Last week, ‘Veronica Mars’ creator Rob Thomas released multiple cast updates for The Veronica Mars Movie through Kickstarter emails. While we recognized some of the characters’ and actors’ names, we had trouble recalling others.
So, since we figured a lot of you might be in the same boat, we decided that we would compile a complete list of all of the returning characters and give you a quick refresher on each one.
Back when we first found out about The Veronica Mars Movie, we had compiled a list of who we’d love to see return. We’re happy to say that the majority of our wishlist has been cast and confirmed for The Veronica Mars Movie. Because there have been so many great characters and cameos on Veronica Mars, it can sometimes be a bit difficult to try and remember what role all of these actors played on the show. Never fear, Hypable’s got you covered. Below you’ll find the list of confirmed actors (in reverse confirmed order), a quick character bio/summary, and a video of one of their best or most memorable Veronica Mars scenes. For those characters who are completely new to the movie, check out the actor in action in another film. See how many of the characters from the show you remember!
Sheriff Dan Lamb
Sheriff Lamb is BACK. Well, sort of. Actor Jerry O’Connell has taken on the role of Dan Lamb, Don Lamb’s younger brother and the new sheriff of Balboa County. According to Rob Thomas, Dan Lamb is “a new Lamb Brother I hope you love to hate.” He also says that Jerry O’Connell is good at playing amoral character who enjoys “chewing scenery.” We’re interested to see how the new Sheriff Lamb compares to the deceased Sheriff Lamb and we can’t wait to hear the quips about this Lamb that come out of Veronica’s mouth. O’Connell is great at playing a clown-like character so we hope he brings a lot of that to Sheriff Lamb #2. Watch the man in action below.
Carrie Bishop 2.0
In episode 1×14 of Veronica Mars, Leighton Meester (of Gossip Girl fame) played Carrie Bishop, a girl who exposed a high school teacher of impregnating and abandoning one of his students. Since the Veronica Mars Movie involves a high school reunion, Rob Thomas wanted to have Carrie come back into the story. Unfortunately, Leighton Meester’s schedule didn’t work out so Rob Thomas cast Andrea Estella in the role. Andrea is known best as the lead singer for Twin Sister (whose songs will also be featured in the film). Even though this is her first film, we have faith in Rob Thomas and know she’ll do well. Watch Andrea sing “I Want a House” (the song that Rob Thomas had on repeat while writing the movie) in the video below.
Ruby Jetson
You may not remember Ruby Jetson from Veronica Mars simply because she’s a completely brand new character. As of right now, we don’t know much about Ruby Jetson except her name is pretty stellar. Does it bring up mental images of The Jetsons for anyone else? She has to be cool. Ruby is played by an actress named Gaby Hoffmann who has been in films such as Field of Dreams and Now and Then, as well as appeared in the show Louie. To try to remember where you’ve seen her face before, check out the video of one of her most famous roles below. (Hint: She’s the little girl.)
Justin Long’s Mystery Character
This casting announcement from EOnline came as quite a pleasant surprise! We’re so excited to see what Justin Long brings to Balboa County. We loved him in movies like Dodgeball, Accepted, and Live Free or Die Hard. Long recently guest-starred on New Girl and totally won us over. He’s just so likable as an actor and brings such honesty to every character he plays. While we’d love to see him as a lovable nerd in The Veronica Mars Movie, we kind of hope he ends up playing an ’09er jerk just to see him do something different. Take a look at one of our favorite Justin Long moments below.
Lou “Cobb” Cobbler
Even though he never appeared on Veronica Mars, we’re interested to see Martin Starr in The Veronica Mars Movie as Lou “Cobb” Cobbler. Starr has quite the filmography, starring previously in things like Freaks and Geeks, Adventureland, and Knocked Up, not to mention Rob Thomas’ post-Veronica Mars series Party Down. We can’t wait to see him as an ’09er. To get a better idea about Starr’s acting, check out the video below.
Vinnie Van Lowe
What’s Veronica Mars without Ken Marino’s lovable, cringe-worthy Vinnie Van Lowe? He’s Neptune’s morally ambiguous private eye who, many times, is in direct competition with Mars Investigations. He’s certainly laughable and we love that his mother is his secretary. The last time we saw Mr. Van Lowe, he was running for Balboa County sheriff against Keith Mars. We hope that Keith Mars was somehow able to pull off a miraculous win. Otherwise, we feel bad for Balboa County.
Leo D’Amato
Deputy Leo is back and we couldn’t be more excited! The last time we saw him, he was working for a private security company after he had gotten fired from the police department. At the end of season 3, Keith Mars had offered Leo the chance to be a deputy if Mars were to win the election for sheriff. We’re really hoping that Leo got the chance to work for the police department again, either as a deputy or even as sheriff. It would also be great if Veronica were to call upon him once more for some help. But, no matter what he’s called upon to do, we are very much looking forward to seeing Max Greenfield in The Veronica Mars Movie.
