Snakkle Explores What the Cast of Revenge Was Up to Before They Inhabited the Hamptons

ashley madekwe the bill tv show 1999 photo

THEN: Ashley Madekwe Guest-Starring on an Episode of The Bill in 1999

A London native, Ashley Madekwe’s very first role was guest-starring in the long-running U.K. police procedural The Bill. Fresh-faced Madekwe appeared in a 1999 episode entitled “Badlands” and you can see her in all her youth starting at 5:15 in this video clip.

ashley madekwe the bill tv show 1999 photo revenge 2012

Bob D’amico/ABC

NOW: Ashley Madekwe as Ashley Davenport in Revenge

Art imitates life for Madekwe on Revenge. Just as the thespian ingénue and fashion monger moved quickly from guest star to costar, so has her character Ashley Davenport, who started the summer as a gofer to a rich woman with far too much free time on her hands. After planning parties and cleaning up both literal and figurative messes, she served as the Graysons’ publicist and was been instrumental in designing the family’s new image, with Daniel in the hot seat for murder. In true Revenge fashion, Ashley's path got muddled along the way and she was shut out of the Hamptons in early S3.

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THEN: Christa B. Allen in Los Angeles for the 2004 13 Going on 30 Premiere

Christa B. Allen got her start as Jennifer Garner’s mini-me in the fan favorite romantic comedy 13 Going on 30 in 2004. Only 13 at the time, Allen’s most memorable moment came, of course, when she came back from the present and finally seized the day with Young Matty.

christa b allen red carpet photo 2004 revenge 2012

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NOW: Christa B. Allen as Charlotte Grayson in Revenge

Charlotte Grayson certainly could use some of the positive influence Allen has clearly had in her own youth. Between being in her brother’s shadow for the majority of her life, to learning her father was actually a maid with whom her mother had an affair (and oh, yeah, everyone believes he’s a terrorist), to having her boyfriend choose his own brother over her, well, it’s no wonder she has developed her nasty, not-at-all little pill problem, is it? However, Charlotte's since has sort of recovered? But now she's on the outs with Emily.

conor paolo young high school yearbook photo 2008

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

THEN: Connor Paolo, Senior Year, Professional Performing Arts School Yearbook, 2008

A true New Yorker at heart, Connor Paolo even went to the high school made famous in Fame. He “summered” in a theater camp rather than the Hamptons, though, and studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute. His first roles were all projects that honored New York actors—from All My Children to Law & Order: SVU.

conor paolo young high school yearbook photo 2008 revenge 2012

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library, Bob D’amico/ABC

NOW: Connor Paolo as Declan Porter in Revenge

Paolo has been able to draw on his natural New York swagger in portraying Declan Porter. But since Revenge rotates its episode directors, the early episodes saw him holding back on his accent at times and bringing it out full force during others, depending on the particular director’s notes. These days, though, Declan's presence is sadly missing from the Revenge world.

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THEN: Emily VanCamp in Lost and Delirious, 2001

Emily VanCamp had played the prestigious role of a 13-year-old Jackie Bouvier in 2000, but the following year she was shipped off to boarding school for the seemingly B-movie at best Lost and Delirious, where she played a girl who cared far too much about what people thought and who was, perhaps surprisingly, anything but precocious. Mixed up in lies about young girls’ sexualities, she confronted a young Mischa Barton about rumors that were spreading.

emily vancamp lost delirious movie 2001 photo revenge 2012

Bob D’amico/ABC

NOW: Emily VanCamp as Emily Thorne in Revenge

As Emily Thorne, née Amanda Clarke, VanCamp is the lady of the hour in Revenge, enacting the titular act on any and everyone involved in framing her father for heinous crimes. Along the way, she has discovered a half-sister in Charlotte Grayson, a real love forming from an opportunistic relationship with Daniel Grayson, and a violent side that seemed to surprise even her. But now that she's finally gained her revenge on the Graysons, what next?

