10 Best Meta Castings In TV Shows, Ranked

Casting tricks can add an extra layer of enjoyment to even the best TV shows, and taking a meta approach when selecting an actor can improve the viewer’s experience. While many meta castings can take place because an actor has a pre-existing association with a franchise, it’s not always the case. It’s also possible that a self-aware casting choice can be a nod to something that’s taken place in the real world.

There are many decisions that go into casting for a role in a TV show, but sometimes a specific actor can add something extra to the part beyond their physical portrayal of the character. A meta casting often comes with huge expectations. This is because the reputation and history of the actor in question may instill preconceptions in the show’s audience. However, context is key, and there’s more than one reason a meta casting can work brilliantly.

10 Andy Serkis As Kino Loy In Andor

Serkis Already Played Another Character In The Star Wars Franchise

Serkis’ face may not be as recognizable as his body of work. The actor is better known as a motion capture specialist, often serving as a template and voice artist for CGI characters. Making his Star Wars debut in 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Serkis used his skill set to bring Supreme Leader Snoke to life.

Fans of Serkis’ work may have been aware that he played the villain in The Force Awakens, so seeing the actor in his true form during another entry in the Star Wars saga would have placed them on the back foot. Although Kino Loy initially does come across as the bad guy in Andor, Serkis’ new Star Wars character ends up being instrumental in aiding the titular hero’s escape from Imperial prison. Serkis’ existing association with the Disney property allowed a more impactful reveal than if it had been another actor in the role.

9 Dean Stockwell As Colonel Grat In Star Trek: Enterprise

The Casting Meant Stockwell’s Reunion With His Former Quantum Leap Castmate

Star Trek: Enterprise starred Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathon Archer. Before the show, Bakula was perhaps most recognized for leading another sci-fi classic: Quantum Leap. While the cast of Quantum Leap changed on a weekly basis, both Bakula and Dean Stockwell remained in their respective roles of Sam Beckett and Al Calavicci from 1989-1993.

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In Star Trek: Enterprise season 1, episode 21, “Detained,” the Quantum Leap duo join forces once again. Although the dynamic of their characters isn’t the same as in Quantum Leap, Enterprise includes a handful of visual clues to make sure its audience knows the casting choice is intentional. The casting of Stockwell may not influence the episode’s narrative, but it’s still a nice reference to the history of both actors involved.

8 Ricky Gervais As David Brent In (The US Version Of) The Office

Michael Scott meets his creator

It doesn’t get much more meta than a show’s remake colliding with the original. In The Office season 7, episode 14, “The Seminar,” that’s exactly what happens. Gervais, who created The Office, reprises the role of Michael Scott’s U.K. counterpart, David Brent. Michael and David have a brief and joke-laden exchange near an elevator, showing the similarities between two versions of what is essentially the same character. Although Gervais was involved with the U.S. adaptation of his work, this was the only time he stepped in front of the camera to bizarrely link the two worlds together.

7 Patrick Troughton As The Second Doctor In Doctor Who

Troughton’s Casting Stemmed From A Real-World Situation

Doctor Who‘s revolving door of actors in its lead role may seem normal now, but the concept of regeneration was never intended to be a part of the show. The First Doctor was played by William Hartnell, who had to step back from the show for medical reasons. The BBC, not wanting the show to end, ingeniously added to the lore of Doctor Who by openly addressing the change in the physical appearance of its leading man with an in-universe explanation. Subsequent recastings of the Doctor aren’t so meta and are rather just an extension of the plot device.

6 Lani Tupu As The Voice Of Moya’s Pilot In Farscape

The Farscape Star Played 2 Roles With A Poetic Link

Farscape fans will recognize Lani Tupu as Captain Bialar Crais, the fallen Peacekeeper officer. However, Tupu actually gave life to two characters in the show’s world. As well as portraying Crais, Tupu also voiced Moya’s alien Pilot. In Farscape, certain ships are alive. Moya is one of these living ships, known as Leviathans, and births a son. When it’s considered that Crais goes on to be the captain/pilot of Talyn, Moya’s son, an artistic parallel starts to form. As a result of Tupu’s dual-casting, he goes on to play the pilots of both mother and son.

