The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face: Monday Night TV Stars

It has been a few months since my last article in this new series, but it is time to take a look at some of the bigger name stars who appear in just some of the current Monday night TV shows (cable and major network), taking a look at the first time ever I saw “their” face before they made it big:

Scott Porter

Scott Porter:

WHO HE PLAYS NOW: George Tucker on Hart of Dixie – He plays the handsome and down-to-earth good ole boy and attorney in tiny Bluebell, Alabama, but…

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HIS FACE: Like countless actors and actresses before him, Scott appeared as Casey Hughes in less than a handful of episodes of the daytime soap opera As the World Turns, but for me it was his role in the box office film Music & Lyrics that caught my attention.

Austin Basis

Austin Basis:

WHO HE PLAYS NOW: J. T. Forbes on Beauty And the Beast – He is a college professor and the best friend of Dr. Vincent Keller (series lead Jay Ryan), but…

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HIS FACE: He made guest appearances in a handful of various drama series, but the first time I really noticed him was when he played Kenny Spruce in Supernatural, as part of the Ghostfacers team.

Tamara Taylor

Tamara Taylor:

WHO SHE PLAYS NOW: Dr. Camille Saroyan on Bones – In season two of the series, Dr. Saroyan, who is a pathologist, took over as the head of the Forensic Division at the Jefferson Institute, but…

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HER FACE: Her first TV appearance was in a blink-and-you-will miss it role on A Different World, but it was her role of Grace Wilcox, Charlie’s girlfriend during season three of Party of Five, where I first saw her.

Natalie Zea

Natalie Zea:

WHO SHE PLAYS NOW: Claire Matthews on The Following – She is a college professor and the ex-wife of crazed serial killer Joe Carroll, but…

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HER FACE: Her first guest-starring role was in an episode of CSI, but she appeared in the third season of The Shield as Lauren Riley, but it was her role in the short-lived Eyes that first caught my attention.

Stana Katic

Stana Katic:

WHO SHE PLAYS NOW: Detective Kate Beckett on Castle – She is the tough-as-nails hhomicide detective with the NYPD, who is a first-class investigator, but…

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HER FACE: Her first break on TV was as a flight attendant in an episode of Alias back in 2004, but within one year she had dual appearances on both The Shield and ER. But it was her short appearance on 24 was the first time I noticed her.

Dylan McDermott

Dylan McDermott:

WHO HE PLAYS NOW: Agent Duncan Carlisle on the new drama Hostages – He is an extraordinary FBI agent who takes the Sanders family hostage in order to end the life of the President of the United States, but…

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HIS FACE: His first role was in the Vietnam War flick Hamburger Hill, but it was his role of Jackson Latcherie in the classic film Steel Magnolias that made me (and countless other movie goers) stop and take notice.

Katee Sackhoff

Katee Sackhoff:

WHO SHE PLAYS NOW: Victoria “Vic” Moretti on Longmire – She is the former Philadelphia homicide cop who escapes to Absaroka County, Wyoming to work for Sheriff Walt Longmire, but…

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HER FACE: She appeared in the made-for-TV movie Fifteen and Pregnant (that starred Kristen Dunst), but it was her role on the short-lived The Education of Max Bickford that gave her her start. Ironically, though, I saw her in the made-for-TV movie Hefner: Unauthorized.

Vanessa Marano

Vanessa Marano:

WHO SHE PLAYS NOW: Bay Kennish on Switched at Birth – One of two teens at the heart of a gripping switched at birth story, chronicling two very different families: one affluent and wealthy and the other from the poorer side of town, but…

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HER FACE: She appeared in Without a Trace as Hannah Malone, the daughter of lead character Jack Malone (series star Anthony LaPaglia), and that was the first time I noticed her.

Joanne Kelly

Joanne Kelly:

WHO SHE PLAYS NOW: She plays Myka Bering in the Syfy series Warehouse 13 that will be ending its five-year run next year, but…

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW HER FACE: She may have gotten her first break in the short-lived post-apocalyptic drama Jeremiah, but it was actually her guest role in one episode of the syndicated series Mutant X in 2002 that first caught my attention.

If you were asked to name the first time you ever saw their face, are there any Monday night TV stars who would fit that bill? Please share.