Before They Were a Community

True story: I was inspired to go back to school while watching Community with my wife. Fortunately/unfortunately, my education wasn’t as easy as one at Greendale. But what matters is where it got me. We’ve come a long way, me and Community. Now it doesn’t matter what I’m watching, if I see a Community actor, my eyes light up. Here are just some of my favorites from before they became Greendale Human Beings. 

Jim Rash (Dean Craig Pelton) - Friends

I swear he could have been the same character in Friends. During a Friends rewatch (which happens constantly in our home), he could be seen as Rachel’s plane-mate in the series finale. One mention of Phoebe’s “feelings” and this nervous passenger was out the door. In a way, he was the hero of Ross and Rachel’s love story (even though I don’t like them together); if he hadn’t freaked out Ross might not have made it to the plane on time. It’s just a good thing no one asked him about spare phalanges at Greendale.

Joel McHale (Jeff Winger) - Spider-Man 2

As they hit Netflix recently, my wife and I just watched the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy (worth watching, especially after his appearance in No Way Home). I knew it was coming, but I was still smiling to see Joel McHale as a banker in the movie. He was a bit of a sleazeball, attempting to pocket some of the bank’s cash during the attack, until Aunt May hit him. Could have been Jeff in a pre-lawyer life.

Danny Pudi (Abed Nadir) - Gilmore Girls 

Another constantly running staple in our home, we’ve always got a run of Gilmore Girls going. The first time I watched it with my wife (she’d seen it countless times by then) I was surprised to see Abed running around the Yale newspaper with Rory Gilmore. He was part of the uncomfortable episode where Lorelei and Christopher took the newspaper staff out for dinner… despite the protests. Awkward.

Alison Brie (Annie Edison) - Hannah Montana 

Once Disney Plus came out, we immediately started watching Disney Channel series, including Hannah Montana. I was surprised to see Alison Brie, but I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. I’m sure more actors than I realize had appearances on Disney Channel before their break. She only appeared in one episode (as part of a scheme against Jackson), but there she was.

Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley Bennett) - That’s So Raven

Another Human Being with a history in teen dramas. She appeared in That’s So Raven and iCarly in nameless roles. But the lack of name didn’t stop the sass, as she acted as the bouncer, keeping Raven and Chelsea from tracking down their latest pop star obsession. Enter Disney Channel shenanigans.

Ken Jeong (Ben Chang) - The Office

Before he was a deranged former Spanish teacher (and after he was a medical doctor), we got to see Ken Jeong as one of the other students in Michael’s improv class. He was one of Michael’s “gunshot” victims in his ridiculous production. Back in 2020 he was a guest on the “Office Ladies” podcast, discussing his breakout role. 

It was hard to narrow down the Community cast for this blog post. I could have included Leonard being in The Pagemaster or Magnitude attending Hogwarts as Lee Jordan. But I’ll leave it with these six. And of course, whenever Gillian Jacobs appears in anything, we have only one reaction:

Before They Were Heroes (MCU)

You won’t typically see us with any shortage of Marvel content. But while we wait for the premiere of Moon Knight, we’re in a bit of an MCU drought. With how far the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come since Iron Man started the show (or Spider-Man if you want to count 2003 as the beginning). I wanted to take a step back and look at where our heroes were before they became the Avengers.

Chris Evans (Captain America) - Fantastic Four

Before he was Steve Rogers, Chris Evans was already a superhero. Back in the day, he played Johnny Storm in Fox’s first iteration of Fantastic Four. As the Human Torch, we saw him “flame on” in 2005 against Julian McMahon (before he played Jonah in Runaways). At the time, Chris Evan was also known for playing one of the exes in Scott Pilgrim.

Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner) - 13 Going on 30

He wasn’t the MCU’s first Hulk, but he is the one we’ve come to love. Before he first hulked out, he was the best friend/love interest in this 2004 romcom. As grown up Matt Flamhaff, it was his influence that showed Jennifer Garner she shouldn’t have wished to grow up so fast. A must see movie for anyone who thinks they grew up too fast and I shamelessly watched it for my 30th birthday last year.

