Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
While movie actors might do a blockbuster for a few months and call it a year, those in the television industry sign on usually from one season to the next, working at grinding out episodes week after week. Often, this is a multitasking task that requires years, which has both good and bad sides.
Some of the time, they walk away because of stress, some leave for new challenges, or it could be life simply knocking on their door. Sometimes, it could also be the end of a contract, changes in personal priorities, or feeling exhausted with the character.
For any reason, the star might be leaving popular shows, but that does not surely mean the end of the road. Examples of stars who return are not limited. The reasons for these comebacks are as varied as the departures. Let’s take a look at some of the actors who left their TV show and returned again.
1Connie Britton
Connie Britton played the role of Abby Clark, who was a 911 operator on9-1-1. She was a fan favorite for all 10 episodes of Season 1. Then, in Episode 10,A Whole New You, Abby went to Ireland after her mom’s death.
Why would she leave? She had only signed a one-year contract from the beginning. As showrunner Ryan Murphy explained toDeadline,
“Connie had just come off Nashville, and she didn’t want to do another show right away. I said, ‘Well, why don’t you just do a one-year deal,’ so Connie has a one-year deal, and we all knew that going in.”
The Rookie Season 8 Renewal Puts Nathan Fillion on the Same Cliff Edge That Doomed Castle
Jennifer Love Hewitt stepped in as thenew 911 operator for Season 2.She needed some time off and refused to stay bound to multiple seasons. But Angela Bassett’s request and showrunner Tim Minear’s pitch brought her back for two episodes in Season 3.
2Nina Dobrev
Nina Dobrev was the soul ofThe Vampire Diaries. She played multiple roles, including Elena Gilbert, Katherine Pierce, Tatia, and Amara, on the show. Her 2015 exit in the Season 6 finale changed the direction and tone of the show.
The creative team developed an exit plan for Elena that prevented closing off possible future reunions. In the finale for Season 6, antagonist Kai Parker puts a sleeping spell on Elena, linking her to her best friend, Bonnie. As long as Bonnie remained alive, Elena would stay in a magical coma.
Dobrev had always planned to leave.“That was the plan from the get-go,” she toldHarper’s Bazaarin 2017. She wanted to pursue more mature roles at the time. The show shifted focus to Damon and Stefan. Then, in 2017’s finale, Dobrev returned.
3Monica Raymund
Monica Raymund brought paramedic Gabby Dawson to life onChicago Firefor six seasons. She left the show after the Season 6 finale when her character Gabby accepted a position leading a rescue and relief unit in Puerto Rico. Being an original cast member, her exit after 132 episodes hit hard.
Raymund left the show for herself. In an interview with theChicago Tribunein 2018, she said, “I knew that my six-year contract was coming to an end, and I felt like I was hungry to explore a different role, a different story.”
She came back in Season 7’s premiere, A Closer Eye, to bid farewell to ex-hubby Matt Casey, and again in Season 8, Episode 9, Best Friend Magic. Both were guest appearances.
4Steve Carell
Steve Carellwas Michael Scott, theincompetent boss ofThe Office,for seven seasons. Carrell announced his plans to leave nearly a year before his exit, tellingEntertainment Weeklyin 2010,“I think [Season] 7 will be my last year. I want to fulfill my contract. I think it’s a good time to move on.”When he was asked about the reason behind his exit, he said, “I just want to spend more time with my family.”
However, during his appearance in theOffice Ladies podcast, Carell revealed that he also felt the show’s other characters deserved the spotlight. He said,“It was time for other characters to step to the forefront and other storylines to be pursued.”
His goodbye was emotional, but he meant it. The show managed to go on for two more seasons. Then, in the 2013 finale, Carell returned for a cameo in Dwight and Angela’s wedding after creator Greg Daniels requested him.
5Emily Bett Rickards
Emily Bett Rickards played Felicity Smoak, tech genius andOliver Queen’s wife, onArrowfor seven seasons. She left after Season 7, with Felicity isolating to raise their daughter, Mia. Rickards’ exit was her personal decision rather than a creative direction from the show.
Season 7 solved her exit by explaining that Felicity needed to go into isolation to raise her daughter. This narrative choice made sense because Oliver had no contact with his wife in Season 8, relying instead on Diggle, Black Siren, and other Team Arrow members as he worked to save the multiverse from the Crisis.
Rickards wanted a break from TV.“I think I’m going to take a break for a while and do a little bit of theater,”she toldCollider. Rickards did make a comeback for the series finale. Her return was limited to a few scenes that brought together Oliver’s friends and family for his funeral.
She also appeared in the Season 7 finale, where future Felicity helped her children save Star City in the flash-forwards before departing with the Monitor, completing her character’s arc in the series.
6Natasha Rothwell
Natasha Rothwell shined as Belinda, the spa manager, inThe White LotusSeason 1. She was absent in Season 2, and her story ended bittersweetly in Hawaii. Although she was not there in Season 2, she became the first cast member announced for Season 3.
Rothwell didn’t expect a return. However, she revealed toThe Hollywood Reporterthat creator Mike White pitched her comeback while wrapping Season 2, and her response was immediate-“I told him I’d follow him anywhere, and I meant it. I didn’t know where the shoot or the storyline were, it was just a yes.”
Jason Isaacs May Have Confirmed Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins Feud in ‘The White Lotus’: “It would have happened anyway”
Season 3 flips the script.Belinda is a guest, not staff. When the offer came through, she felt like it was a“once-in-a-lifetime opportunity turned into twice.”The return of Rothwell’s character in Season 3 links back to previous seasons as the sole returning cast member from the earlier episodes.
