38 Actors Who Disappeared From Popular TV Shows (And What Really Happened)
Quitting or losing your job isn’t anything uncommon, but when you’re an actor, people you don’t even know will take notice.
Here are 38 actors who quit or got fired from TV shows (and why):
1.
Steve Carell initially signed on to Michael Scott on The Office for seven seasons, and as the deadline approached, he was the only cast member who didn’t renegotiate his contract.
Upon Michael’s exit, Deangelo Vickers (played by Will Ferrell) took over as Dunder Mifflin’s regional manager. The show continued for two more seasons, and Steve made a surprise return at Dwight Schrute’s wedding in the finale.
2.
Cindy Williams played Shirley Feeney on Laverne & Shirley ā a spin-off of Happy Days ā until the second episode of Season 8. She was pregnant, and production refused to accommodate the schedule changes she needed.
3.
In 2008, Katherine Heigl withdrew her Grey’s Anatomy Emmy nomination because she “did not feel that [she] was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination.” She was subsequently labeled “difficult” and “ungrateful.” After going on maternity leave from the show, she decided to only return long enough to wrap up her storylines and then focus on her family.
In 2021, she told Today, “The ‘ungrateful’ thing bothers me the most. And that is my fault. I allowed myself to be perceived that way. So much about living life, to me, is about humility and gratitude. And Iāve tried very hard to have those qualities and be that person, and Iām just so disappointed in myself that I allowed it to slip. Of course, Iām grateful. How can I not be?”
4.
Grace Park played Officer Kono Kalakaua on Hawaii Five-0 for seven seasons. Her salary was reportedly 10-15% lower than what her costars, Scott Caan and Alex O’Loughlin, received, so before the eighth season, she sought pay equity. However, when she and CBS were unable to reach an agreement, she decided to leave the show.
5.
Grace Park’s Hawaii Five-0 costar Daniel Dae Kim ā who played Detective Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly for seven seasons ā also sought equal pay with Scott Caan and Alex O’Loughlin, who also reportedly receive a percentage of the show’s profits. He, too, declined to return for the eighth season when his request for pay equity wasn’t met.
6.
In the late ’80s, Cheers actor, Jay Thomas, used his radio show to complain about having to kiss his onscreen love interest, Rhea Perlman. The show’s co-creator, James Burrows, promptly fired him because he “insulted Rhea, which meant he insulted all of [Cheers].”
His character was killed off in “a violent yet comedic death” ā a Zamboni accident.
7.
Suzanne Somers played Chrissy Snow on Three’s Company for five seasons. In 1980, she asked for her salary to be raised from $30,000 an episode to $150,000 so her pay would match what costar John Ritter made. However, ABC only offered a $5,000 raise. The day before Chrissy and her husband/manager Alan Hamel went back to renegotiate, he got a call from a friend with connections at the network: “Theyāre going to hang a nun in the marketplace, and the nun is Suzanne.” She was ultimately fired.
Jenilee Harrison was brought in as Cindy Snow, Chrissy’s cousin.
8.
In the Dynasty reboot, Nicollette Sheridan was originally cast as Alexis Carrington Colby. However, she left near the end of Season 2 “in order to focus on some personal family responsibilities.”
Then, Elizabeth Gillies ā who already starred as Alexis’s daughter, Fallon Carrington ā temporarily took over the role for three episodes at the end of Season 2.
Having Elizabeth play two main roles was “challenging” production-wise, so for Season 3, they recast Elaine Hendrix as Alexis.
9.
In Dynasty Season 1, Nathalie Kelley played Cristal Flores, but she announced her departure during the summer hiatus, telling E! News, “I know that I’m not going to Atlanta in July, that I’m staying here [in LA], and I’ve got my life back.”
Ana Brenda Contreras then played Cristal for Season 2, but she left due to “personal reasons.”
And lastly, for this show, Daniella Alonso played Cristal for Seasons 3ā5.
10.
