They say that acting is one of the world’s oldest professions. It’s also one of the most common vocations of characters on television. From Extras to Entourage, television is full of actors playing actors. Some of them, like Vincent Chase, are exceptional at their craft, while others like Andy Millman, consistently find new and excruciating ways of sabotaging their careers. Watch as we turn the spotlight on our all-time favourite fake thespians.
Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan (30 Rock)
Sometimes it’s difficult knowing where Tracy Jordan begins and Tracy Morgan ends. Morgan and his 30 Rock alter-ego are both erratic prima donnas whose personal and professional decisions often end in interventions and police stand-offs. Not that that’s a bad thing. Morgan’s ability to play a thinly-veiled version of himself has already resulted in an Emmy nomination and a place on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years.
Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky (How I Met Your Mother)
Every actor has one role they’d love to forget. Just ask Robin Scherbatsky. Played by Vancouver’s Cobie Smulders, this Canadian expat spent her formative years on Space Teens, an educational TV show where she solved math problems while operating the world’s most phallic joystick. Her friends later discover a DVD copy of the show, making it impossible for her to ever live down her involvement on television’s most inadvertently filthy series.
Kevin Dillon as Johnny Drama (Entourage)
Johnny Drama is proof that good things come to those who wait… a really, really long time. When we first meet him in season one, Kevin Dillon’s calf-obsessed character is a TV retread whose last meaningful role came nearly a decade before on Viking Quest. To his credit, Drama refuses to throw in the towel and he toils away in a series of bit parts in his brother’s films and TV commercials before finally striking pay dirt on the primetime hit Five Towns. The surprisingly successful series transforms him from a C-list star into a B-list celeb and he later snags a role on Rush Hour 3 when Brett Ratner’s assistant misreads the credits on his show and mistakingly picks Drama instead of his younger and far more talented co-star. Victory!
(WARNING! THIS CLIP CONTAINS NAUGHTY LANGUAGE AND MAY BE FOUND OFFENSIVE)
Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd (Cheers)
Sometimes it takes an amazing actor to play an awful one. That’s certainly the case with Woody Harrelson, a two-time Oscar nominee who played a dim-witted bartender with acting aspirations on Cheers. As Woody Boyd, Harrelson had an unrivalled enthusiasm for the stage that never quite matched his talent. Consequently, he found himself relegated to playing an extra on Spencer for Hire and understudying Moses and Mark Twain in a pair of amateur productions. Boyd finally achieved a breakthrough towards the end of Cheers’ 11-year run when he was cast as the King of Flakes in The Story of Snow. The play was universally well received, and even prompted one reviewer to say, “any kid in Miss Podesta’s class who misses it is a full-on goon.”
Ricky Gervais as Andy Millman (Extras)
At one time or another, nearly every television actor has a confrontation with their agent. However, none of them have ever been more colourful than the encounters between longtime friends Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on Extras. As unemployed actor Andy Millman and his incompetent agent Darren Lamb, the pair consistently find themselves at odds over the lack of available work and Lamb’s questionable understanding of the industry, technology and life in general. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Millman is eventually forced to take matters into his own hands and scores a major coup when his series, When the Whistle Blows, is picked up by the BBC.
Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani and Matt LeBlanc (Friends, Joey, Episodes)
No one has more experience playing an actor than Matt LeBlanc, who has already portrayed thespians in three primetime hits. As Joey Tribbiani on Friends and Joey, he played a dim-witted, womanizing actor best known for portraying Dr. Drake Ramoray on Days of Our Lives and the lead in Deep Powder, a mercifully short-lived series described as “Baywatch on skis.” On Episodes, LeBlanc now plays a farcical fictionalized version of himself. Although his character is slightly more self-aware than Joey, he still falls prey to many of the same hilarious vices.
(WARNING! THIS CLIP CONTAINS NAUGHTY LANGUAGE AND MAY BE FOUND OFFENSIVE)
Jeff Conaway as Bobby Wheeler (Taxi)
Like many of the actors on our list, Bobby Wheeler was long on looks and short on talent. Played to perfection by Jeff Conaway, this vacuous pretty boy struggled to land meaty roles, settling instead for blink-and-you’ll-miss-them appearances in commercials for suntan lotion and athlete’s foot medication. Ironically, Bobby’s failures made Conaway a genuine star, and the New York native went on to receive two Golden Globe nominations during his three seasons on the show.
Matt Lanter as Liam Court (90210)
One of the breakout stars from the CW’s 90210, Matt Lanter has risen to fame thanks to his portrayal of reluctant actor Liam Court. When we first meet Liam he’s an aimless outsider struggling to fit in, but things quickly change when he’s scooped up by a modelling agency and his buff, half naked body begins popping up on billboards all around town. Court is later pushed into acting, where his painful lack of skill is ultimately masked by some clever editing and plenty of gratuitous shots of his abs. After all this is the CW we’re talking about, not Masterpiece Theatre.
Sarah Paulson as Harriet Hayes (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip)
As Harriet Hayes on Studio 60, Sarah Paulson wasn’t just an actress playing an actress. She was an actress playing an actress playing an actress. According to series creator Aaron Sorkin, her Bible-thumping character was loosely based upon Emmy Award-winner Kristin Chenoweth, whom Sorkin dated in 2006 prior to developing the show. Knowing her character’s origin, it would have been easy for Paulson to simply parody Chenoweth, but instead she managed to create a three-dimensional character who provided the short-lived show with its moral compass.