7Christopher Abbott
Christopher Abbott was Charlie, Marnie’s college boyfriend, inGirlsfor two seasons. His abrupt departure from the show came down to a simple but valid reason- he couldn’t relate to his character anymore. He toldThe New York Times,
“The world that Lena [Dunham, the creator] wrote was very real, especially in New York. But it wasn’t as relatable for me on a personal level. It’s not that I only like to play roles I know to a T, but there’s something satisfying about playing parts where you really relate to the characters.”
Some reports suggest the creative differences with Lena Dunham might also be the reason. He returned for one Season 5 episode, catching up with Marnie.
8Damon Wayans Jr.
Damon Wayans Jr. kicked offNew Girlas Coach in the pilot, then vanished. He was tied toHappy Endings, which got a second season. After three seasons there, he rejoinedNew Girlin Season 3, becoming a regular in Season 4, only to leave again.
Wayans told theNew York Timesin 2013 of his return. He said,“There weren’t as many rooms when they shot the pilot… It was weird not knowing where stuff was.”After Season 4, Wayans departed again. Unlike his first exit, this time, he had no other commitments but simply chose not to renew his contract.
The creative team gave Coach a reason to leave while keeping the door open for future appearances. Wayans made several guest appearances in later seasons. He returned one final time in the last season to attend the one-year anniversary of Furguson’s death.
9Patrick J. Adams
Patrick J. Adams played the role of Mike Ross, who was a college dropout with a photographic memory who practiced law without a license, onSuitsfor seven seasons. He left after Season 7, marrying Rachel and chasing legit dreams. Adams revealed that his reasons for leaving were personal.
He wanted family time with his wife, Troian Bellisario, andfelt Mike’s arc peaked. Besides this, he said onJesse Tyler Ferguson’s podcast,
“I was in a zone of living a pretty unexamined life, was pretty miserable, was pretty depressed, and I didn’t have the tools to deal with that depression beyond just spending money and drinking too much, and not really knowing how to talk about it.”
Adams later returned for three episodes in Season 9. When asked about the reasons for his return, he toldEntertainment Tonight,“It was about, ‘We’d love to get the band back together,’ basically. Do one last trip around the world. It was as simple as that.”
10T.R. Knight
Caption: T.R. Knight inGrey’s Anatomy| Credit: ABC
Alt. text- T.R. Knight sitting beside a desk inGrey’s Anatomy
T.R. Knight played Dr. George O’Malley onGrey’s Anatomyfor five seasons. He left after Season 5 killed off dramatically. Knight explained his exit toEntertainment Weekly, saying,
“There just comes a time when it’s so clear that moving on is the best decision. There are a lot of people who would like to be in my position. But in the end, I need to be fulfilled in my work.”
He left the show as he felt that his character was not moving forward, and there were some workplace tensions as well, including some homophobic remarks directed at him by a castmate. However, he returned in Season 17’s COVID coma dream, meeting Meredith on a beach. It was his husband’s nudge that brought him back for one episode.
11Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Dempsey was Derek Shepherd,Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy, for 11 seasons. He left in 2016 after Season 11 after his character was killed off in a shocking car accident.
In a 2016 interview withPeoplemagazine, Dempsey explained his departure by saying,
“It had been long enough. It was time for me to move on with other things and other interests. I probably should have moved on a couple of years earlier. I stayed a bit longer than I should have.”
20 Years of Dunder Mifflin: Why We Still Love ‘The Office’ After All These Years
The main reason he felt was the demanding schedule that stole family time. Season 17 brought him back into Meredith’s coma dream, just like T.R. Knight.
12Patrick Duffy
Patrick Duffy was Bobby Ewing onDallasfor eight seasons, then died heroically in the Season 8 finale. He told theHuffington Post,
“I left because I had done the show for seven years. My contract was for seven years. It was obviously an ensemble show, and I thought if it was ever a time at the height of the popularity of that show, that I might be able to launch into something that was more of a single, starring venue, that that would be the time to do it.”
Season 9 tanked without him. Producer Leonard Katzman requested him back, and Duffy agreed. It was shown that his death and the entire eighth season had been nothing but his wife Pam’s bad dream.
13Lecy Goranson
Lecy Goranson was Becky Conner onRoseannefor five seasons, then left mid-Season 5 for college. To accommodate her departure, the show wrote Becky out via a storyline where she eloped with her boyfriend, Mark.
But when producers wanted to bring her back in Season 6, her college stopped her return. Sarah Chalke took over her role for some time, but Goranson returned in Season 8 when school allowed, flipping back and forth.
The show even joked about this. WhenRoseannewas revived years later in 2018, Goranson portrayed Becky full-time, while Chalke was cast as a new character.
14Christopher Meloni
Christopher Meloni was Elliot Stabler onLaw & Order: SVUfor 12 seasons.Meloni left the showafter some disagreements regarding the contract negotiations with the network. But he left with zero animosity with the producers.
Meloni told theNew York Postin 2020,
“I left with zero animosity, but I did leave clearly and open-eyed in going forward and finding new adventures.”
He also mentioned that after 12 seasons, he was interested in exploring something different.
He returned in Season 22, Episode 9,Return of the Prodigal Son, after a decade, in a guest spot that reunited him with Benson after his wife was injured.
Due to personal needs, creative disagreements, and career goals, actors often quit their TV roles, but those departures are not essentially the end of their story always. Whether for spinoff series, multi-season roles, or cameos, these comebacks show how the television industry can often function as a revolving door.
Bibon Sinha
Articles Published :137
Bibon Sinha is a Biotechnology graduate whose love for content creation turned him toward the field of content writing. With over two years of experience in the field of content writing and management, he is a devoted Marvel fan. Beyond writing, he’s drawn to combat sports and spends his downtime with his guitar, creating music.
