Teen Drama Stars' Other Leading Roles

Mar 24, 2021

For some teen drama stars, their work on the teen dramas was the only time they were a series regular on a television show. But a number of others had leading roles on other programs too.

Jennie Garth, for example, went on to star on “What I Like About You” after “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Before “Gossip Girl,” Penn Badgley was a main actor on a short-lived show called “The Mountain.” And both Daniel Cosgrove and Bethany Joy Lenz were cast members on “Guiding Light” — after “Beverly Hills, 90210” and before “One Tree Hill,” respectively.

Below is a guide to the teen drama stars who were series regulars on other TV shows.

A few disclaimers: In parentheses you’ll find the years the show was on the air, which aren’t necessarily the years the star named appeared on the show. To wit: Shannen Doherty was a main cast member in season 9 of “Little House on the Prairie,” but listed below is the show’s entire duration.

Additionally, the “series regular” distinction is why you’ll see, for instance, “White Collar” listed below for Hilarie Burton, but not “Lethal Weapon.” She wasn’t a main character on the latter. This list also only covers actors who were series regulars on the teen dramas, so you won’t find, say, Chris Pratt below — he was only recurring on “The O.C.”

Also not included are miniseries or TV movies, so “BH90210” doesn’t make the cut since it was developed as a limited event series. I’ve also excluded animated series where an actor did voice work, as well as reality shows. And while I did include shows on streaming platforms, I did not include “webseries.”

But there’s always a chance I’ve overlooked something, so feel free to leave a comment if you think something should be on this list that isn’t.

Beverly Hills, 90210

Jason Priestley (Brandon)

“Teen Angel” / “Teen Angel Returns” (1989)
“Sister Kate” (1989-1990)
“Tru Calling” (2003-2005)
“Love Monkey” (2006)
“Side Order of Life” (2007)
“Call Me Fitz” (2010-2013)
“Raising Expectations” (2016-2018)
“Private Eyes” (2016-Present)

Shannen Doherty (Brenda)

“Little House on the Prairie” (1974-1983)
“Our House” (1986-1988)
“Charmed” (1998-2006)

Jennie Garth (Kelly)

“Teen Angel Returns” (1980)
“Brand New Life” (1989-1990)
“The $treet” (2000)
“What I Like About You” (2002-2006)
“Mystery Girls” (2014)

Ian Ziering (Steve)

“Swamp Thing” (2019)

Luke Perry (Dylan)

“Jeremiah” (2002-2004)
“Windfall” (2006)
“John From Cincinnati” (2007)
“Riverdale” (2017-Present; Luke had a posthumous appearance on the show in 2021.)

Brian Austin Green (David)

“Freddie” (2005-2006)
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (2008-2009)
“Wedding Band” (2012-2013; I loved this show!)
“Anger Management” (2012-2014)

Tori Spelling (Donna)

“So NoTORIous” (2006)
“Mystery Girls” (2014)

Carol Potter (Cindy)

“Today’s FBI” (1981-1982)
“Sunset Beach” (1997-1999)

Tiffani Thiessen (Valerie)

“Saved by the Bell” (1989-1993)
“Saved by the Bell: The College Years” (1993-1994)
“Fastlane” (2002-2003)
“White Collar” (2009-2014)
“Alexa & Katie” (2018-2020)

Kathleen Robertson (Clare)

“Maniac Mansion” (1990-1993)
“Girls Club” (2002)
“The Business” (2006-2007)
“Boss” (2011-2012)
“Murder in the First” (2014-2016)
“Northern Rescue” (2019)

Jamie Walters (Ray)

“The Heights” (1992)

Hilary Swank (Carly)

“Camp Wilder” (1992-1993)
“Leaving L.A.” (1997)
“Trust” (2018)
“Away” (2020)

Lindsay Price (Janet)

“All My Children” (1970-2011)
“The Bold and the Beautiful” (1987-Present)
“Coupling” (2003)
“Pepper Dennis” (2006)
“Lipstick Jungle” (2008-2009)
“Eastwick” (2009-2010)
“Splitting Up Together” (2018-2019)

Daniel Cosgrove (Matt)

“Guiding Light” (1952-2009)
“As the World Turns” (1956-2010)
“Days of Our Lives” (1965-Present)
“All My Children” (1970-2011)
“All Souls” (2001)
“In Justice” (2006)
“Dirty Sexy Money” (2007-2009)

