The Right Stuff: Where You’ve Seen The Actors Before

Based on the iconic bestseller by famed author Tom Wolfe, (and a feature film from 1983), The Right Stuff is the incredible story of the early days of the U.S. space program and “space race” with the Russians during the Cold War. Project Mercury was newly formed by NASA and seven of the military’s best test pilots were selected to become astronauts.

Not only were they competing with men from another country to be first in space, but they were also competing with one another for the glory of discovering and exploring this new horizon in travel. Actors chosen to play the seven American heroes, as well as the people who worked with them and loved them, brought their A-game, and it’s not a surprise since they’ve all got impressive careers and fans have enjoyed their performances in other distinguished shows.

10 Patrick J. Adams: Suits

Before he starred as astronaut John Glenn, the first man to orbit the earth, Patrick spent seven seasons as “Mike Ross” on Suits, USA’s hit legal drama–a role which garnered the versatile actor a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series.

With 51 credits on IMDB and a career that dates back to 2001, you also probably caught him on Sneaky Pete, Orphan Black, Pretty Little Liars, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Lost, and Friday Nights Lights to name a few.

9 Nora Zehetner: Grey’s Anatomy

Landing the part as John Glenn’s loving wife Annie is Nora Zehetner. It means the busy actress, who grew up in El Paso, Texas and moved to Los Angeles at 18, fulfilled her goal to become a star.

Besides this high-profile role as the better half of one of America’s most beloved astronauts, you’ve most likely enjoyed Nora Zehetner’s performances in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Maron, The Astronaut Wives Club, Warehouse 13, Mad Men, Heros, Everwood, and many others. Fans will soon see her in the upcoming Spring Bloom.

8 James Lafferty: One Tree Hill

The handsome actor who plays astronaut Scott Carpenter, James Lafferty, is also a director, writer, and producer but is best known for his role as heartthrob Nathan Scott in the successful teen drama One Tree Hill. For nine seasons, he and half-brother Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) played basketball teammates and rivals for the hearts of the family and friends of their tiny North Carolina town.

Doing episodic television and movies since 1999, James has had recurring roles on Once and Again, Crisis, Underground, and The Haunting of Hill House.

7 Eric Ladin: Longmire

Starring as Flight Director Chris Kraft, who is in charge of getting the mission control team ready, is yet another role in the career of this sought-after journeyman character actor Eric Ladin. He is in everything.

And has played everything with roles ranging from J. Edgar Hoover in the acclaimed Boardwalk Empire to Navy SEAL James Case in American Sniper. Of the more than 70 acting credits on his resume, he’s had recurring roles on Mad Men, Big Love and Bosch, and was a series regular on The Killing, The Brink, and Six.

6 Aaron Staton: Mad Men

The portrayer of astronaut Wally Schirra, Aaron Staton, became a star on the runaway hit Mad Men where he played Ken Cosgrove or “Ken from accounts,” as he was known to introduce himself–especially to the young secretaries.

Since 2005, Aaron has appeared in movies and television shows such as Law & Order: SVU, 7th Heaven, The Nanny Diaries, The Good Wife, Ray Donovan, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, Narcos: Mexico, and Castle Rock to name a few, with each role different from the next for this versatile actor.

5 Eloise Mumford: Chicago Fire

Eloise Mumford stepped into the role of Trudy Cooper, wife of astronaut Gordon Cooper, who is living the Betty Draper life even though she too was a test pilot and tapped to join a group of women hoping to become astronauts themselves.

Before joining the cast, Eloise was a regular on the hit series Chicago Hope as Hope Jacquinot. Since her career took off in 2008, she appeared in the Fifty Shades trilogy, as well as other films and starred on television with leading roles in Crash, Lone Star, and The River.

4 Patrick Fischler: Mad Men

Patrick Fischler plays Bob Gilruth, the head of the Space Task Force and the first director of NASA’s Manned Aviation Spacecraft Center. It’s a far cry from his breakout role on Mad Men as abusive comic Jimmy Barrett, who was the potato chip spokesman for Utz, a client of Sterling Cooper. He was actually the one who gave Betty the heads up that her husband was having an affair with his wife Bobbie.

Since 1990, the actor has been a familiar face on television and in movies with roles on Lost, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Veep, Silicon Valley, and Twin Peaks and this is only the tip of his acting iceberg.

3 Colin O’Donoghue: Once Upon A Time

Colin’s Gordon ‘Gordo’ Cooper is only a member of the space program because his estranged wife Trudy, whom he cheated on, agreed to reconcile because only men with stable home lives could be considered to represent the United States as astronauts.

O’Donoghue is a musician as well as an actor, and best known for being cast as Captain Hook in Once Upon a Time. His CV that begins in 2001 includes roles in The Tudors, The Rite, and the voice of Douxie on the miniseries Wizards, as well as many other television shows and movies.

2 Shannon Lucio: True Blood

And you thought Betty Draper had a cheating husband. Shannon Lucio plays the long-suffering Louise, wife of astronaut Alan Shepard, who never met a nurse, cocktail waitress, or well, anyone in a skirt, with whom he didn’t get his flirt on.

Lucio’s breakout role may have been as Lindsay Gardner on the fan-favorite The O.C. but since then the actor has had a plethora of appearances on TV and in film, with regular roles on shows like Prison Break, and most recently True Blood where she took over the part of Caroline Compton, the wife of an ex-confederate soldier turned Vampire King Bill Compton.

1 Jake McDorman: Murphy Brown

Jake McDorman stars as Alan Shepard, a Navy pilot as well as one of the best test pilots in the U.S. at the time of Project Mercury. His temper, as well as drinking and extramarital affairs, seem to also be his claim to fame. He was the first man in space and the fifth to walk on the moon.

This is one of many high-profile starring roles for this leading man with dramatic as well as comedic acting chops. Before this period piece, he played Avery, the adult son of Candice Bergen, on the reboot of Murphy Brown. You probably also enjoyed his television work starring in Limitless, Manhattan Love Story, Greek, and Are You There, Chelsea? In film, he appeared in Lady Bird and American Sniper to name a few.