Scarlett Johnansson (Black Widow) - The Prestige

Before Natasha stepped onto the scene in Iron Man 2, she was the lovely stage assistant Olivia in The Prestige. I remember going to see this movie with my brothers and it was trippy! Weird to look back now and see Black Widow in a magic act. She also voiced Princess Mindy in the Spongebob Squarepants movie, if you’re a Spongebob fan.

Chris Hemsworth (Thor) - Star Trek

Before he became the God of Thunder, Chris Hemsworth was a Starfleet captain (albeit for 5 minutes) caught in the middle of a battle against enemies from the future. During his short time as captain of the ship, his wife (played by Jennifer Morrison, Emma Swan) gave birth to the famous Captain Kirk.

Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) - Friends

There are so many wonderful shows and movies I could reference in talking about Paul Rudd. Supporting roles in Perk of Being a Wallflower and Night at the Museum and a recurring role in Parks and Rec. But as it’s me, I’m going to reference his character from Friends: Mike Hannigan. He came out of nowhere towards the tail end of the series. Literally came out of nowhere. Joey basically called out a random name and Paul Rudd responded. He eventually became Phoebe’s soulmate and they were married by the end of the series. Also, does he ever age?

Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) - The Hobbit

Depends on your social circle but I feel like our beloved Stephen Strange is best known as Sherlock, but Trekkies might remember that he played the rebooted Khan. But one of his biggest things before Doctor Strange was when he voiced the dragon Smaug in The Hobbit trilogy. You may have your opinions on how well the trilogy was done, but I think we can agree he was a great dragon.

Of course we could also address other heroes like Star-Lord or Gamora, but I figured we’d save their previous lives for another day. After writing this, now I just want to go watch the Star Trek movies again. And The Prestige.

Before They Were Cursed

My wife and I just finished rewatching Once Upon a Time again. Other than the last season or two we’ve seen it enough that we can have it on for 10 minutes at a time or in the background (which was nice when we were packing and moving last month). Created by the same people as LOST, I always take note of the actors and actresses that they brought back for this show. But even besides Anton the Giant and King George, there are plenty of other actors that my wife and I recognize all the time from their other appearances before they ended up in Storybrooke. So in honor of them, let’s take a look at their work.

Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan) - Star Trek

She appeared as one of Ted’s many girlfriends in How I Met Your Mother. Though she appeared for thirteen episodes in that series, I want to spotlight her appearance with StarFleet. In the opening scenes of JJ Abrams’s Star Trek movies, she gave birth to James T. Kirk as her husband (the mighty Thor) saved them and hundreds of others, giving his own life. Gosh. I need to watch that movie again.

Lana Parilla (Regina Mills) - LOST

As I said before, lots of actors in Once Upon a Time were previously stars on LOST. However, Lana wasn’t a star on LOST. In fact, she only appeared in one season finale as one of the Others. But even with only one appearance in the supposedly flooded DHARMA station, she was an intriguing addition to LOST, later to return as the Evil Queen.

Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White) - Ramona and Beezus

Before she was a princess or school teacher, Ginnifer Goodwin played the cool aunt in this Walden Media movie. When it showed up on Disney Plus, my wife wanted to watch it. It’s a nice feel-good movie about a young girl and her explosive imagination. So if you want to see Mary Margaret as a fun aunt, check this movie out on Disney Plus.

Josh Dallas (Prince Charming) - Thor

Before he was a shepherd or a prince, he was Asgardian by the name Fandral. As one of the Warriors Three, he traveled with Thor to fight the Frost Giants before the God of Thunder was banished to Earth. Along with the others, Fandral fought in New Mexico. Fortunately/unfortunately, due to his work on Once Upon a Time, Josh Dallas did not return in Dark World or Ragnarok, so the role was re-casted with Zachary Levi.

