When FOX's new mystery drama Gracepoint premieres Thursday, most viewers will likely recognize its leading lady as the woman who once had to write a New York Times editorial because so many people couldn't distinguish between her and the character she was playing. Gracepoint stars Anna Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller; and Gunn — despite her detractors — recently took home her second consecutive Primetime Emmy Award for her role as Skyler White on AMC's Breaking Bad. Clearly, Fox is working with some talent here.
Gracepoint is the American remake of the popular ITV mystery series Broadchurch. Both versions of the show star Doctor Who actor David Tennant, although Gunn (and the rest of the American cast) is a new addition, replacing British actress Olivia Colman. Her Detective Miller pairs up with Tennant's Emmett Carver to solve the murder of a young boy in a small coastal town in northern California.
Colman's brilliant portrayal of Miller is one of the main reasons Broadchurch was so acclaimed across the pond, so Gunn has a tough act to follow. And it remains to be seen how easily (or not) she'll be able to step out of the shadow of Skyler-Hate. (Seriously, there's a Facebook page succinctly titled "I Hate Skyler White;" it has over 30,000 likes.) But long before Skyler drew the ire of immature internet trolls, Gunn already had a successful television career. Here are some of the roles you probably forgot you saw her in once upon a time:
Down The Shore (1992-1993)
Gunn's first big acting break came shortly after she graduated from Northwestern University in 1990. At the ripe young age of 24, she was cast as a series regular in Fox sitcom Down The Shore, about six young people (three men and three women) sharing a beach house on the Jersey Shore. Gunn played "gorgeous ice princess" Arden, and although the show didn't do so well with the critics, it lasted for two seasons and launched future Skyler into a prolific period of guest star roles, including a turn on...
Seinfeld (1993)
Gunn appeared in a Season 5 episode of the NBC sitcom, "The Glasses," where she played Jerry's girlfriend Amy, who George mistakenly thinks is having an affair when he sees her kissing another man after he loses his glasses. (Of course, it turns out it was just a policewoman petting her horse.)
The Practice (1997-2002)
After several years of one-off guest starring roles, Gunn next scored a recurring part on ABC's The Practice, where she portrayed A.D.A. Jean Ward in ten episodes across five seasons of the legal drama.
Deadwood (2005-2006)
Between Down The Shore and Breaking Bad, Gunn's only other series regular part was on HBO's acclaimed Western. She joined the cast in Season 2 as Martha Bullock and remained a main character through the show's finale (which ended after a regrettably short three-season run). Martha was the sister-in-law to protagonist Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant); Seth married the widowed Martha after his brother Robert died, per the customs of the time.
The Mindy Project (2014)
Earlier this year, Gunn appeared in a Season 2 episode of Mindy Kaling's Fox comedy. In "Girl Crush," the former Ms. White swapped the car wash for the doctor's office to play Sheila Hamilton, OBGYN to the stars. Hamilton tried to woo Dr. Lahiri to her glamorous all-female practice, but unfortunately — despite a 3D printer that builds accurate replicas of patients' uteri — Mindy decided to stay put at Schulman & Associates.
Sex With Strangers (2014)
OK, so this isn't TV, but it's worth mentioning. Gunn was recently seen onstage in the off-Broadway production of Laura Eason's Sex With Strangers at Second Stage Theatre. The production, directed by David Schwimmer (yes, of Friends fame) starred Gunn as Olivia, a failed novelist who falls for a young blogger named Ethan (Billy Magnussen, Into The Woods) while they're both staying at an isolated artist's retreat. This wasn't Gunn's first time acting in New York City, either. She appeared on Broadway in 1996 in a revival of Jean Anouilh The Rehearsal alongside Frances Conroy and Roger Rees.
Images: Mathieu Young/FOX; HBO; themindyprojectblog/tumblr; Getty Images
