Where You've Seen The Cast Of 2024's Matlock Before

When CBS first ordered a "Matlock" reboot back in 2023, the decision may have been a head-scratcher to some. Even aside from the fact that most of the cast of the original "Matlock" have passed away and their fans were likely nearing 60 years of age at least, the television landscape is already so crowded with courtroom dramas that an addition of this kind could understandably feel unnecessary. Speaking for those of us who held that opinion back then, we're happy to have been proven wrong.

"Matlock" is an unexpectedly fresh TV show with a unique perspective on the legal procedural genre, buoyed by a cast that flaunts comedic and dramatic talent in equal measure. This doesn't come as too much of a surprise if you recognize them from previous films and television shows, which include some of the best comedies and dramas TV has ever seen. From "The Office" and "Pitch Perfect" to "Nancy Drew" and "Gravity Falls," we'd bet there's more than a few movies and shows in which you've seen the cast of 2024's "Matlock" before.

Starring in the series as Madeline Kingston (aka Madeline Matlock) is, of course, Kathy Bates, an actor readers no doubt recognize from any one of a wide variety of roles she's played in an even wider variety of genres. She's been a professional actor since the early 1970s, predating the premiere of the original "Matlock" series in 1986.

In 1990, Bates received acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Actress for playing the deranged fan Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner's adaptation of the Stephen King novel "Misery." She has garnered further critical acclaim for her roles in the films "Primary Colors," "About Schmidt," "Richard Jewell," and the 2000 television film adaptation of the musical "Annie." She has been nominated for over a dozen Primetime Emmy Awards, most notably for leading the short-lived NBC legal comedy "Harry's Law" and for her roles in Ryan Murphy's "American Horror Story" anthology series — she played undead serial killer Madame LaLaurie in "Coven," bearded lady Ethel Darling in "Freak Show," hotel manager Iris Holloway in "Hotel," the actor portraying the Butcher in "Roanoke," and Satanist Miriam Head in "Apocalypse."

In addition to noteworthy guest-starring roles on the sitcoms "3rd Rock from the Sun" and "Two and a Half Men," "The Big Bang Theory," and the HBO drama "Six Feet Under," Bates memorably played Florida printing mogul Jo Bennett in seasons 6 and 7 of "The Office." Readers may also recognize her from Adam Sandler's 1998 comedy "The Waterboy," playing the title character in the 1995 adaptation of "Dolores Claiborne" (based on another Stephen King novel), and/or from James Cameron's disaster epic "Titanic," in which she played the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown.

Playing Matlock's cutthroat boss, Olympia Lawrence, is Skye P. Marshall, taking on her meatiest role to date. She's been acting consistently since the early 2010s and may be best known for her guest-starring roles on major television shows that have aired in the last decade or so.

Following brief appearances in popular series like "House," "Dexter," and "The Mentalist," Marshall was cast as recurring character June in the 6th season of the Showtime family dramedy "Shameless." This led to more prominent guest-starring roles in "Grey's Anatomy" (Mary Hodges in season 13) and "NCIS." In 2018, she landed a major recurring role on the CW DC Comics superhero series "Black Lightning," which was loosely tied to the continuity of the network's Arrowverse franchise. In the first two seasons, she played undercover A.S.A. agent Kara Fowdy.

After her character was written off the show, Marshall guest-starred on "The Rookie" (as Kai De Vera in season 1, episode 3, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"), "9-1-1," and "This Is Us," and joined the cast of "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" for its 3rd season. She stayed with the series through to its end in 2020. Prior to being cast in "Matlock," Marshall was also part of the core ensemble of the short-lived CBS medical drama "Good Sam," which was canceled after one season in 2022.

To many of our readers, especially younger ones, Jason Ritter's name and voice might be more recognizable than his face. From 2012 to 2016, the actor — who plays Olympia's husband Julian Markson — voiced the character Dipper Pines on the popular Disney Channel animated supernatural conspiracy comedy "Gravity Falls." His name may have also popped up on the radars of DC Comics fans as well, as he was recently announced as part of the cast of HBO's "Lanterns" miniseries, which was pitched as a "True Detective"-style take on the "Green Lantern" mythos, starring Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre as superheroes Hal Jordan and John Stewart.

