We knew she looked familiar: A closer look at TV’s frequent female faces

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Recently, you might have seen our article all about TV’s freshest male faces and from where you might recognize them. We figured that it was about time we show you a few of the unknown female faces from some of television’s biggest shows. Hopefully a few of these will jog your memory…

Lizzy Caplan

You know her as:

Julia on New Girl

You might recognize her from:

True Blood, Smallville, or Mean Girls

While Lizzy Caplan made a bit of a splash as Julia, Nick’s lawyer girlfriend on New Girl this season, you may recognize her from a myriad of other places in the past.

Her role in Cloverfield is hard to forget since she (quite literally) exploded on-screen halfway through the movie, but her most famous role is easily Janis Ian in Mean Girls who so accurately sums up the truly evil Regina George when she says, “’Cause she’s a life ruiner. She ruins people’s lives.”

You may also recognize her from a recurring role on Smallville as Tina Greer, the body-morphing, childhood friend of Lana Lang’s, or even from True Blood where she spent 6 episodes playing Amy Burley, the love interest of Jason Stackhouse.

Or maybe, just maybe, you were one of the lucky few at Comic-Con that got to see her convince her husband to use an extra-terrestrial weapon to commit armed robbery.

Jessica Parker Kennedy

You know her as:

Melissa Glaser on The Secret Circle

You might recognize her from:

50/50, Smallville, or Another Cinderella Story

While we may not be getting a season 2 for The Secret Circle, Jessica Parker Kennedy gave us a character to remember bringing Melissa Glaser to the screen. She has appeared a few other notable places in her blossoming career, including a small role in last year’s 50/50 as a date that goes horribly wrong for Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character, Adam.

She also appeared in 3 episodes of Smallville as a young runaway named Bette who later becomes the infamous firestarter Plastique. Lastly, she played opposite Selena Gomez in the ABC Family Original Movie Another Cinderella Story as her fashionista best friend. We’re sure we have much more to see from this young woman, and hopefully she will re-appear on the silver screen soon.

Lana Parrilla

You know her as:

Regina Mills (aka The Evil Queen) on Once Upon a Time

You might recognize her from:

Lost, 24, or Spin City

She has proven her prowess playing the Evil Queen on Once Upon a Time during its premiere season, but Lana Parrilla has made appearances in a few other series throughout her career that you may have missed.

You may remember seeing her on Lost as Greta, guardian of the Looking Glass station that captured & interrogated Charlie during Lost‘s 3rd season, or on 24 as Sarah Gavin, the agent in charge of investigating Chloe O’Brien’s involvement with Jack Bauer.

One of her biggest breaks was playing assistant Angie Ordonez on Spin City during its 5th season after Michael J. Fox left the show and Charlie Sheen took over. However, the job was short-lived due to Parrilla leaving after feeling that her character was poorly utilized.

Lena Headey

You know her as:

Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones

You might recognize her from:

White Collar, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, or 300

Cersei Lannister is nothing if not memorable. While the character definitely has staying power, you may have recognized the actress that brings her quiet intensity to screen, Lena Headey. Her big break (for US audiences) came in 2006 in the Zach Snyder film, 300, playing Queen Gorgo, wife to Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas. She emitted a sense of calm strength that has proven itself useful as she portrays Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones.

She also made quite a name for herself playing the title character in the Fox action series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The gun-toting, terminator evading Sarah Connor breathed fresh air into a franchise that needed new life. She has also appeared in one episode of White Collar in 2011 where she played Sally aka Vulture, a love interest for Mozzie & unwitting accomplice to an international bank heist.

Melissa Rauch

You know her as:

Bernadette Rostenkowski on The Big Bang Theory

You might recognize her from:

True Blood or The Office

Bernadette, the high-pitched, snarky girlfriend of Howard Wallowitz, has quickly become a beloved character on The Big Bang Theory, but you may remember her from a short stint on The Office when she played Cathy, the woman with the huge newborn that shared a hospital room with Jim & Pam.

Like another actress on this list, Melissa also spent a short time on True Blood. She played Summer, a bubbly love interest for Hoyt when his mother is trying to separate him from Jessica. While her role was short-lived, she definitely made an impact on the show, as Hoyt finally decides to leave his mother’s house & constant meddling and move in with Jessica.

Tori Devitto

You know her as:

Meredith Fell on The Vampire Diaries

You might recognize her from:

Pretty Little Liars, One Tree Hill, or Scrubs

Meredith Fell quickly made an impression on Alaric on The Vampire Diaries, and it is easy to see why. The marvelous actress protraying her is none other than Tori DeVitto. The wife to fellow Vampire Diaries actor Paul Wesley, DeVitto has made quite a name for herself on a few other memorable programs as well.

While she did make a very short cameo Scrubs, as the “Gorgeous Girl with Dog”, her work on Pretty Little Liars is probably where most people remember seeing her. She played Melissa Hastings, older sister to Spencer on Pretty Little Liars, where she was constantly battling her sister over one thing or another, especially when it came to boyfriends. She also spent a good deal of time on One Tree Hill, where she played Nanny Carrie, hired to take care Jamie when his mother returned to work.

Honorable Mentions:

Michelle Fairley

Make sure the next time you are watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 that you keep a look out for Michele Fairley as Hermione’s mother, Mrs. Granger. She is best known for playing Catelyn Stark on Game of Thrones.

Courtney Ford

Do you recognize this woman? Her face keeps popping in big show after big show. She has had small/recurring roles in: The Big Bang Theory, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy, Dexter, How I Met Your Mother, Ugly Betty, and even Monk. She seems to pop in for a short time everywhere, so keep an eye out, she might just show up on your favorite show next!

Did you know any of these actresses from anywhere other than their current roles? Did we leave anyone out? Where did your favorite actresses get their start? Sound off below!