, then Goranson again. The writers leaned into the gag by cracking meta-jokes about it. But given how Becky was never the center of the show's drama, the audience rolled with it. Of course, there's a deeper story behind the change and our friends over at ScreenRant have a great deep-dive into why Roseanne recast Becky .

However, the funniest part is that most people who just watched the show didn't really notice Becky was suddenly a completely different person. I guess you could call it exceptional recasting, and an amazing job by Sarah Chalke, but looking at them now it does seem odd some of us couldn't tell.

Friends—Carol (Ross's Ex-Wife)

Carol, the mother of Ross's son Ben, was originally played by Anita Barone before being recast with Jane Sibbett, who stuck with the role for the rest of the series. Screen Rant has another great piece on why Carol was recast , but I think the most interesting thing here is that people only remember Jane Sibbet in the role and the recasting happened really early on.

To be fair, Carol didn't really play any significant role in the story until Sibbet took over, and the change happened so early in the show, folks just didn't register it. What's really nuts is that Sibbet almost got the role of Rachel in the show, but since she was pregnant at the time, it didn't work out. Despite not riding the Friends train for more than an episode or so, Anita Barone was a sitcom staple and had gigs in various shows over the years.

Mad Men—Bobby Draper (x4!)

The ultimate running joke in prestige TV: Don Draper's son Bobby was played by four different actors throughout the show's run. The character was never a major player, so the constant changes slid by without disrupting Mad Men's moody atmosphere.

Our friends at Screen Rant have the full scoop on why poor Bobby had to be replaced three times , but they're mostly pedestrian. It's not surprising that no one really noticed the changes because Bobby ages over the course of the show and children change in appearance pretty dramatically over time.

Game of Thrones—The Mountain

Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane was recast not once, but twice. First played by Conan Stevens, then Ian Whyte, and finally Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (the strongman who stuck with the role). Each version brought a slightly different physicality, but since the Mountain barely spoke and was mostly a looming figure of violence, most viewers just accepted the new faces (and bodies) without question.

Screen Rant covers the various reasons The Mountain changed actors . There was no real drama involved with the recasting, it was mostly shuffling to other roles in the show and schedudling conflicts, but later in the story The Mountain never speaks or takes off his helmet, so it didn't really matter who was under there. All three actors did a decent job, and despite being a big fan and binging the whole show more than once, I never noticed the change. To be fair, GOT has a huge cast of characters and a few recastings.