Ritter — the son of late "Three's Company" star John Ritter — has been acting in film and television since the '90s, with earlier roles including like the crossover horror blockbuster "Freddy vs. Jason," Oliver Stone's presidential biopic "W" (as Jeb Bush), and the Nicolas Cage film "The Wicker Man." From 2010 to 2012, he led the cast of the ill-fated mystery box series "The Event." Though the series was canceled after just two seasons, its run coincided with Ritter's casting in the acclaimed NBC family drama "Parenthood." He received an Emmy nomination for playing English teacher Mark Cyr (a major love interest of Lauren Graham's Sarah Braverman and a recurring character across all six seasons). In 2016, he and Graham reunited for an episode of "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" on Netflix.

He has appeared in many popular comedy series, including "Superstore," HBO's "Girls," and the cult Comedy Central shows "Drunk History" and "Another Period." He also continues to be cast in leading dramatic roles in TV shows such as "A Million Little Things" and the Netflix original superhero drama "Raising Dion." One of his most recent roles prior to joining "Matlock" was as a fictional version of himself on the Amazon Prime Video series "Gen V," a spin-off of the superhero thriller-comedy "The Boys."

For David Del Rio, who plays young Jacobson Moore associate Billy Martinez, being given his most prominent role to date in a legal procedural may have felt like a full-circle moment. Like many actors, Del Rio got his start with a guest-starring role on "Law & Order," playing murder victim Freddie Ramirez in an episode of "Special Victims Unit" (season 9, episode 6, "Closet"). He could also be seen on episodes of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (Matthew Lapaz in season 12, episode 14, "Maid Man") and "NCIS: Los Angeles" (season 4, episode 4, "Dead Body Politic").

In 2009, Del Rio was cast as one of the three young leads in the Nickelodeon science fiction comedy series "The Troop," about a group of high schoolers who are tasked with hunting monsters for a secret military agency. It ran for only two seasons. His first major film role was in the 2012 breakout musical comedy "Pitch Perfect," where he got to showcase his incredible singing voice as Treblemakers member Kolio — prior to landing this role, Del Rio had performed on Broadway in the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical "In The Heights."

During the live musical craze of the 2010s, Del Rio had a supporting role in Fox's "Grease Live!" He also appeared in the James Gunn and Peter Safran horror comedy "The Belko Experiment," as well as one episode of "The Good Doctor." Right before being cast in "Matlock," he starred in the short-lived and since-deleted Hulu supernatural sitcom "Maggie."

Working alongside Billy at the bottom rung of the legal ladder is Sarah Yang, a fellow associate of Billy's, played by Leah Lewis. Lewis has been acting since the mid-2000s and found early work in the world of children's television. On the Disney Channel, she had minor roles in the sitcoms "Best Friends Whenever" and "Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything." On Nickelodeon, she played the bit character Spoon in the TV film "Fred 3: Camp Fred." She also had a recurring role on the teen sitcom "Sing It!," which was released on YouTube Red.

In the 2010s, Lewis began appearing in larger guest-starring roles in popular TV series like "The Good Doctor," the CW's "Charmed," the Fox "X-Men" drama "The Gifted," and the "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Station 19." Her first major television role came in 2019, when she was cast as George on the CW's "Nancy Drew" series. She was a core member of the cast for all four seasons. In 2020, she gained further attention with a prominent role in the charming queer romcom "The Half of It." She was then cast as the fiery Ember, the leading role in Disney and Pixar's allegorical adventure film "Elemental."

Eme Ikwuakor, who plays Olympia's office-romancer Elijah Walker, is likely best known to readers for starring in Marvel Studios' infamous "Inhumans" series. He played Gorgon, the muscle of Black Bolt's (Anson Mount) royal family, who memorably had hooves for feet.

