Unlike most movie stars, TV actors can often find themselves associated with a single role throughout their career, for better or for worse. The longer a television show runs, and the more success it achieves, the more likely it is that at least one cast member becomes known by the name of their character in the show forevermore.
We’re not just talking about straightforward typecasting here, or even necessarily thebest TV characters of all time. The small-screen characters who permanently bestow their names upon the actors who play them tend to begin life as secondary figures in their respective TV series, before going on to become regular scene-stealers.
For thebest TV actors, there’s no shame in being known as a single iconic character for the rest of a life spent in the limelight thanks to their beloved TV creation. Some stars try to shake off their permanent association with one character, but for certain actors, there’s simply no escape.
10Kit Harington – Jon Snow
Game Of Thrones
Jon Snow might have needed resurrecting inGame of Thronesseason 6, but for actor Kit Harington, the character will likely never die. Despite Harington starring in HBO’s acclaimed London-based drama seriesIndustry, and having featured in the hit moviesEternalsandHow to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,he remains synonymous with the Lord of Winterfell.
The actor was cast as Jon Snow in his early twenties, and is now at a different stage of his careerfrom whenGame of Thronesended in 2019. Nevertheless, the popularity of Harington’s most famous character has extended far beyond the seminal fantasy show’s original run, and may well continue to grow as more time passes.
9Jane Lynch – Sue Sylvester
Glee
Regardless of Jane Lynch appearing in season 7 ofThe Conners, John Goodman’s hit sitcom on ABC, to most millennial viewers, she’s stillGlee’s antagonistic high-school disciplinarian, Sue Sylvester.Lynch might have a stellar screen career across almost 40 years, but it’s her six years as Sylvester that unquestionably define it.
Sue Sylvester was originally intended to be a recurring character inGlee, but Lynch was promoted to the main cast before the show’s pilot episode.
Long after the actor’s brilliant turn as stunt double Sazz Pataki inOnly Murders in the Building, or her role as Diana Reid inCriminal Minds,we’ll still imagine her in that iconic red tracksuit, castigating Mr. Schue. IfGleegave us nothing else worth holding onto, it gave us Sue Sylvester.
8Rainn Wilson – Dwight Schrute
The Office
Dwight Schrute is the only character inThe Officewho rivals Michael Scott’s iconic status. A wildly eccentric nemesis to Jim Halpert with designs on a managerial role in Dunder Mifflin,Dwight has given us a hefty chunk of the show’s biggest laughs. He’s also consigned actor Rainn Wilson to forever being known as a single TV character.
It’s telling thatWilson’s favorite Dwight sceneis a rare moment of tenderness between Jim and his character, which showcases the full range of his acting talents. In stark contrast to Dwight’s zealous social and religious conservatism, Wilson practices the Baháʼí faith, including transcendental meditation, aspects of which he regularly shares on his well-known podcast.
The actor has also become the voice of Lex Luthor in DC Comics’ animatedBatmanmovie series. Despite the considerable differences between Wilson and his most famous character, however,he’ll always be Dwight Schrute to millions ofOfficefans worldwide.
7Jane Kaczmarek – Lois
Malcolm In The Middle
WithMalcolm in the Middle’s revival about to introduce us to Lois and Hal’s sixth child, it seems that Jane Kaczmarek has accepted there’s no getting away from her iconic family matriarch. Kaczmarek tried her hand at another two sitcoms in 2014, butUs & Themfailed to get off the ground, and she was used sparingly inPlaying House.
Jane Kaczmarek definesMalcolm in the Middleas much as the show defines her career.
Besides some minor film roles, the actor has otherwise been fairly quiet since Malcolm graduated from high school in her most celebrated show’s final episode in 2006. It goes without saying thatwe can’t wait to have Lois’ domineering presence back in our lives. Jane Kaczmarek definesMalcolm in the Middleas much as the show defines her career.
