“Charmed” cast: See the actors then and now

Here's what happened to the Charmed Ones after the WB series ended in 2006.

For eight seasons, the Halliwell sisters cast an enchanting spell over the WB's primetime schedule. Premiering in 1998, the fantasy drama Charmed paired supernatural action with romance and light horror as the siblings battled demons and warlocks while trying to keep the existence of witchcraft a secret.

The series starred Shannen Doherty as Prue, Holly Marie Combs as Piper, and Alyssa Milano as Phoebe. Doherty left the show at the end of the third season, and Prue’s vacancy was filled by half-sister Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan) for the rest of the series.

Behind the scenes, it seems the vibe was anything but magical. In December 2023, on Doherty's podcast Let's Be Clear, Combs accused Milano of intentionally pressuring producers to fire Doherty. Speaking at a Charmed panel at MegaCon Orlando in February 2024, Milano responded to their account and said she was saddened by it, which both Doherty and Combs pushed back against.

Unfortunately, the stars missed their chance to reconcile. In July 2024, Doherty died after a battle with breast cancer. Many of her former castmates paid tribute to her, including Milano.

Here's a rundown of what the Charmed cast got up to after the series ended in 2006.

Holly Marie Combs (Piper Halliwell)

Holly Marie Combs was the lovestruck Piper Halliwell, who could freeze or heat molecules. Things certainly heated up between Piper and Leo Wyatt, a Whitelighter who became her husband.

Combs first became known for playing Kimberly Brock, the eldest child in the CBS family drama Picket Fences (1992–1996). Following her time on Charmed, she appeared in another successful series, this time as Lucy Hale's mother on Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017). In 2019, Combs reunited with costar Alyssa Milano on an episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Combs has acknowledged the rumored tension on the Charmed set, which caused rifts between actors in the early seasons. In 2023, she revealed on Doherty's podcast that costar Brian Krause, who was dating Milano back in the day, apologized to her during a panel a year earlier: “He just looked at me while someone was asking a question and just went, 'I'm so sorry,’” Combs said. “We got off stage, and he just looked at me and said, 'I'm so sorry. That must have been a terrible time for you.’”

Combs and Krause now host a Charmed rewatch podcast, The House of Halliwell, with costar Drew Fuller.

Combs was married to actor Bryan Travis Smith from 1993 to 1997. She has three sons from her second marriage to David Donoho: Finley, Riley, and Kelley. After marrying restaurateur Mike Ryan in 2019, she also became a stepmother.

Shannen Doherty (Prue Halliwell)

Shannen Doherty played Prue, the eldest of the Halliwell sisters and the most powerful witch in the family, with the ability to move objects with her mind as well as astral projection. The character was killed off at the end of the third season, reportedly because of backstage drama.

While appearing as a guest on iHeartRadio's The House of Halliwell, a Charmed rewatch podcast hosted by costars Drew Fuller and Brian Krause, Doherty spoke about her relationship to the show years later. “I never watched it, really, when I was on it, except the episodes I directed,” she said. “I just rewatched four or five episodes the other day, and my mouth dropped. I was like, ‘Oh my god, what show is this?’ I was pretty amazed by it all.”

Doherty began acting as a child, nabbing a recurring role on Little House on the Prairie (1982–1983) at age 11. Several years later, she played one of the "Heathers" in the classic teen satire Heathers (1988) before her breakout role as Brenda Walsh on Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–1994). The actress left the show after the fourth season, leaving an opening for producer Aaron Spelling to cast her in Charmed.

After playing Prue, Doherty appeared as a regular on the short-lived primetime soap North Shore (2004–2005), revisited her Beverly Hills character as a guest star in seven episodes of the CW's revival series, 90210 (2018–2019), and in Fox's six-episode sequel, BH90210 (2019).

In July 2024, Doherty died after a long battle with breast cancer at age 53. Her mother Rosa announced that she would continue producing the Let's Be Clear podcast in her daughter's memory.

Alyssa Milano (Phoebe Halliwell)

Alyssa Milano played Phoebe, the sister who could see into the future and the past… although that didn’t keep her from being surprised by the twists and turns in her relationship with husband Cole.

Milano has addressed reports of her poor on-set relationship with Doherty over the years. In 2021, she told Entertainment Tonight that her relationship with her costar was "cordial," while saying, "I could take responsibility for a lot of our tension that we had." After Combs spoke out about her in 2023, Milano responded by saying, "I wanna be thoughtful because I don’t wanna add on to anyone else’s pain because I don’t think that’s cool either, so I will just say that I’m sad."

When she was 12 years old, Milano began playing Tony Danza's daughter on the sitcom Who's the Boss? (1984–1992). She also landed her first high-profile movie role as Arnold Schwarzenegger's kidnapped daughter in Commando (1985). The actress later played Jennifer Mancini on Melrose Place (1997–1998) before landing Charmed.

When Charmed ended, the native New Yorker appeared on the sitcom My Name Is Earl (2007–2008), the nighttime soap Mistresses (2013–2014), and the sequel movie Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later (2017).

