Supernatural: 10 Times One Actor Played More Than One Character

Throughout fifteen seasons of Supernatural, so many characters come through that it is hard to keep track of them all. There are multiple actors in minor and background roles supporting the Winchester brothers and enough memorable characters that it is easy to miss when one actor pops back up to play other characters in a later season.

This is not referring to the likes of Jensen Ackles or Jared Padalecki playing characters possessing Dean and Sam or Misha Collins also playing Emmanuel and Jimmy Novak – as these are possessed characters in-universe. Instead, it is actors not totally established on the show popping up in entirely new, changed roles.

Alexia Fast – Missy Bender & Emma

Canadian actress Alexia Fast popped up twice in Supernatural, in season 1 episode “The Benders” and then again in season 7’s “The Slice Girls.” In both, she plays characters who seem dead set on killing.

Missy Bender is the young female member of the Bender family, who are the monster-of-the-week in “The Benders.” “Friggin’ humans,” as Dean says, seem to be some of the worst monsters in Supernatural. In “The Slice Girls,” Fast plays Emma, the Amazon, daughter of Dean, who has set out to kill him. Sam kills Emma before she gets the chance, a move that fans debate as being villainous.

Michael Teigan – Teddy & Max Hilby

Michael Teigan can not only be found in Tron: Legacy but can also be found in three separate episodes of Supernatural. In season 1’s brilliant monster-of-the-week episode, Teigan plays an unnamed teacher but goes on to have more exciting roles in seasons 4 and 8.

In “Wishful Thinking,” Tiegan plays one of the most memorable Kripke-era characters, Teddy, a giant suicidal teddy bear brought to life by a cursed coin. It is an utterly hilarious role. In the beloved “LARP And The Real Girl,” Teigan pops back up as Max Hilby, an attorney, and LARP-er who was the Shadow King, a prime suspect in the disappearance of Charlie in the episode.

Lynda Boyd – Dr. Jennifer O’Brien & Fortuna

Lynda Boyd can be found in a slew of films and shows ranging from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift to She’s The Man and got two pretty cool roles in a pair of superb episodes from seasons 8 and 15 of Supernatural.

Boyd portrayed one of Supernatural’s best monster species, a Djinn, in “Pac-Man Fever,” posing as Dr. Jennifer O’Brien. Then in “The Gamblers,” Boyd appeared again, this time as the Roman Goddess of luck, Fortuna, who eventually helped Sam and Dean get their luck back from God, deeming the Winchester brothers as true heroes akin to those of ancient times.

Steve Bacic – Dr. Sexy & Pastor Joe

“Changing Channels” is one of Supernatural’s most iconic episodes. One of the most memorable roles in said episode is that of Dr. Sexy, M.D., played by Steve Bacic, who dazzled Dean throughout the episode.

The actor, who portrayed Dr. Hank McCoy in X-2, returned to Supernatural 10 years later as Paster Joe in the episode “Gimme Shelter.” Going from a fictional sexy doctor to a man of faith and kindness is certainly a significant change, and given the chunk of time between the episodes, it is easy to miss Bacic being reused.

Ian Tracey – Lee Chambers & Ishim

Another Canadian actor with a vast and expansive career that got reused in Supernatural is Ian Tracey, who jumps from likable dad to deplorable angel between his two appearances.

Tracey portrays the father of Krissy Chambers in the season 7 episode “Adventures In Babysitting,” a lone-hunter who leaves life at the end of the episode to have a regular life with his daughter. Chambers would later get killed by a vengeful vampire, and Tracey would later return as Ishim, an angel who was a part of Castiel’s old garrison. Ishim turned out to be one of the angels akin to Uriel and Zachariah and thankfully met his end in his sole episode, “Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets.”

Kegan Connor Tracey – Karen Giles, Sera Siege, & Witch Mother

Supernatural reused a lot of performers twice, but few got a call back three times for named/prominent roles in their respective episodes. Bates Motel and Beggars and Choosers actress Keegan Connor Tracey is one such rarity.

In season 2’s “The Usual Suspects,” Tracey played Karen Giles, a mourning wife caught up in a Winchester standoff with the law that saw Dean accused of her murder. Then only two seasons later, Tracey played Sera Siege, publisher of the Supernatural books and massive fan of Sam and Dean as written by Chuck. Eleven years after that, Tracey, looking and sounding quite different, resurfaced as the Witch Mother in “Golden Time,” searching for Rowena’s stash of magic following the beloved villain-turned-hero’s death at the start of season 15.

Aleks Paunovic – Sean’s Friend, Skinwalker, & Gunner Lawless

Aleks Paunovic is another actor who secured three roles on Supernatural in seasons 2, 6, and 11, with the Canadian former boxer, turned actor also having roles on shows like Continuum. 

In season 2, Paunovic plays a small role in “Crossroad Blues” as the business partner of Hellhound victim Sean Boyden. In season 6, Paunovic went from human to monster as he took up the role of second-in-command Skinwalker to the pack leader in “All Dogs Go To Heaven.” Undoubtedly Paunovic’s most memorable part in Supernatural comes in season 11’s “Beyond The Mat,” as he plays idol of Dean, professional wrestler, and demon lackey Gunner Lawless.

Carrie Anne Fleming – Nurse & Karen Singer

Reused actors in Supernatural do not always get two relatively prominent roles in their episodes. Often, such as in the case of Carrie Anne Fleming, the performer will play at least one small role like when she appeared as a nurse in season 2’s “In My Time Of Dying.”

Fleming would then pop up in a fairly important role on two occasions in seasons 5 and 7 as she played the late wife of Bobby Singer, Karen. Karen was the reason Bobby got into hunting, and heartbreakingly Bobby had to kill her on more than one occasion, something neither character deserved.

Erica Cerra – Robin & Duma

Supernatural is not the only CW show under Erica Cerra’s belt, with the actress also having a role in The 100 to go alongside her two parts in the Winchester brother’s story.

In “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” Cerra initially shows up as Robin as an innocent bartender ruthlessly shot and killed by soulless Sam. She and Sam are in his head as the wall put up by Death comes tumbling down thanks to the then-villainous Castiel. That is not Cerra’s only character connection to Cas in the show, though, as everyone’s favorite angel would later kill Cerra’s second character, Duma. Duma, a fellow angel, would appear in multiple episodes throughout seasons 13 and 14 of the show, most well known for her manipulation of Jack,

Tyler Johnston – Matt Pike & Samandriel/Alfie

Not all angels are totally unlikeable in Supernatural. That is not only proven by Castiel, but also by others such as Samandriel, also known as Alfie, who pops up a couple of times in season 8 before his murder at the hands of Cas under the orders of Naomi.

Before these performances as Samandriel, though, actor Tyler Johnston (from shows like Letterkenny) appeared in the infamous season 1 episode “Bugs,” as the insect-obsessed Matt Pike who formed a good rapport with Sam throughout the lackluster episode.

Ty Olsson – Eli & Benny Lafitte

The most important and popular character in Supernatural who got played by a reused actor is Benny Laffite, a close friend of Dean from Purgatory and a vampire who proved himself to be truly good at heart despite the infuriating doubts of the likes of Sam.

Benny got played well by actor Ty Olsson throughout season 8 of Supernatural, but that was not Olsson’s first role, nor his first outing as a vamp. In season 2, Olsson portrayed another non-human-killing vampire Eli, who was getting hunted by Gordon alongside Lenore in the episode “Bloodlust.”