History Main / RecastAsARegular

* On ''Series/{{Quincy}}'', Anita Gillette played Quincy's late wife in a flashback in "Promises to Keep". In 1982, she joined the cast as Emily Hanover ... who married him.

* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', Paget Brewster appears in the Season 5 episode "Analysis of Cork-Based Networking" as IT Admin Debra Chambers before taking the role of Season 6 cast regular Frankie Dart.

** Bumper Robinson appeared in Season 1's "Trial By Fury" as Clifford Weaver, before getting cast as James in Season 7.

** Dana Elcar appeared in the pilot episode as Andy Colson, the guy manning the control room while [=MacGyver=] does his mission. Later in the season he was cast as Pete Thornton, Mac's close friend, boss and [[PromotionToOpeningCredits only other person in the intro]].

* Elyssa Davalos appears as a (presumably) Baltic love interest of [=MacGyver=] in the two-part S3 opener. Less than a month later, she appears again as Nikki Carpenter and appears in four further episodes.
** Dana Elcar (the guy who plays Mac's boss, Pete) appeared in the pilot episode, as a different character named Andy Colson.

** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' had Creator/CarlLumby voice the Martian Manhunter, whereas previously he had voiced minor roles in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' (the mayor of Metropolis) and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' (Stalker). Creator/MichaelRosenbaum also voiced The Flash after a number of smaller roles, notably the henchman Ghoul in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker''.

** Tim Russ did guest roles in ''TNG'' and ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'' before becoming Tuvok on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''.
** Creator/JefferyCombs has appeared in several ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and ''VOY'' roles both before and after his main role as recurring ''[=DS9=]'' villain Weyoun.

** Michelle Forbes had a role in Season 4 of ''TNG'' in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E22HalfALife}} Half a Life]]" as an "Alien of the Week", before returning in Season 5 as semi-regular character Ensign Ro.

** Max Grodenchik, best known for playing Quark's brother Rom, also played a couple of Ferengi in ''Next Gen'', as well as a Trill in a deleted scene from ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection'', and an unnamed human in the ''Deep Space Nine'' finale.

* In the Latin American dub of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Valentina Toro voiced Alexandrite in her first appearance before later going on to voice Jasper. Ironically, her sister Antonia would voice Alexandrite in her second appearance.

** Jerry Orbach first appeared on ''Law & Order'' as a one-off character, a defense lawyer, before later being cast as Lennie Briscoe.

* ''Series/NewsRadio'': Jon Lovitz appeared on two episodes as two different characters before being cast as Max Louis in the fifth and final season.

** Before becoming Uncle Arthur in Season Two, Paul Lynde appeared in the Season One episode "Driving is the Only Way to Fly" as Harold Harold, the insecure and neurotic instructor who was hired to teach Samantha how to drive. Elizabeth Montgomery and Paul Lynde loved working together so much and the crew got such a big kick out of him that Uncle Arthur was created so they could work with him on a semi-regular basis.

** Courtney B. Vance played a ScaryBlackMan in an episode of L&O before being cast as ADA Ron Carver on CI.

** June Gable played a nurse in episode 23 before picking up a recurring role as Joey's agent Estelle.

** Larry Hovis is a variation of this. Although he played Carter in the pilot, this Carter was different than his series' proper Carter: the Carter in the pilot was a lietenant instead of a sergeant, and was an escapee who was being passed through Stalag 13 on his way to rejoin his unit in London. This Carter was intended to be a one-shot guest character, but when Leonid Kinsey (Vladimir) refused to sign on as a regular when the pilot went to series, Hovis was brought back to play Carter as Hogan's young, bright-eyed, yet naive explosives expert and bomb-maker.

** Interestingly, "Gender Bender" was shot in Steveston, British Columbia (and set in a fictional Steveston, Massachusetts), known today as the filming location for ''Series/OnceUponATime'', where Nicholas Lea made an appearance as another character named Michael, this time the woodcutter father of Hansel and Gretel.

** Creator/ColinBaker guests in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E1ArcOfInfinity Arc of Infinity]]" as Commander Maxil, an antagonist of the Fifth Doctor, about two years before being cast as [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma Doctor No. Six]].
** Creator/PeterCapaldi, the Twelfth Doctor, first appeared as the Roman nobleman Caecilius in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii "The Fires of Pompeii"]]. He also had a prominent role as John Frobisher in the {{spinoff}} ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth''. This is addressed InUniverse [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath following]] his regeneration, and in the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E5TheGirlWhoDied The Girl Who Died]]." In the latter, the Doctor sees it as his reminding himself that he can save people even when all hope seems lost.

** Jean Marsh played Richard the Lionheart's sister in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E6TheCrusade The Crusade]]" before becoming one of the Doctor's travelling companions in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Daleks' Master Plan]]".

