Make Believe Casting Director: 10 Recently Unemployed Actors and Where I'd Like to See Them Next

 

As a rule, one cannot become too accustomed to having specific actors in their lives all the time always. It’s unfortunate but it’s true. Contracts expire, creative direction demands death, and sometimes unexpected decisions get made at the last minute that result in the departure of a beloved character. It’s heartbreaking to watch TV. But, fortunately, TV is also slightly incestuous, recasting our favorites time and time again as if there are no other actors in the universe.

Here are my top ten actors that need to return to my television and the shows I’d most like to see them show up on in the near future.

*Fair Warning: There be spoilers ahead for "Sons of Anarchy," "Game of Thrones," "Teen Wolf," "The Good Wife," and "Hannibal." Continue at your own risk.

 Matt Smith

Having recently ended his three-season run as the titular “Doctor Who,” Matt Smith is undoubtedly exploring cinematic options rather than roles on the small-screen. However, his unusual charm and frenetic humor are needed on TV these days. Perhaps Smith should pick up the sides for a role on “Game of Thrones” so he can inject some comedy into the otherwise dreary show while still being able to carry weighty scenes that will haunt viewers for weeks.

Sandra Oh

Her ten-year tenure on “Grey’s Anatomy” comes to an end this May and surely Sandra Oh will dabble in film in the wake of her departure from the ABC staple. But where I want to see her most? Going toe-to-toe with the likes of Julianna Margulies and Christine Baranski on “The Good Wife” – preferably as a recurring rival lawyer, like Michael J. Fox’s Louis Canning or Martha Plimpton’s Patti Nyholm.

 Hunter Parrish

“Weeds” wrapped up over a year ago and Hunter Parrish certainly turned in a memorable stint on “The Good Wife” but I want to see more of him. In fact, I can already see Parrish joining “Grey’s Anatomy” as a new intern, replacing the departing Shane and Leah, or maybe he could play a Doogie Howser-type character who is constantly criticized and looked down upon by his colleagues at Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital while flirting with newly single Stephanie – or maybe he could play the show’s first regular gay male (aside from Joe the bartender, of course).

Maggie Siff

Maggie Siff’s time on “Sons of Anarchy” came to an abrupt end in the season finale when she was nearly drowned and then stabbed in the back of the head with a meat fork by her mother-in-law. While some fans never took to her character, I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping Siff returns to TV in the immediate future. Can’t you just see Siff playing a secret-harboring defendant in a Case of the Week on “The Good Wife?” I’d prefer to see her in a regular role, of course, but I’ll take regular guest appearances across multiple shows, too.

Colin Donnell

His death was the biggest surprise in the first season finale of “Arrow” and Colin Donnell has been sorely missed on TV ever since. However, I think his run on the superhero series as the rich party-boy with a conscience proves that he’d fit right in on “Revenge” as an old friend of Daniel’s who arrives in the Hamptons at just the wrong moment for the vindictive Emily Thorne. And, talent aside, doesn’t he have the look to fit in with that cast? 

 

Lyndsy Fonseca

“Nikita,” unfortunately, came to an end this past December but her four years on the underrated show are proof that Lyndsy Fonseca can battle with the best warriors on the planet. Put her up against Stephen Amell on “Arrow,” for example, and fans will be screaming as she kicks his ass up and down the room.

Richard Madden

Yes, yes, Richard Madden did that “Klondike” miniseries after getting an absolutely brutal death on “Game of Thrones” so he hasn’t really been unemployed but nobody intentionally watches the Discovery Channel so it doesn’t count. I can easily see Madden taking a guest role on “Doctor Who” alongside his girlfriend, Jenna Coleman, but I want to see him make the jump to American network TV. First stop: “Hannibal.” He could play someone from Hannibal’s past like an incriminating former patient or maybe he could step in as a new crime scene investigator for the FBI.

Crystal Reed

Crystal Reed is undoubtedly the most underrated performer in the cast of MTV’s “Teen Wolf” but a sword to the gut put an end to that. Yes, she spent over three years on a supernatural drama but can’t you see Reed stepping into a commanding role on “The Vampire Diaries?” Not as a hunter, of course, but instead as a supernatural creature, a powerful threat to the cast in Mystic Falls. I can certainly imagine her squaring off against Elena, Stefan, and Damon and holding her own from start to finish.

 

Josh Charles 

If you want to talk about sudden death, look no further than Josh Charles’ departure from “The Good Wife.” He took multiple bullets in a courtroom but that doesn’t mean Charles can’t reappear in another political setting without seeming repetitive. The perfect show? “Scandal.” It's pretty clear that he could expertly play a smarmy politician going up against President Grant on some hot-button issue or needing Olivia Pope’s professional fixing. Alternatively, he could sweep in as a sleeper B-613 agent with an agenda only he is aware of.

 

Hettienne Park 

Hettienne Park also had an abrupt death on “Hannibal,” where she played the crime scene investigator Beverly Katz who was brutally murdered and sliced up by Hannibal the cannibal. So where should she reappear? “Scandal.” Park has the chops to fit in amongst the regular cast. Maybe should could replace Rosen as a legal antagonist for OPA or maybe she could fill James’ shoes as an ambitious reporter who catches wind of the story of a lifetime and finds herself in way over her head.

Who are your most missed actors and what shows do you dream of seeing them on?