Prior to his role in the quickly canceled superhero disasterpiece, Ikwuakor mostly guest-starred on popular TV shows. Readers may have seen him in the Nickelodeon children's sitcom "Victorious," procedurals like "Hawaii Five-0" or "NCIS: Los Angeles," the HBO series "Silicon Valley" or "The Comeback," or ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder." Fortunately for him, he was seemingly able to use his "Inhumans" momentum to land a recurring role on the underrated Starz series "Counterpart," which starred J.K. Simmons as two versions of the same man from different realities.

Around this same time, he was cast in a recurring capacity on the Netflix teen drama "On My Block." He played Dwayne Turner (the father of Brett Gray's Jamal Turner) for all four seasons and reprised the role for the spin-off series "Freeridge." In 2022, he was featured prominently in the blockbuster disaster film "Moonfall" and the Russo Brothers' Netflix spy thriller "The Gray Man," which also starred Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. The year after, he played Elmer in Michael Jai White's "Black Dynamite" follow-up, "Outlaw Johnny Black."

Like Kathy Bates, Sam Anderson (who plays Edwin Kingston, the husband of Bates' series protagonist) has been acting consistently since anyone had even heard the name "Matlock." He guest-starred in a litany of TV procedurals, soap operas, sitcoms, and dramas throughout the '80s, including "Days of Our Lives," "Remington Steele," "St. Elsewhere," "Magnum P.I.," "Dallas," "The Golden Girls," "21 Jump Street," and "Star Trek: The Next Generation." He most prominently recurred as Principal DeWitt on "Growing Pains" and as Sam Gorpley on "Perfect Strangers."

Perhaps Anderson's most broadly recognizable role is that of the school principal in Robert Zemeckis' 1994 dramedy "Forrest Gump." That same year, he began playing Dr. Jack Kayson on the hit medical drama "E.R.," and appeared as the character 20 times across 14 seasons. He landed another meaty recurring role on "Lost" during its 2nd season — for the remainder of the show's run, he recurred as Bernard Nadler, one of the tail section survivors who is married to Rose (L. Scott Caldwell). In the late 2010s, he appeared on episodes of "Castle," "Bones," "This Is Us," "How to Get Away With Murder and "Station 19," and recurred on "Justified" as Lee Paxton. In 2023, he played opioid mega-mogul Raymond Sackler in the Netflix miniseries "Painkiller."

One of the more surprising characters in "Matlock" is Beau Bridges' Howard Markson, a senior lawyer who plays a supporting role in Olympia's career despite her divorce from his own son. Though his career has spanned nearly eight – eight — decades (having first appeared in the 1948 film "No Minor Vices"), readers are likely to have first seen Bridges on the early 2000s science fiction fantasy series "Stargate SG-1." In the 9th and 10th seasons of the flagship series of MGM's "Stargate" franchise (inspired by the 1994 James Spader feature of the same name), the actor played Commanding General Hank Landry, a character he helped create. He appeared in various "Stargate"-related projects thereafter in the same role. During this same period, Bridges also began recurring as Carl Hickey on the comedy series "My Name Is Earl."

In the past two decades Bridges, has been featured in too many films to mention, notably playing BB Hensley in the cult video game adaptation "Max Payne," Hugh in the George Clooney-led drama "The Descendants," and Mr. Carlton in Regina King's critically acclaimed directorial debut "One Night in Miami..." He also provided the voice for Chairman Tokumaru in the English dub of Gorō Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's "From Up on Poppy Hill." On television, he's lent his talents to a number of lauded series, including "Masters of Sex" (as Dr. Barton Scully), Netflix's "Bloodlines" (Roy Gilbert), "Goliath" (Wheeler in season 3), and "Homeland" (Vice President Ralph Warner). Of course, he may also look familiar to "Matlock" fans due to his resemblance to Jeff Bridges, who is his brother. They are both the sons of "Airplane!" star Lloyd Bridges.