Rebecca Mader (Zelena) and Emilie de Ravin (Belle) - LOST

And of course since I brought LOST in, I couldn’t do this post without mentioning the Wicked Witch and Belle being Charlotte and Claire. They didn’t share a ton of scenes in LOST, but I’m sure they spent plenty of time together off camera. In contrast, they spent plenty of time on camera together in Storybrooke, often making themselves a tag-team th at I didn’t know I needed.

Dania Ramirez (Cinderella) - Heroes

She didn’t appear in Once Upon a Time until the final season, which I affectionately call the “spin-off season”. As we’ve been finishing that season of Once Upon a Time, I’ve also been watching Heroes on my own, where she appears as Maya Herrera in Season 2. Unfortunately, her storyline in Heroes was cut short due to the writers’ strike that year. She was supposed to play into the finale, instead of being written off in the next season. But I guess that’s just how it goes.

There are plenty of other actors and actresses I could reference from Storybrooke. For example, did you know Tinkerbell was a Power Ranger, the Snow Queen was Mrs. Claus, or that the White Rabbit was Lord Farquaad? But this list is good for now. So chime in with your favorite role that a Once actor or actress has played outside the Enchanted Forest. 

Before They Were Heroes (and Heroes Reborn)

I'm finishing up with my re-watch of LOST and it's making me nostalgic for shows I watched back in the day. One of those shows is Heroes and I swear I still see those actors showing up every once in a while (like Mohinder showing up in The Flash this year). But for now I want to flashback to before Heroes (and its sequel, Heroes Reborn) aired and to what some of our heroes were up to before they were heroes.

Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) - Gilmore Girls
Long before he was Jack on This Is Us, he was Peter on Heroes. Before he was Peter, he was Jess on Gilmore Girls. When my wife had me watch Gilmore Girls, I absolutely hated Jess. That being said, his character development is one of the most intriguing. He's actually one of my favorite characters from A Year in the Life because his development seemed so natural and flawless. Just goes to show how great of an actor Milo is.

Jack Coleman (Noah Bennet) - Cow Belles
Before he was the senator on The Office or the mysterious company man on Heroes, he was on a Disney Channel movie: Cowbelles. My wife stumbled across this appearance when we were binging Disney Channel movies. He's definitely got the loving dad character down.

Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet) - Remember the Titans
"Save the cheerleader, save the world." It's the catch phrase that got us hooked on Heroes, right? But before Claire was a cheerleader, she was an avid football fan. You may or may not have recognized her though, because of how young she was, but she was Coach Yoast's little girl Sheryl. We love this movie in our house, so it makes it even better than she was in it.

Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura) - Scrubs
Besides being a master of time and space, Hiro (in another life) was a lab tech at Sacred Heart Hospital. On Scrubs Masi played the snarky (often manipulated) lab tech that plays a recurring role throughout the adventures of JD and his colleagues. It was kind of a small role, but it was very different from Hiro, which made me happy for some reason.

Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman) - LOST
So as I was starting to watch Heroes, I'd barely started watching LOST. So two shows in a row I had Greg Grunberg showing up as a pretty important character. He was the pilot Captain Norris on LOST (plane wouldn't have crashed without him) and the he was the mind-reading cop Matt Parkman when he started appearing on Heroes. Loved his character!

Cristine Rose (Angela Petrelli) - Friends
She does such a great job playing angry, pretentious rich ladies. She was on How I Met Your Mother, Gilmore Girls, Heroes, and Friends. Every time she was stuck up and I loved it. I chose to single out her appearances on Friends because she played Paul Rudd's mom and I absolutely love Mike Hannigan on Friends. Also she was great being drugged up at Mike and Phoebe's the wedding.