5 John Wesley Shipp As Henry Allen In The Flash

The Flash From The ’90s Returned To The Franchise In A Different Way

The casting of John Wesley Shipp permeates the Arrowverse, but the clearest example of his use as a meta choice is as Henry Allen, father of Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen. Shipp played The Flash in the ’90s, so installing the actor as the hero’s father in the Arrowverse is a nice way to acknowledge Shipp’s contribution to popularizing the character during his original stint with the franchise.

Because of the multiversal nature of The Flash, Shipp was also afforded the chance to semi-reprise his role as the title character in later seasons. Although his character’s name was Jay Garrick, Shipp’s version of the speedster was simply a version of Barry from a different timeline. Having Shipp as such a big part of the Arrowverse was an intricate piece of fan service, but one that worked well.

4 Christina Ricci As Marilyn Thornhill In Wednesday

Ricci Played A Key Part In Wednesday In Her New Role

Christina Ricci was synonymous with the role of Wednesday Addams for many years before Tim Burton’s TV show. While she had aged out of playing the lead role in the Netflix original, the actor was still asked to be involved in Wednesday. Due to her history with the franchise, the twist of Ricci being the villain in Wednesday worked perfectly, with many not seeing the development coming. Clever castings such as this often take the form of a small cameo appearance.

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However, Burton’s decision to have Ricci become a central part of the plot as Marilyn Thornhill meant her role went far beyond a subtle wink to the audience. The show was much better for it. As a result of Ricci’s involvement with Wednesday, the interactions between Marilyn Thornhill and Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Addams take on an added layer of interest.

3 Mark Hamill As The Trickster In The Flash

Hamill Is More Commonly Associated With Another DC Villain

Although Mark Hamill’s most famous role is that of Luke Skywalker, he’s also carved out a career for himself in the DC universe. In the ’90s, he played a villain called The Trickster, a role that he reprised during the CW’s reboot of The Flash. However, the voice he uses for both performances is essentially the same as his voice work for Batman’s arch nemesis, the Joker, in the animated Batman movies.

While the blurred line between Hamill’s portrayal of both the Joker and the Trickster is already quite meta, his casting actually goes deeper than that. In season 1, episode 17 of The Flash, “Tricksters,” Hamill is afforded the opportunity to utter the immortal words that featured in the franchise that made him. Tracking down Axel Walker, Hamill’s Tricker delivers the line, “I am your father.” So, Hamill’s casting as the Trickster doesn’t just tie together his DC roles, but also his time as Luke Skywalker.

2 Ashley Johnson As Ellie’s Mother In The Last Of Us

Johnson Voiced Ellie In The Last Of Us Game

While The Last of Us TV show will have been the first exposure to the story for many, Bella Ramsey wasn’t the first actor to play Ellie. In the video game series, the original actors brought The Last of Us’ characters to life via motion capture and voice acting. Ashley Johnson was among this initial group, playing the original role of Ellie. Despite not being cast once more as her game character, the show still managed to include her in an artful way.

Season 1, episode 9 of The Last of Us, “Look For the Light,” shows Johnson’s character, Anna, pregnant and hiding from the Infected. Fans of the franchise may have recognized Johnson, but the reveal that she is playing Ellie’s mother is a brilliant casting decision that acts as a metaphor for the actor’s role in creating the character. The scene, while partially fan service, also adds to the canon of the show, as it reveals why Ellie is immune to the infection that turns everyone else into monsters.

1 Evan Peters As Fake Pietro In WandaVision

Peters Played Pietro Maximoff In The X-Men Movie Franchise

The MCU hasn’t always been a multiversal saga, and WandaVision was one of its first entries to hint at the possibility of alternate dimensions. Due to the reality that Wanda had created for herself within the world of the show, it seemed conceivable that she could thin the divide between universes. This theory was strengthened during the final seconds of season 1, episode 5 of WandaVision, “On a Very Special Episode…,” when Evan Peters entered the fray, seemingly as Pietro “Quicksilver” Maximoff.

The MCU’s Pietro, originally played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, perished before the events of WandaVision, with the character meeting his end during the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Peters’ version of Quicksilver was, at the time, canonically unlinked to the MCU, playing the character in the X-Men movies. As a result, his presence in WandaVision sent fans into a frenzy regarding the larger implications. However, Peters’ Wandavision character ended up being a fake, someone by the name of Ralph Bohner who had been placed under a spell. While clever, the casting was as meta as it was misleading.