There's little chance "Matlock" fans haven't seen Patricia Belcher in at least one film or television show prior to her recurring as Jacobson Moore administrator Ms. Belvin on the CBS series. She is a prolific television guest star with a career that consists of well over 173 credits and can be traced back to roles on basically every popular TV series that was running in the '90s, including, but far from limited to "Seinfeld," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "NYPD Blue," "Cybill," "Martin," "E.R.," "Step by Step," "Married... with Children," "Living Single," "Chicago Hope," "Sister, Sister," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," and "The Practice." During this same period, she would also occasionally feature in movies like "Jeepers Creepers" and Jim Carrey's "Liar Liar."

She continued to be a much relied-upon fixture in the television industry throughout the 2000s, appearing in "How I Met Your Mother," "Boston Legal" (as Judge Bishop), "Cold Case," the pilot episode of "Community," and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (playing the judge presiding over the trial in season 5, episode 6, "The World Series Defense"). Younger readers may remember her most prominently from playing stern neighbor Mrs. Dabney on the Disney Channel sitcom "Good Luck Charlie;" older readers may remember her from every season of "Bones," in which she recurred as Caroline Julian.

Belcher's career has stayed on this path through to the present, with roles in "Young Sheldon," "Lucifer," and "The Rookie." She is less commonly seen in film, but has recently been featured in minor roles in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F," "Father Stu," and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."

Kira Yu — the IT whiz who dates Leah Lewis' Sarah — is played by Piper Curda, an actor best known for starring in the Disney Channel series "I Didn't Do It." Curda has a long relationship with the network that began in 2011 with hosting the series "Rule the Mix," which then led to recurring roles in "A.N.T. Farm" (as Kennedy Van Buren), "Liv and Maddy," "Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja" (the voice of Debby Kang), and the 2015 Disney Channel Original Movie "Teen Beach 2."

Once "I Didn't Do It" wrapped up, Curda moved outside the Disney Channel for guest-starring roles in "The Rookie," the CW's "The Flash," and "NCIS: Los Angeles." She also had larger roles on the series "Youth & Consequences" and "Legacies," and played Honor Atherton-Yoo in the critically-acclaimed 2023 film "May December." She still works with Disney fairly regularly, having guest-starred on the "That's So Raven" reboot series "Raven's Home" for Disney+, and been cast alongside Jon Hamm and Bobby Moynihan in the animated film "Hoppers." The Pixar feature is expected to be released in 2026.

Yael Grobglas, who occasionally appears on "Matlock" as consultant Shae Banfield, is largely known for her role on the romantic comedy series "Jane the Virgin." She played Petra Solano, initially a romantic antagonist who stands in the way of what seems to be a happily ever after for the titular character.

Apart from "Jane the Virgin," Grobglas has appeared in only a few series. On Rachel Bloom's musical dramedy "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," she guest-starred as Mrs. Douche representative Trina in season 2, episode 4, "When Will Josh and his Friend Leave Me Alone?" Also on the CW, she played Olivia D'Amencourt on "Reign" and the supervillain Psi on "Supergirl." She has recently had recurring roles on "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai" and the procedural "S.W.A.T." Currently, Grobglas is working on "Jerusalem '67," a film about the Six-Day War.

Last but not least is Andrea Londo, who had a memorable recurring role in the first season of "Matlock" as Sarah's law school rival Simone. Londo's career is just beginning to take off, having started at MTV on the shows "Faking It" and "Catfish" less than a decade ago. Just after her first major guest-starring role as Canela on "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders" (season 2, episode 3, "The Devil's Breath"), she was cast as a regular in the 3rd season of Netflix's acclaimed drug-war thriller "Narcos." She played Maria Salazar, the former wife of a dead drug lord who becomes involved with Cali Cartel captain Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela (Francisco Denis).

More recently, Londo has guest-starred on the FX crime drama "Snowfall" and the CBS police procedural "Tommy." In 2022 and 2023, she recurred on the first season of the CW's "Supernatural" sequel series, "The Winchesters."