** Peter Purves played two different characters in the ''same serial'' ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase The Chase]]") - FakeAmerican Morton Dill and new companion Steven Taylor.
** Creator/NicholasCourtney played a character called Bret Vyon for four episodes of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Daleks' Master Plan]]", before returning three years later to play TheBrigadier until his death.
** John Levene first appeared in the Creator/PatrickTroughton-era episodes "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E2TheAbominableSnowmen The Abominable Snowmen]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear The Web of Fear]]", and then appeared as UNIT soldier Sgt. Benton in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]", becoming a regular cast member for most of the Creator/JonPertwee era. A bit less noticeable than other examples, as in the first two stories he was [[PeopleInRubberSuits dressed in a Yeti suit]].
** Ian Marter played Lieutenant Andrews in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters Carnival of Monsters]]" before joining the regular cast as Harry Sullivan.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E6TheArmageddonFactor The Armageddon Factor]]", Lalla Ward played Princess Astra -- whom Romana liked so much that she modelled her [[TheNthDoctor next regeneration]] on her.
** Creator/EveMyles played Gwyneth in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead The Unquiet Dead]]", and then became a future relative of that character as ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' lead Gwen.

** Creator/KarenGillan became regular companion Amy Pond two years after playing a cult priestess in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii The Fires of Pompeii]]", the same episode that featured Capaldi.

** Similarly, Dan Starkey has been playing random Sontaran warriors since the return of the series, then was cast as the recurrer Strax. Notably, this means he has played two different lead characters at the BBC Doctor Who Proms (Skorr - which he played in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E4TheSontaranStratagem two 2008]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E5ThePoisonSky episodes]] - and Strax). Those are two of three different speaking Sontaran parts he's had (the other being [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime Jast]][[labelnote:*]][[OneSteveLimit Not to be confused]] with [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday Dalek Jast]][[/labelnote]]). He has, though, [[YouLookFamiliar played different extra roles even after starting as Strax]], because of the reasonable anonymity afforded him for all the Sontaran makeup: another random Sontaran warrior in an episode without Strax, and Ian in [[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas "Last Christmas"]].

* ''Series/TheBill'' is notable for several of its villains returning as regulars.

* Two main protagonists in ''Series/InspectorRex'' (Brandtner and Hoffmann) were played by actors who had appeared before as [[VillainOfTheWeek villains of the week]] in earlier seasons of the show.

** Adjoa Andoh played [[CatFolk Sister Jatt]] in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E1SmithAndJones "Smith and Jones", and then was cast as Martha's mum Francine, in another example obfuscated by heavy makeup.

** Creator/PeterCapaldi, playing the 12th incarnation of the Doctor, appeared as the Roman nobleman Caecilius in an earlier episode. This is addressed InUniverse immediately following his regeneration and in the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E5TheGirlWhoDied The Girl Who Died]]." In the latter, the Doctor sees it as his reminding himself that he can save people even when all hope seems lost. Capaldi also had a rather large role in ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'', a spin-off of ''Doctor Who''.
** Creator/ColinBaker guests in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E1ArcOfInfinity Arc of Infinity]]" as Commander Maxil who is an antagonist of the Fifth Doctor about two years before being cast as Doctor number six.
** Creator/FreemaAgyeman, who became the Doctor's companion Martha Jones, appeared before as a minor character named Adeola Oshodi. In-universe, Martha and Adeola are cousins with StrongFamilyResemblance.
** Creator/KarenGillan became regular companion Amy Pond two years after playing a cult priestess in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii The Fires of Pompeii]]", the same episode that featured Capaldi.
** Neve [=McIntosh=] played two Silurians (Alaya and Restac) in 2010, and apparently she's really good at doing that because from 2011 onwards she plays Madame Vastra, the Silurian detective.
** Similarly, Dan Starkey has been playing random Sontaran warriors since the return of the series, then was cast as the regular Strax. Notably, this means he has played two different lead characters at the BBC Doctor Who Proms (Skorr - which he played in two 2008 episodes - and Strax). Those are two of three different speaking Sontaran parts he's had (the other being Jast). He has, though, [[YouLookFamiliar played different extra roles even after starting as regular Strax]], because of the reasonable anonymity afforded him for all the Sontaran makeup: another random Sontaran warrior in an episode without Strax, and Ian in the [[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas 2014 Christmas special]].
** Creator/EveMyles played Gwyneth in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead The Unquiet Dead]]" and then became a future relative of that character in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' lead Gwen.
** Paul Marc Davis played Chiefs in both ''Doctor Who'' and ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' before becoming [[Characters/TheSarahJaneAdventures The Trickster]].
** Creator/NicholasCourtney played a character called Bret Vyon for four episodes of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Daleks' Master Plan]]" before returning three years later to play TheBrigadier until his death.
** Adjoa Andoh played one of the cat nun nurses in 2006 and then was cast as Martha's mum Francine.
** Peter Purves played two different characters in the ''same serial'' ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase The Chase]]") - FakeAmerican Morton Dill and new companion Steven Taylor.

** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E6TheArmageddonFactor The Armageddon Factor]]", Lalla Ward played Princess Astra whom Romana liked so much that she modelled her next regeneration on her.
** John Levene first appeared in the Creator/PatrickTroughton-era episodes "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E2TheAbominableSnowmen The Abominable Snowmen]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear The Web of Fear]]", and then appeared as UNIT soldier Sgt. Benton in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]", becoming a regular cast member for most of the Creator/JonPertwee era. A bit less noticeable than other examples as in the first two stories he was [[PeopleInRubberSuits dressed in a Yeti suit]].