Vanessa Marcil (Gina)

“General Hospital” (1963-Present)
“Las Vegas” (2003-2008)

Dawson’s Creek

James Van Der Beek (Dawson)

“Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23” (2012-2013)
“Friends with Better Lives” (2014)
“CSI: Cyber” (2015-2016)
“What Would Diplo Do?” (2017)
“Pose” (2018-Present)

Joshua Jackson (Pacey)

“Fringe” (2008-2013)
“The Affair” (2014-2019)
“Dr. Death” (In Production)

Mary-Margaret Humes (Gail)

“Eerie, Indiana” (1991-1992)

John Wesley Shipp (Mitch)

“All My Children” (1970-2011)
“The Flash” (1990-1991)

Kerr Smith (Jack)

“As the World Turns” (1956-2010)
“E-Ring” (2005-2006)
“Justice” (2006-2007)
“Life Unexpected” (2010-2011; Another show I loved!)

Busy Philipps (Audrey)

“Freaks and Geeks” (1999-2000)
“Love, Inc.” (2005-2006)
“Cougar Town” (2009-2015)
“Vice Principals” (2016-2017)
“Girls5eva” (In Production)

The O.C.

Peter Gallagher (Sandy)

“Skag” (1980)
“The Secret Lives of Men” (1998)
“Covert Affairs” (2010-2014)
“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (2020-Present)

Kelly Rowan (Kirsten)

“Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years” (1995-1996)
“Perception” (2012-2015)

Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan)

“Southland” (2009-2013)
“Gotham” (2014-2009)

Mischa Barton (Marissa)

“The Beautiful Life” (2009)

Adam Brody (Seth)

“Much Ado About Whatever” (2001-2002; Also known as “The Sausage Factory” and “MTV’s Now What?”)
“Billy & Billie” (2015)
“StartUp” (2016-2018)

Chris Carmack (Luke)

“Nashville” (2012-2018)
“Grey’s Anatomy” (2005-Present)

Tate Donovan (Jimmy)

“Partners” (1995-1996)
“Trinity” (1998-1999)
“Damages” (2007-2012)
“Deception” (2013)
“Hostages” (2013-2014)

Melinda Clarke (Julie)

“Days of Our Lives” (1965-Present)
“Heaven Help Us” (1994)
“Soldier of Fortunate, Inc.” (1997-1999)
“Nikita” (2010-2013)

Rachel Bilson (Summer)

“Hart of Dixie” (2011-2015)
“Take Two” (2018; Not ashamed to admit I actually enjoyed this!)

Alan Dale (Caleb)

“The Young Doctors” (1976-1983)
“Neighbours” (1985-Present)
“Dominion” (2014-2015)
“Dynasty” (2017-Present)

Willa Holland (Kaitlin)

“Arrow” (2012-2020)

Autumn Reeser (Taylor)

“Valentine” (2008-2009)
“No Ordinary Family” (2010-2011)
“Last Resort” (2012-2013)

One Tree Hill

Chad Michael Murray (Lucas)

“Chosen” (2013-2014)
“Agent Carter” (2015-2016)
“Sun Records” (2017)

James Lafferty (Nathan)

“Crisis” (2014)
“The Right Stuff” (2020-Present)
“Everyone Is Doing Great” (2021-Present)

Hilarie Burton (Peyton)

“White Collar” (2009-2014)

Bethany Joy Lenz (Haley)

“Guiding Light” (1952-2009)
“Pearson” (2019)

Paul Johansson (Dan)

“Santa Barbara” (1984-1993)
“Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years” (1995-1996)
“Highlander: The Raven” (1998-1999)
“Van Helsing” (2016-Present)

Sophia Bush (Brooke)

“Partners” (2012-2013)
“Chicago P.D.” (2014-Present)

Barry Corbin (Whitey)

“Boone” (1983-1984)
“Washington” (1985)
“Northern Exposure” (1990-1995)
“The Big Easy” (1996-1997)
“Suit Up” (2012-2013)
“Anger Management” (2012-2014)

Moira Kelly (Karen)

“To Have & To Hold” (1998)
“The West Wing” (1999-2006)

Barbara Alyn Woods (Deb)

“Eden” (1993)
“Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show” (1997-2000)

Lee Norris (Mouth)