6Aaron Paul – Jesse Pinkman
Breaking Bad
Aaron Paul is another actor who appears to be at peace with being known as his most famous character. Paul returned to theBreaking Badfranchise forJesse Pinkman’s perfect endingin the 2019 movieEl Camino. Perhaps he’ll never get tired of playing Jesse, and we don’t blame him.
One of the greatest sidekicks in television history, Aaron Paul’s small-time drug dealer makes Bryan Cranston’s Walter White what he is inBreaking Bad. Paul has done well for himself since the legendary crime series ended, playing Eddie Lane inThe Pathand Caleb Nichols inWestworld, among other acclaimed roles.
Ultimately, though,none of his more recent roles can compare with Jesse Pinkman. If fans are still calling the actor Jesse into his old age, that’s something to be proud of.
5Michael Richards – Kramer
Seinfeld
Kramer isSeinfeld’s most beloved character, an utterly perplexing human with countless inimitably hilarious quirks and the best heart among the show’s core four.Michael Richards made the character his own from day one, but his success as Kramer afflicted the actor with the notorious “Seinfeldcurse” once the sitcom ended.
We may never wantKramer’s ingenious schemes inSeinfeldto end, but Richards was sick of the character by the time he launched his own self-titled sitcom in the year 2000. The show promptly flopped, with audiences crying out for more Kramer, while Richards was doing everything he could to shed his iconic character.
4Lauren Graham – Lorelai Gilmore
Gilmore Girls
AfterGilmore Girlsended in 2006, Lauren Graham’s leading role inParenthoodallowed her to move on from the landmark comedy-drama. But while she may have moved on, we haven’t. To most of us,Graham will always be the bold and brilliant single mother, Lorelai Gilmore, whose way with words and stoic approach to romance are fundamental to the appeal ofGilmore Girls.
Boomtownactor Nina Garbiras was originally considered the favorite to play Lorelai Gilmore, before producers went with Lauren Graham.
Lauren Graham is a superb actor who lights up anything she’s in. Yet, nothing in the past two decades of her career has allowed us to move past seeing her as half of the titular duofronting one of the 21st century’s best female-led series.
3Jim Parsons – Sheldon Cooper
The Big Bang Theory
Almost without exception, Sheldon Cooper is at the heart ofThe Big Bang Theory’s best episodes. It’s impossible to imagine anyone other than Jim Parsons playing Caltech’s strangest string theorist, andit’s frankly even harder to picture Parsons playing any other character. The actor rightly won four Primetime Emmy Awards for the role, which cemented his place in TV history.
Parsons will do well to find another part that allows us to separate him from Sheldon, however, and it’s likely to remain this way for some time.The actor has little in common with his iconic character’s personain real life. Nevertheless, we still see him as Sheldon any time he makes a public appearance.
2Alfonso Ribeiro – Carlton Banks
The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air
Carlton Banks may have borrowed his legendary dance moves from Courtney Cox, but to this day, actor Alfonso Ribeiro can’t avoid having somebody reference them whenever he leaves the house.
Carlton Banks is more than his signature dance, though. He’s an entire way of being, which couldn’t be more at odds with Will Smith’s sitcom alter-ego inThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.The contrast between Will and Carlton has made Ribeiro’s character a comedy icon, who’s followed him wherever he’s gone in the 29 years since the show ended.
1Henry Winkler – The Fonz
Happy Days
Henry Winkler’sHappy Dayscharacter Fonziehaunted him for decades after the show’s conclusion. The actor was typecast so categorically that his most beloved character almost ended his career. Winkler has seen an upturn in his fortunes since the turn of the millennium, partly by embracing the satirical references to the Fonz that TV and movie writers throw his way.
The Fonz is one of themost iconic charactersin TVhistory. Henry Winkler’s realization that there’s ultimately no getting away from his identification with the character has given him a new lease of life in his acting career, in sitcoms such asArrested DevelopmentandBarry, as well as movies likeThe French Dispatch. Fonzie would be proud.