Zachary Levi (Luke Collins) - Tangled
He didn't appear in the original series, but in the reboot/miniseries he appeared as a new hero. Though at first he was a bounty hunter for powered individuals. That's what a change from where we've seen him before. Previously he'd played one of Thor's comrades in The Dark World and Ragnarok. However, my favorite he's been in: Tangled. Who doesn't love Flynn Rider? Disney prince and superhero (twice over if you count Shazam). If you ever get a chance to see his panel at a Comic Con, do it. You won't regret it.

Robbie Kay (Tommy Clark) - Once Upon a Time
Another newcomer for Heroes Reborn. Although he played one of the twin heroes here, he was one of my favorite villains on Once Upon a Time. He played Peter Pan and wow he's menacing. I had my critiques of the Neverland arc of Once Upon a Time, but Robbie's portrayal of Peter Pan was the best part of that storyline.

Who were your favorite actors on Heroes? Writing this post has definitely made me want to pull out my Heroes DVDs and start binging it again. If you like Heroes, don't forget to check out the post Ryan did about the series.

Before They Were Heroes: Arrowverse

As of the Legends finale last week, the Arrowverse has officially closed down for the year (also a new "Arrowverse" series, Stargirl, started last month, but that's a story for another time). The pandemic meant that some seasons got cut short, but there are worse things--Also we got the news of the surprise departure of Ruby Rose as Batwoman. In honor of the finales, I wanted to spotlight some of the leading actors and actresses and movies they were in before they were superheroes. My wife and I love picking up obscure appearances of our favorite actors appearing in “older” shows (like “Abed Nadir” appearing in Gilmore Girls). So I’m going to start with the main stars from the Arrowverse shows.

Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow) - Heartland

Before he was the playboy Oliver Queen, Stephen Amell appeared repeatedly on one of my wife’s favorite cheesy Canadian cowboy shows. Since Stephen Amell is Canadian I wasn’t too surprised that he showed up there, but it was kind of funny to see him show up when my wife was watching this show over maternity leave.

Matt Ryan (Constantine) - Criminal Minds

While Constantine was a short-lived series, he keeps popping up in the Arrowverse, first on Arrow and now consistently on Legends of Tomorrow. I never got to his appearance in Criminal Minds when I watched it with my roommates years ago, but I do remember the show and its intrigue. Kind of makes me want to go back and watch the show again (add that one to my watchlist). Side note: he also appeared in an episode of Torchwood, an adult Doctor Who spin-off.

Grant Gustin (Barry Allen/The Flash) and Melissa Benoist (Kara Danvers/Supergirl) - Glee

I’ve only watched a handful of episodes of Glee (it’s been perpetually on my Netlfix queue). They do have good music though. I’ve never seen the episodes with Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist’s characters, but having seen their Arrowverse musical crossover, I’m not surprised that they were on Glee for a while.

Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/The Atom) - Gilmore Girls

He was only a throwaway character back in the first season of Gilmore Girls, but he later became multiple superheroes in the Arrowverse. I remember his scene vividly, even though I had to jog my memory on his role, because I thought it was so cringey how these college boys talked up these high school sophomore girls.

Cress Williams (Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning) - Hart of Dixie

He’s appeared in a couple shows that my wife likes, but he had such a long-standing role on Hart of Dixie (he also appeared Grey’s Anatomy) that I chose this one. If I recall correctly he was the long-standing mayor in the small town. It was such a different role than what I’m used to in Black Lightning that it was cool to see the contrast.

Ruby Rose (Kate Kane/Batwoman) - Pitch Perfect 3

My wife and I were recently watching the Pitch Perfect trilogy. When we got to the third movie, I realized I recognized one of the singers of Evermoist. It was Batwoman! That’s the one that actually inspired this post. I didn’t realize she was a singer before making that connection (although I couldn’t actually confirm whether it’s her singing or not). -- Unrelated: I'm curious how things will go with them recasting her character for next season.

What other Arrowverse stars come to mind for you? I knew I couldn’t include everyone so I tried to hit the highlights.