Continue on to page 2 to see which characters were announced before the movie began rolling.
Dick Casablancas
What CAN’T be said about Richard “Dick” Casablancas, Jr.? This character, played by Ryan Hansen, is one of the most iconic characters of the series thanks to his slimy, womanizing ways. He always had some stupid remark that made us all roll our eyes and cringe. The last time we saw Dick, he was finally beginning to heal and come to terms with what he did to his brother Cassidy and what Cassidy, in turn, did to others. However, Dick didn’t transform completely, as he tried making a move on Mac after apologizing for his behavior toward her (which you can watch in the short video below).
Also, if you have yet to watch Ryan Hansen’s special message video that he posted after he was announced as part of the cast, you absolutely must drop what you’re doing and watch it NOW.
Gia Goodman
Krysten Ritter’s character Gia Goodman is introduced in season two as the spunky and quirky daughter of Woody Goodman, the owner of Neptune’s professional baseball team. She’s slightly ditzy, but definitely not mean like a lot of the ’09ers. She attempted to befriend Veronica, not knowing that Veronica sometimes had ulterior motives in hanging out with her. After Gia receives disturbing footage of her little brother playing soccer, Veronica investigates who’s stalking her and eventually saves Gia’s life (which is the last time we see Gia). In the season two finale, Cassidy Casablancas blows up Mr. Goodman’s plane, killing Gia’s dad. We’ll be interested to see if she’s still the same bubbly person ten years after graduation.
Deputy Sacks
We haven’t seen the man with the mustache, Deputy Sacks, since the season three finale where he shot the man who killed Sheriff Lamb. While Deputy Sacks is easily manipulated by Veronica at the beginning of the series, he’s a very lovable character. Maybe we’ll see him next as Jerry Sacks, Sheriff of Balboa County. Wouldn’t that be a fun surprise?
Because Deputy Sacks didn’t have that large of a role in the series, there aren’t many videos of him online, let alone videos of his best moments. So check out the video below if you’re looking for a bit of a general refresher on his character (or if you can’t remember how gnarly his mustache was).
Sean Friedrich
You’ll best remember Kevin Sheridan’s character Sean Friedrich as that sneaky little bugger who stole the money from Logan’s poker game. He pretends to be a rich ’09er when he’s really the son of a butler. If you’ll recall, he makes his dad chauffeur him to school in a limo in order to uphold the image he has created. Sean pops into a Veronica Mars episode every once in a while but really hasn’t had much plot relevance since 1×10 “An Echolls Family Christmas.” We hope that he continues to pretend to be an ’09er during the class reunion and that Veronica knocks him down a peg or two.
(This is the best video we could find. Sean is the guy at the table who doesn’t chime in until the end.)
Corny
Corny is Neptune High’s most lovable stoner (or, as Rob Thomas put it in his Kickstarter announcement, “an aspiring horticulturist”). This character, played by Jonathan Chesner, never had a major plot revolve around him but was always around for some quality comic relief. He was both a friend and fan of Veronica, helping her out whenever she needed and eventually nominating her for prom queen (which is funny because we never thought a lovable stoner would also have a sense of school spirit). The last time we see Corny is at the end of season two when he offers to bring some of his special brownies to Logan’s Alterna-Prom. Apparently, Corny’s secret ingredient is butter(?). Enjoy some classic Corny-ness in the video below.
Cindy “Mac” Mackenzie
Tina Majorino’s Mac is one of the best characters of the series. Mac is Veronica’s best girl friend and has been since season one. She helps Veronica with all of her computer and tech needs. We learn in the first season that she was switched at birth with Madison Sinclair, meaning that she techinically would have been an ’09er, but she probably wouldn’t have been as cool. The last time we saw Mac, she was happily dating a guy named Max who liked to sell copies of exams. It’s like the match was made in heaven. We can’t even begin to describe how excited we are to see Mac again.
Madison Sinclair
Ugh. Madison Sinclair. Even though actress Amanda Noret is very sweet, her character was such a witch. Madison would give people she didn’t like “a trip to the dentist,” which basically meant that she’d spit in a drink and then serve it to them (which is what got Veronica in trouble at Shelly Pomoroy’s party). She’s horribly shallow and spoiled, and has the worst taste in men (she dated Dick for a very long time!). Even though Madison goes away to USC for college and is absent for most of season three, she does eventually return and divulge the fact that she and Logan had slept together while he and Veronica were broken up. When we see her again at the ten-year high school reunion, we hope that she’s one of those girls who peaked in high school.
