I was watching The Temptations of Vh1 the other day and it struck me how many of the actors in the film had genre connections. Let me show you:
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Charles Malik Whitfield as Otis Williams Supernatural fans will recognize Charles from his the short-lived recurring character FBI Agent Victor Henricksen. He was hot on Sam and Dean’s trail during Season 2, finally being offed by the demon Lilith later that Season, and reprising his role in Season 4 when the angry spirits of people they couldn’t save come back to haunt the Winchester boys. But he’s done other genre work, as well. He’s done guest roles on Seven Days, Now and Again and Ghost Whisperer. |
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D.B. Woodside as Melvin Franklin D.B. played Principal Robin Wood for 14 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and did Charles one better by appearing it two episodes of Once and Again. His other genre work includes an episode of Prey and the TV movie Flashpoint. |
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Leon as David Ruffin Did you see the Lou Diamond Phillips/Dina Meyer movie Bats? Then you might recall Leon as Jimmy Sands. Leon also appeared in the paranormal thriller, Spirit Lost. |
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Alan Rosenberg with Shelly Berger Alan’s first genre appearance was in the pre-apocalyptic film, Miracle Mile. He played an uncredited role in The Tommyknockers. He later appeared in the Denis Hopper alternated reality mystery made for TV, Witch Hunt. Other genre work include Freaky Friday (1995), Cloned, Giving Up the Ghost, Hercules (animated – voice of Boreas, the North Wind), Touched by an Angel and Level 9. |
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Tina Lifford as Haze Tina played Lee in the two-part Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, “Past Tense.” She also played a recurring role, Loris Holt, in one of my favorite quickly canceled TV shows, American Gothic. She, like Alan, appeared in Cloned and Toughed by an Angel. He other genre work include Heroes, Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, and voice work for Jaws: The Revenge and Doppelganger. |
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Jenifer Lewis as Mama Rose Jenifer’s first genre work was in Robert Townsend’s superhero movie, The Meteor Man. Later, she appeared in another superhero movie, Mystery Men. Her other genre work includes voice work in The Princess and the Frog, a part in the recently released film Hearafter, and appearances in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Touched by an Angel and Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child. |
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Gina Ravera as Josephine Gina’s genre work include appearances in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Charmed, as well as role in the TV movie, W.E.I.R.D. World. |
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Obba Babatundé as Berry Gordy Obba played Syd in the reincarnation murder mystery Dead Again. His other genre movie appearances include H.P. Lovecraft’s Necronomicon: Book of the Dead, Multiplicity, The Tomorrow Man and The Celestine Prophecy. His other genre work includes appearances in Tales from the Crypt, M.A.N.T.I.S., Touched by an Angel, Sliders, The Burning Zone, Spy Game, Xyber 9: New Dawn, The Outer Limits and The Invisible Man. He has also done voice work for several Star Wars video games. |
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Erik Michael Tristan as Smokey Robinson IMDB only has two projects listed for Erik: The Temptations and the superhero film Mystery Men … he played Disco Boy. |
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J. August Richards as Richard Street Angel fans will recognize J. August from his role as the street-wise vampire killer Charles Gunn. But he was no stranger to genre shows when he joined that cast. Before Angel, he’d appeared in Space: Above and Beyond and Sliders. He also later made an appearance in The 4400. |
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Vanessa Bell Calloway as Johnnie Mae Matthews Vanessa’s first genre appearance was in the horror flick Death Spa. Later genre work include appearances in Touched by an Angel, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child, Prey and Joan of Arcadia. |
Pretty cool, huh? Did you notice how many of these actors appeared at some point on the light fantasy TV show Touched by an Angel?
