In the beginning, It’s Always Sunny In Philidelphia lacked a star-studded cast. The leads characters were five relatively unknown actors, two of which were the show’s creators. However, the first season was still great. Then when Danny DeVito joined the cast for season two, it significantly raised the profile of the series. And those original five leads have since become stars in their own right.
They are all still known primarily for Always Sunny, but they’ve now done other big things in their career, from being the lead in sitcoms to starring in movies. Some of the supporting cast have done well for themselves also. But which of them has been involved in the best TV show or film? IMDb reviewers can help answer that.
Charlie Day (Charlie): Reno 911! – 7.9
While those around him started to lose their sanity over the years, Charlie Kelly was already out of control from the very first season. The unofficial janitor of Paddy’s Pub does most of the hard graft to keep the bar running. And his outrageous and often dim-witted actions are always entertaining.
The character is played by Charlie Day, who has appeared in many other shows over the years. And the one to receive the most praise is Reno 911! The mockumentary series shows the inner workings of Reno, Nevada’s Sherrif Department. In the second season, Day portrayed a crazy twin alongside his real-life wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, aka The Waitress from Always Sunny.
Sandy Martin (Mac’s Mom): Shameless (US) – 8.6
As Mac’s mother, Sandy Martin spends most of her time grunting or smoking. She does occasionally say things, but it’s usually unintelligible. Despite the lack of variety to the character, she’s still a very popular member of the supporting cast.
Another acclaimed, albeit radically different, show she appeared in was Shameless. The drama series is about a poor, dysfunctional family that’s trying to get by in Chicago. Martin played a physician in the fifth episode, and she examined one of the main characters, Frank Gallagher.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis (Waitress): House M.D. – 8.7
The Waitress appears sporadically throughout the series as Charlie’s ultimate love interest. Although, not many of those episodes turn out well for the character. This is because, besides Charlie, the members of the gang aren’t big fans of the woman, so she’s often a victim of their antics.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis has portrayed the character since the very first season. She had a much shorter stint on House M.D., which was a medical drama about an extremely talented doctor. The actress in question has a small role in the “Que Será Será” episode during season three.
Artemis Pebdani (Artemis): The Shield – 8.7
Artemis is a unique secondary character in that she manages to avoid getting her life ruined by the gang. In fact, she’s rarely ever a victim of their schemes. Instead, she usually comes in and matches their outrageousness, which is no easy feat.
The actress behind the crazy character has plenty of acting credits to her name. Like Elizabeth Ellis, she appeared in an episode of House M.D. and also the equally popular crime thriller, The Shield. The latter followed an LAPD cop and his strike team as they went around and solved cases in morally questionable fashion. In season three of the show, Artemis made a short appearance as a witness, which was the first credited role of her career.
Kaitlin Olson (Dee): Curb Your Enthusiasm – 8.7
Kaitlin Olson’s Dee Reynolds is a fan-favorite. Although, within Paddy’s Pub, she’s not as popular. The rest of the gang love to torment the woman at every opportunity, and they’ve done some incredibly cruel things to her over the years. Yet, she’s no angel herself.
Even before the show began, Olson was no stranger to edgy comedy because she’d already made several appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm. The Larry David creation is about the writer’s controversial misadventures in his daily life. Olson appears sporadically in the series as Cheryl’s sister, Becky. Like most other characters in the show, she’s almost perpetually angry at Larry.
David Hornsby (Cricket): The West Wing – 8.8
Nobody has suffered the wrath of the Paddy’s Pub gang as much as Cricket. The former priest’s life has kept getting worse and worse since re-connecting with the crew. He lives on the street, he’s become an addict, and half of his face has been burnt off. At least the fans like him.
The character is such an iconic part of Always Sunny that it’s hard to see David Hornsby as anyone else. But he’s played plenty of other characters in his career. One of the biggest shows he appeared in was The West Wing, which was a drama about a group of staff who worked in the west wing of the White House. He featured in the season seven episode, “Institutional Memory.”
Danny DeVito (Frank): Friends – 8.9
Always Sunny went up a level once Danny DeVito joined the cast at the start of season two. As a rich businessman, Frank Reynolds came in and started funding all of the gang’s insane plans. And while initially, he seemed a little tame compared to the others, his level of debauchery soon grew.
DeVito is by far the most famous actor in the show, therefore, he has been in many TV shows and films. The highest-rated, though, is Friends. For the few people on the planet who don’t know, Friends was a sitcom about a group of people living in New York. And Devito made one of the show’s most memorable guest appearances as a stripper at Phoebe’s bachelorette party.
Glenn Howerton (Dennis): Fargo – 8.9
At the beginning of Always Sunny, Dennis simply seemed like a cool ladies man with no conscience. But over time, he started to lose his mind. He became incredibly irritable and started to go into fits of rage at a moment’s notice.
Glenn Howerton has done an excellent job playing Dennis, and he did equally brilliant work on Fargo. The actor appeared in the first season of the crime drama anthology series as a personal trainer and conman named Don Chumph.
Lynne Marie Stewart (Bonnie): Batman: The Animated Series – 9.0
On the surface, Charlie’s mom, aka Bonnie, is a caring, kind-hearted mother. Yet, underneath she’s very promiscuous. Throughout the show, the single mother sleeps with many different men, including Frank, on a few occasions.
The actress who plays her, Lynne Marie Stewart, has a varied list of acting credits to her name. A few of which are Batman-related, though the Animated Series is regarded as the best. For one episode, Stewart lent her voice to Violet, who was one of Poison Ivy’s underlings. She tried to help the supervillain punish wealthy industrialists.
Rob McElhenney (Mac): Game Of Thrones – 9.3
Rob McElhenney’s Mac is another character who changed a lot as the seasons went by. At the start, he was a relatively normal guy, but over time he gained some weird traits. It wasn’t a bad thing, though. In fact, he became a nonstop source of hilarity.
Mac might be the character McElhenney is forever known for, but the actor’s highest-rated show on IMDb is Game of Thrones. The series about the perpetual struggle to control Westeros is one of the most critically acclaimed pieces of television ever. McElhenney put his small imprint on the series in the divisive final season, with a blink and you’ll miss it cameo.