In 2011, Charlie Sheen ranted about Two and a Half Men co-creator Chuck Lorre live on the radio and then to TMZ. He called him a “clown” and a “charlatan” and said that he “violently hate[s]” him. He was promptly fired, and his character was killed off in a freak subway accident.
He was replaced by Ashton Kutcher.
11.
In 2013, Selma Blair reportedly criticized her Anger Management costar/executive producer Charlie Sheen’s work ethic. In retaliation, he fired her in an expletive-laden text message.
Laura Bell Bundy replaced her.
12.
America Ferrera planned to leave her role as Amy Sosa on Superstore after five seasons ā but due to COVID-19-related production shutdowns, her story arc spilled over into the first few episodes of Season 6.
13.
Roseanne Barr played Roseanne Harris-Conner on Roseanne from 1988ā1997 then returned for the series revival in 2018. However, she was fired after posting a racist tweet.
14.
On the Community set, Chevy Chase used a racial slur while ranting about his character arc. So, ahead of Season 5, NBC made a deal with him to get him to leave the show.
His character was later killed off offscreen.
15.
After playing Jesus for two seasons on The Fosters, Jake T. Austin learned that his role was going to be significantly reduced in the next season, so he left.
Noah Centineo took over the role in Season 3.
16.
On My Wife and Kids Season 1, Jazz Raycole played Claire Kylie, but she reportedly left the role because her mom objected to a storyline about one of her character’s friends getting pregnant.
Jennifer Nicole Freeman then played Claire for Seasons 2ā5. The show jokingly acknowledged the recasting.
17.
John Rhys-Davies left his role on Sliders after complaining to the writers about the quality of their work. He told Digital Spy, “They would say, ‘John, why don’t you just say the words as written?’ and I’d say, ‘I’ll tell you what, I will actually say the words as written when you can actually write intelligent sentences!'”
.
He said, “You have to have writers who can write ā and who understand that if you’re writing scienceĀ fiction, you should have read some scienceĀ fiction and you should actually understand some science!”
18.
After playing Reggie Mantle for one season on Riverdale, Ross Butler made the decision to have a bigger role on 13 Reasons Why rather than continue playing two small parts on both shows.
Charles Melton played Reggie for the remainder of the series.
19.
Good Times actor John Amos’s character was killed off after he criticized the way the non-Black writers wanted to portray the show’s Black characters.
He told Sway in the Morning, “Theyād go on about their credits and the rest of that, and Iād look at each and every one of them and say, ‘Well, how long have you been Black? That just doesnāt happen in the community. We donāt think that way. We donāt act that way. We donāt let our children do that’…I left because I was told that my services were no longer needed because I had become a ‘disruptive element.'”
20.
In 2019, Ruby Rose did not return to their role as Kate Kane on Batwoman after only one season, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, their allergy to the latex costume, and a serious on-set injury as reasons for leaving.
Javicia Leslie joined the cast as Ryan Wilder, Batwoman’s successor, and the part of Kate Kane was played by Wallis Day during Season 2.
21.
Demi Lovato starred on Sonny With A Chance as Sonny Munroe for two seasons before severing ties with Disney Channel altogether.
22.
Chad Michael Murray played Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill for six seasons before leaving over salary disputes. In an infamous YouTube video, he told fans, “They’re not bringing me back next year…because they want to save money.”
23.
When Disney fired Steve Whitmire, who’d voiced Kermit the Frog for 27 years, in 2016, they gave him two reasons ā “unwanted notes during the short-lived Muppets reboot on ABC and a union disagreement.”
Whitmire told the New York Times, “This is my life’s work. The only thing I’ve done my whole adult life, and it’s just been taken away from me. I just couldn’t understand why we couldn’t resolve this”
24.
On Family Matters, Jo Marie Payton played Harriette Winslow until midway through Season 9, when she left because she was unhappy on set.
Judyann Elder took over the role for the final nine episodes.
25.
Anna Faris played Christy Plunkett on Mom for seven seasons, but she left abruptly “to pursue new opportunities” before production began on Season 8.
26.