“The Torkelsons” / “Almost Home” (1991-1993)
“Boy Meets World” (1993-2000)

Antwon Tanner (Skills)

“Black Jesus” (2014-2019)

Danneel Harris (Rachel)

“Friends with Benefits” (2011)

Jackson Brundage (Jamie)

“See Dad Run” (2012-2015)

Austin Nichols (Julian)

“John From Cincinnati” (2007)
“The Walking Dead” (2010-Present)

Robert Buckley (Clay)

“Fashion House” (2006)
“American Heiress” (2007)
“Lipstick Jungle” (2008-2009)
“666 Park Avenue” (2012-2013)
“iZombie” (2015-2019)

Shantel VanSanten (Quinn)

“Gang Related” (2014)
“The Messengers” (2015)
“Shooter” (2016-2018)
“For All Mankind” (2019-Present)

Stephen Colletti (Chase)

“Everyone Is Doing Great” (2021-Present)

Gossip Girl

Leighton Meester (Blair)

“Tarzan” (2003)
“Surface” (2005-2006)
“Making History” (2017)
“Single Parents” (2018-2020)

Penn Badgley (Dan)

“Do Over” (2002-2003)
“The Mountain” (2004-2005)
“The Bedford Diaries” (2006)
“You” (2018-Present)

Chace Crawford (Nate)

“Blood & Oil” (2015)
“The Boys” (2019-Present)

Ed Westwick (Chuck)

“Wicked City” (2015)
“White Gold” (2017-2019)

Kelly Rutherford (Lily)

“Generations” (1989-1991)
“Homefront” (1991-1993)
“Melrose Place” (1992-1999)
“The Great Defender” (1995)
“Kindred: The Embraced” (1996)
“Threat Matrix” (2003-2004)
“E-Ring” (2005-2006)
“Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists” (2019)

Jessica Szohr (Vanessa)

“Complications” (2015)
“The Orville” (2017-Present)

Kaylee DeFer (Ivy)

“The War at Home” (2005-2007)

90210

Rob Estes (Harry)

“Days of Our Lives” (1965-Present)
“Silk Stalkings” (1991-1999)
“Melrose Place” (1992-1999)
“The Evidence” (2006)
“Women’s Murder Club” (2007-2008)

Shenae Grimes (Annie)

“Degrassi: The Next Generation” (2001-2015)
“The Detail” (2018)

Tristan Wilds (Dixon)

“The Wire” (2002-2008)
“The Breaks” (2017)

Dustin Milligan (Ethan)

“Runaway” (2006)
“X Company” (2015-2017)
“Schitt’s Creek” (2015-2020)
“Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” (2016-2017)

AnnaLynne McCord (Naomi)

“American Heiress” (2007)
“Let’s Get Physical” (2018)

Jessica Stroup (Silver)

“The Following” (2013-2015)
“Iron Fist” (2017-2018)

Jessica Walter (Tabitha)

“For the People” (1965)
“Bare Essence” (1983)
“Aaron’s Way” (1988)
“Oh Baby” (1998-2000)
“Arrest Development” (2003-2006; 2019)
“Retired at 35” (2011-2012)
“Jennifer Falls” (2014)

Ryan Eggold (Ryan)

“The Blacklist” (2013-Present)
“The Blacklist: Redemption” (2017)
“New Amsterdam” (2018-Present)

Lori Loughlin (Debbie)

“The Edge of Night” (1956-1984)
“Full House” (1987-1995)
“Hudson Street” (1995-1996)
“Summerland” (2004-2005)
“In Case of Emergency” (2007)
“When Calls the Heart” (2014-Present)

Matt Lanter (Liam)

“Commander in Chief” (2005-2006)
“Star-Crossed” (2014; A show I regret not watching.)
“Timeless” (2016-2018)

Trevor Donovan (Teddy)

“Days of Our Lives” (1965-Present)
“Sun Records” (2017)

What I loved about putting this all together was finding out how much I didn’t know. Sure, some people joke I’m a “professor of Teen Dramology” and it’s flattering, but whatever expertise I have certainly has its limits. Plenty of these shows I never heard of before, some I knew but didn’t realize such-and-such was a part of it, and boy was I surprised to find some instances of teen drama worlds colliding with two teen drama stars part of the same main cast on another show.

Which of these shows have you seen? Is there anything here that surprised you? And did I miss anything? Sound off in the comments below!