** Creator/NicholasCourtney played a character called Bret Vyon for four episodes of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34TheDaleksMasterPlan]]" before returning three years later to play TheBrigadier until his death.

** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E6TheArmageddonFactor TheArmageddon Factor]]", Lalla Ward played Princess Astra whom Romana liked so much that she modelled her next regeneration on her.

** Andy Hallett, best known as Lorne from ''Angel'', was originally an extra in the ''Buffy'' episode "Hush".

** Creator/ColinBaker guests in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS20E1ArcOfInfinity Arc of Infinity]]'' as Commander Maxil who is an antagonist of the Fifth Doctor about two years before being cast as Doctor number six.

** Creator/KarenGillan became regular companion Amy Pond two years after playing a cult priestess in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii The Fires of Pompeii]]'', the same episode that featured Capaldi.

** Creator/EveMyles played Gwyneth on ''Doctor Who'' and then became a future relative of that character in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' lead Gwen.

** Creator/NicholasCourtney played a character called Bret Vyon for four episodes before returning three years later to play TheBrigadier until his death.

** Peter Purves played two different characters in the ''same serial'' ("The Chase") - FakeAmerican Morton Dill and new companion Steven Taylor.
** Jean Marsh played Richard the Lionheart's sister in "The Crusades" before becoming one of the Doctor's travelling companions in "The Daleks' Master Plan".
** Ian Marter played Lieutenant Andrews in "Carnival of Monsters" before joining the regular cast as Harry Sullivan in "Robot".
** Lalla Ward played an alien princess whom Romana liked so much that she modelled her next regeneration on her.
** John Levene first appeared in the Troughton-era episodes "The Abominable Snowman" and "The Web of Fear", and then appeared as UNIT soldier Sgt. Benton in "The Invasion", becoming a regular cast member for most of the Pertwee era. A bit less noticeable than other examples as in the first two stories he was [[PeopleInRubberSuits dressed in a Yeti suit]].

** Mark Lenard did a one-off as a Romulan Commander on TOS before becoming beloved recurring guest star Sarek.
** Tim Russ did guest roles in TNG and the movies before becoming Tuvok on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''.
** Jeffery Combs has appeared in several ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and VOY roles both before and after his main role as recurring [=DS9=] villain Weyoun.
** Rene Auberjonois was Colonel West in ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' before becoming Odo in [=DS9=].
** Robert Duncan [=McNeill=] guest starred as Starfleet cadet Nicholas Locarno in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The First Duty." The writers of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' wanted to use the character as a regular, but this would have required paying royalties to the writers of "The First Duty" for every episode the Locarno character appeared in, so they created a [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute "new"]] character named Tom Paris instead and cast [=McNeill=] in the role.
** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' that introduced the Cardassians, "The Wounded," Marc Alaimo guest-starred as the Cardassian leader Gul Macet. When the Cardassians' role was expanded for ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the producers wanted Alaimo back, but the Macet character was too nice a guy to make a good villain, so they removed his truly unfortunate facial hair and named the new character [[BigBad Gul Dukat]]. The ExpandedUniverse explains the resemblance by making them cousins.
** Michelle Forbes had a role in Season 4 of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' as an "Alien of the Week", before returning in Season 5 as semi-regular character Ensign Ro.

** Max Grodenchik, best known for playing Quark's brother Rom, also played a couple of Ferengi in ''Next Gen'', as well as a Trill in a deleted scene from TheMovie ''Star Trek: Insurrection'', and an unnamed human in the ''Deep Space Nine'' finale.
** Ethan Phillips played a Ferengi in an episode of ''The Next Generation'' before playing Neelix on ''Voyager''. In the episode "False Profits", Neelix disguises himself as a Ferengi. Gee, wonder where they got that idea.

** Richard Lee Sung once appeared as a generic Korean local (specifically, one of five Kim Luck's the hospital treated in one day) before becoming Cho Man Chin, the local peddler who would, at least OnceASeason, try to swindle folks at the 4077th by selling them crooked goods such as wristwatches the ran backwards, wild boar tusks that are really plastic, and 2x4s that used to be round.

** Creator/KoichiYamadera portrayed Tenshinhan for a few episodes in ''Dragon Ball Z'' when ''Creator/HirotakaSuzuoki'' was unavailable. He returned to the franchise over two decades later to play Beerus in the films ''[[Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods Battle Of Gods]]'' and ''[[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF Resurrection F]]'' and the TV series ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''.

** Creator/KoichiYamadera portrayed Tenshinhan for a few episodes in ''Dragon Ball Z'' when ''Creator/HirotakaSuzuoki'' was unavailable. He returned to the franchise over two decades later to play Beerus in the films ''[[Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods Battle Of Gods]]'' and [[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF Resurrection F]]'' and the TV series ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''.