On the second episode of Friends, Carol Willick, Ross’s ex-wife, was played by Anita Barone, who had initially auditioned for a main role. She allegedly quit because she wanted to pursue a more full-time role, which lines up with the fact that she eventually starred on The Jeff Foxworthy Show.
Jane Sibbett played Carol for the remainder of the show.
27.
For Modern Family Seasons 1 and 2, Jaden and Ella Hiller, who are identical twins, played Lily Tucker-Pritchett. However, their parents allowed them to quit because they no longer enjoyed acting, becoming irritable and unhappy on set.
Aubrey Anderson-Emmons played Lily for Seasons 3ā11.
28.
On The Baby-Sitters Club, Xochitl Gomez played Dawn Schafer in Season 1, but she left to play America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Kyndra Sanchez played Dawn in Season 2.
29.
On American Housewife, Julia Butters left the role of Anna-Kat Otto after four seasons so that she could go after new opportunities.
For the final season, Giselle Eisenberg played Anna-Kat.
30.
For the first two seasons of Boy Meets World, Lily Nicksay played Morgan Matthews.
For Seasons 3ā7, Lindsay Ridgeway took over the role.
Both actors reprised the role on the series finale of Girl Meets World.
31.
Santino Fontana left his role as Greg Serrano on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend early in Season 2 because, when the show’s future was still up in the air, he signed on to other projects.
When Greg returned in Season 4, he was played by Skylar Astin.
32.
On The Goldbergs Seasons 4ā5, Rowan Blanchard played Jackie Geary. However, she passed on Season 6.
Alexis G. Zall took over the role for Season 6 then returned in Season 10. In his narration for Season 6, Episode 2, Adam Goldberg explained that his girlfriend had changed a lot after spending her summer away at NYU.
33.
Mischa Barton played Marissa Cooper on The O.C. for three seasons, but she didn’t discuss her exact reasons for leaving until 15 years later.
34.
Valerie Harper starred as Valerie Hogan on the Lorimar Productions sitcom Valerie for two seasons. As the show’s ratings increased, she requested a pay raise to $100,000 per episode as well as 35% of the adjusted gross profits. Lorimar turned her down, so she stopped showing up for work. She returned to set when they compromised at $65,000 an episode and 12.5% of the profits. However, a week later, they fired her.
The show was renamed Valerie’s Family and continued into the third season without her. Her character was killed off, and Sandy Duncan joined the cast as Sandy Hogan, Valerie’s sister-in-law.
35.
Topher Grace played Eric Forman on That ’70s Show for seven seasons, but landing roles in movies like Ocean’s Eleven, Traffic, and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! inspired him to leave.
Initially, the network planned to recast Josh Meyers as Eric, but they worried that would upset fans of the show. So, they introduced Meyers as a completely new character, Randy Pearson, to fill the void Eric left behind.
36.
Lauren Cohan played Maggie Greene on The Walking Dead from 2011-2018. After her first contract was up, it was time to renegotiation with AMC. She reportedly asked for equal pay with her male costars. However, the negotiations left her feeling “in some ways surprised,” so she “took that, how baffled [she] was, and thought, ‘Okay, well that’s a sign. This is maybe just not a fit anymore.'”
However, she also left the door open for her character to come back. In 2020, she returned.
37.
Maggie Roswell voiced Maude Flanders on The Simpsons from 1990-1999. She asked Fox to raise her salary from $1,500-$2,000 an episode to $6,000. However, Fox only offered her an extra $150 ā which didn’t even cover her flights from her home in Denver to the recording studio in Los Angeles. So, she quit.
Maude was killed off in the 2,000th episode “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily.”
38.
And finally, on Supernatural, Katie Cassidy played Ruby in Season 3. Series creator Eric Kripke reportedly said that she wasn’t brought back for “purely budgetary” reasons, but Katie said that she left for a different role.
In Season 4, she was replaced by Genevieve Padalecki (nƩe Cortese), who went on to marry lead actor Jared Padalecki. She reprised the role in Season 15.