THEN: Gabriel Mann as Seth in Parallel Sons, 1995

Gabriel Mann is a chameleon of an actor if there ever was one, physically transforming himself for every role, from dreadlocks in Parallel Sons, a film in which he played an artist fascinated by African American culture, to suiting up for Mad Men.

gabriel mann paradise lost 1995 photo revenge 2012

Bob D’amico/ABC

NOW: Gabriel Mann as Nolan Ross in Revenge

Thanks to Mann, Nolan Ross has become one of the most fun antagonists-but-not-actual-villains to ever grace the screen—big or small. He consistently delivers the best one-liners, and he can wear the hell out of a holiday sweater.

THEN: Henry Czerny (at Left) in Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, 1989

Henry Czerny got his start in entertainment onstage in Canada and translated that training nicely into a role in the film adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. He went on to show his range in dozens of iconic big- and small-screen projects that spanned genres, including Friday the 13th, Clear and Present Danger, and Mission: Impossible.

henry czerny theater 1989 photo revenge tv show 2012

Bob D’amico/ABC

NOW: Henry Czerny as Conrad Grayson in Revenge

As Conrad Grayson, Czerny has been locked in a power struggle with his wife, Victoria. As if that weren’t enough, he is also trying to juggle an affair, an SEC investigation, transitioning his son into running the company, and a blackmail situation. All without knowing the danger that awaits him in Emily Thorne which finally caught up to him.

joshua bowman genie in house tv show 2007 photo

THEN: Joshua Bowman in Genie in the House, 2007

The English actor came to television in a guest spot in a Nickelodeon series that, although airing in the mid-2000s, put Josh Bowman in some unfortunate '90s-seeming clothing! Thankfully he was able to be taken more seriously, and seen as the heartthrob he deserves to be, in Holby City and Make It or Break It.

joshua bowman genie in house tv show 2007 photo revenge 2012

Bob D’amico/ABC

NOW: Joshua Bowman as Daniel Grayson in Revenge

The boy with a silver spoon in his mouth has come a long way from the party boy with a past he was introduced to Revenge fans as in the pilot episode. He has fallen in love, stood up to his mother, been framed for murder, and taken a severe beating in prison. He has grown up a lot--was engaged to Emily, then wasn't, then they got married and then he shot her. This pair has certainly had their ups and downs.

madeline stowe taming shrew tv show 1978 photo

THEN: Madeleine Stowe in 1978’s The Nativity

Before Madeleine Stowe played a spoiled rich kids’ mother, she played the mother of all time—Mary—in the 1978 television event The Nativity. Oddly, though, that was not her most iconic role, as she became even better known for her work years later in Last of the Mohicans.

madeline stowe taming shrew tv show 1978 photo revenge 2012

Bob D’amico/ABC

NOW: Madeleine Stowe as Victoria Grayson in Revenge

As the image-conscious Victoria Grayson, Stowe is cold and calculating and always cunning, whether she’s investigating her son’s new girlfriend or covering old indiscretions with new tracks. There are no lengths to which she won’t go to protect herself and her children, as evidenced by having her son beat up in prison so they would see house arrest as a much less dangerous option for him. While Emily and Victoria have been battling for seasons, it seems like Emily finally got the upper hand on Victoria. But you can never be too sure with this Grayson.

nick wechsler young high school yearbook 1996 photo

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library

THEN: Nick Wechsler, Senior Year, Highland High School, 1996

Nick Wechsler got his very first, though unnamed, role in the same year in which he graduated from high school, but it wasn’t until the following year, on Team Knight Rider, that he got his big break. Of course, what he is still best known for is Roswell (1999), begging the question of how you define “big break”…

nick wechsler young high school yearbook 1996 photo revenge 2012

Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library, Bob D’amico/ABC

NOW: Nick Wechsler as Jack Porter in Revenge

Wechsler’s Jack Porter is certainly the moral center of the show, always acting as the ultimate good guy, whether it's in his quest to finally get to Haiti and help the downtrodden or his innate need to help the Amanda Clarke he thought he knew as a kid, or just how broken up he got over losing his dog Sammy. Jack truly has grown up to be a man worthy of Emily’s love, but he may not be enough to keep her from going so dark she wouldn’t be worthy of him.