Luke Haldeman
Luke Haldeman, played by Sam Huntington (who you may recognize from Being Human, Superman Returns or Fanboys), is a Neptune High baseball player. He’s assumably not a wealthy ’09er because he attempts to smuggle steroids from Mexico. Of course, the plan goes awry as his friend Troy’s car gets “stolen” with the drugs hidden in a pinata in the car. Luke seems like a nice guy who just got caught up in bad business. The last time we saw Luke, Veronica was questioning about what he saw at Shelly Pomoroy’s party the night she was raped. We’re definitely interested in seeing him at the Neptune reunion.
Continue on to page 3 for more lovable characters, like Weevil and Wallace.
Cliff McCormack
Who could ever forget Public Defender Cliff McCormack? Daran Norris’s character is a close friend of the Mars’, always helping them with whatever they request. You can’t help but get the feeling that he’s not the best lawyer, especially when he tells Logan so, but his wit is definitely on par with that of the Mars family. Even though he never had a whole episode revolve around him, he appears often and helps Veronica out of quite a few jams. We couldn’t see The Veronica Mars Movie happening without him.
Eli “Weevil” Navarro
Weevils wobble, but they don’t go down. We have loved Eli Navarro, played by Francis Capra since we first laid eyes on him. The character is definitely someone you don’t want to mess with, yet he does have a softer side. He was once the leader of the PCH biker gang, which led to many run-ins with the law. In season three, Weevil worked as a maintenance man at Hearst College, trying to make a better life for himself. We’re not too confident that Weevil will attend the movie’s high school reunion willingly, if at all, so we hope that he plays a large part in Veronica’s murder investigation instead.
Stosh “Piz” Piznarski
While people either love him or they hate him, Chris Lowell’s Piz is a memorable character from season three. Poor Piz. He never stood a chance against LoVe shippers. We wonder if audiences would have liked him more if he had not eventually become one of Veronica’s love interests. Anyway, we first meet Piz as Wallace’s roommate at Hearst and a host of a college radio show. Piz was one of the most normal characters in the entire series because he was not a snobby rich kid nor did he have a ton of personal issues. Although, we’d definitely consider that harsh beating he endured at the hands of one Logan Echolls a personal issue. Let’s hope that, for Piz’s stake, he isn’t the target of Logan’s wrath again in The Veronica Mars Movie.
Susan Knight
We’re actually pretty surprised that Christine Lakin’s return for The Veronica Mars Movie was publicly announced. It makes sense that her character would show up for the reunion, but Susan Knight didn’t really play a large role in her own episode, let alone the series. Susan Knight was the girl who had a sexual relationship with Veronica’s favorite history teacher back in season one. You know, the one where her friend, played by Gossip Girl Leighton Meester, pretended to have been the one knocked up by the teacher in order to get some justice for her friend. Because Susan Knight was in the show for all of five seconds, we unfortunately couldn’t find any videos to refresh your memory of her.
Wallace Fennel
We are SO exited that Percy Daggs III is reprising his role as the one and only Wallace Fennel. His caring and compassionate personality was the perfect match for Veronica’s boldness. We could not have imagined a better best friend for Veronica. Not even Mac could have completely filled Wallace’s role. After all, would Mac have ever called Veronica a “marshmallow” and single-handedly spark Veronica Mars fans to adopt the term as their collective name? The last time we saw him, he was helping Veronica infiltrate the skull-and-crossbones group on campus called “The Castle.” While we’re sad that we never got any closure about Wallace during the season finale, we’re so excited to see him pair with Veronica once again.
Keith Mars
Who’s your daddy? Enrico Colantoni seriously played one of the best TV dads of all time. Keith Mars is smart, witty, hilarious, and caring, just to name a few of his many traits. We loved his back-and-forth banter with Veronica. We’re not ashamed to admit that we were envious of their relationship. In the series finale, Keith’s chances at being elected Sheriff of Balboa County were all but destroyed when Veronica was caught breaking into the Kane mansion, and Keith had no choice but to destroy the evidence. Poor Mr. Mars. We’re hoping that he’s had some sort of career success in the ten-year gap.
Logan Echolls
We love LoVe. Who could forget that heartbreaking LoVe cliffhanger that the series finale left us? Logan beats Piz, then apologizes, then stares at Veronica, and that’s it. That’s all we were left with. Thank god for The Veronica Mars Movie. We can’t wait for more of Jason Dohring’s excellent smoldering. And hilarious remarks. Bring on the LoVe!
Veronica Mars
Played and made amazing by Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars needs no introduction. At the end of the series, Veronica broke in to the Kane mansion in search of the truth about The Castle. She then severely jeopardized her father’s chances at winning the election for Sheriff. The last shot of the series showed her casting her ballot for sheriff and then walking out of the polling place into the rain, a social outcast once more. Totally unsatisfying. We can’t believe we have to wait a whole other year to see what happens to her but, hey, it could definitely be worse.