In 2017, Milano helped popularize the #MeToo movement via Twitter, encouraging survivors of sexual harassment and assault to use the hashtag to raise awareness. She continues to advocate for political and social causes on her podcast, Sorry Not Sorry, and published a book of the same name in 2021.

Milano is married to talent agent David Bugliari. They have two children, Milo and Elizabella.

Rose McGowan (Paige Matthews)

Rose McGowan entered the series in season 4 as the Halliwells' half-sister, Paige, the daughter of a witch and a Whitelighter whose powers included orbing, healing, and generating an orb shield.

McGowan’s breakthrough came in Wes Craven’s meta-slasher Scream (1996) as Sidney Prescott's best friend Tatum. She was then a regular on the indie circuit, appearing in Going All the Way (1997) as well as Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation (1995) and Nowhere (1997). Before landing Charmed, she starred alongside Peter O’Toole and Ben Affleck in the Dean Koontz adaptation Phantoms (1998) and headlined the dark teen satire Jawbreaker (1999).

After a small role in Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia (2006), McGowan showed up in both halves of the double-feature Grindhouse (2007); in Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, she used her machine-gun leg to mow down zombies, and in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, she was Stuntman Mike’s unlucky first onscreen victim. The actress had a recurring role on Nip/Tuck with Charmed costar Julian McMahon and later played another witch in the remake of Conan the Barbarian (2011) starring Jason Momoa.

In 2017, McGowan became a major pioneer of the #MeToo movement, being one of the first people to accuse producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault.

McGowan was briefly engaged to singer Marilyn Manson in 2001 and director Robert Rodriguez in 2007, but she didn't tie the knot until 2013 when she married artist Davey Detail. The pair split in 2016.

T.W. King (Andy Trudeau)

T.W. "Ted" King played Andy Trudeau, Prue's high school sweetheart and an inspector with the San Francisco police force. Andy uncovered the Halliwell sisters' secrets, but he was killed by a demon at the end of the first season.

Primarily a daytime soap actor, King began his career by playing Danny Roberts on the ABC sudsers Loving (1994–1995) and The City (1995–1997). After his year on Charmed, he returned to soaps as twin mobsters Luis and Lorenzo Alcazar on General Hospital (2002–2007). The actor also had a brief stint on One Life to Live (2011–2012).

He now has a recurring role on the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful (2021–present) and received a Daytime Emmy for best guest performance in 2022. King also landed a small part as real-life Senator Bob Bartlett in Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture-winner Oppenheimer (2023).

King married Maya Rodwell in 2008; they have two children.

Dorian Gregory (Darryl Morris)

Dorian Gregory played Darryl Morris, Andy's partner and eventually the Halliwell sisters' contact at the police department. He left the show after season 7.

Gregory established himself with roles on Baywatch Nights (1996–1997) before his run on Charmed. He was also the fourth and final host of the musical variety show Soul Train from 2003 to 2006. Since then, he's had guest spots on Las Vegas (2008), Without a Trace (2009), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016), and Grey's Anatomy (2023).

Brian Krause (Leo Wyatt)

Brian Krause played Leo Wyatt, a charming Whitelighter who romanced Piper Halliwell.

Though his character was beloved, Krause worried at the time that he would be written out of Charmed, telling The Wrap: "For me it’s just, being one of the only males on this show, any time Leo goes away it’s the fear of ‘Is it over for Leo?’ When we’re together the only drama we can create is when I die or when I go away. Every single time I was concerned I wasn’t going to be a part of the show."

Krause's pre-Charmed credits include Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991) and the Stephen King-penned horror film Sleepwalkers (1992). Following his work as Leo, he had guest spots on Mad Men (2008), The Closer (2008), Castle (2010), and Dynasty (2018). 

Krause was married to Beth Bruce from 1996 to 2000. They share one son, Jamen.

Julian McMahon (Cole Taylor/Belthazor)

Julian McMahon appeared on Charmed as Cole Taylor, a half-demon also known as Belthazor (played in demon form by Michael Bailey Smith). In season 3, he's sent by the Triad to kill the Halliwell sisters but falls in love with Phoebe and renounces his demonic nature.

McMahon has fond memories of his time as Cole and expressed interest in returning for a potential Charmed movie. “Yeah, I would love to [play Taylor again]. I had such a great time on that show,” he told TheWrap. He also had a mini-reunion with costar Alyssa Milano at a 2023 fan convention.

McMahon was first known for his role on the Australian soap Home and Away (1990–1991) before heading to Hollywood. He had a stint on Another World (1993–1994) before landing a main cast role in the NBC crime drama Profiler (1996–2000).

After leaving Charmed in 2003, the Aussie actor took on the most acclaimed role of his career: amoral plastic surgeon Dr. Christian Troy in Ryan Murphy’s warped medical melodrama Nip/Tuck (2003–2010). During this time, he also played Victor Von Doom (a.k.a. Doctor Doom) in Fantastic Four (2005) and its sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).

Since then, he's appeared as a guest on the CBS procedural FBI (2019–2021), and starred in the spinoff, FBI: Most Wanted (2020–2022).

McMahon married singer Danni Minogue in 1991, but the pair split after 18 months. In 1999, he married actress Brooke Burns and had a daughter, Madison. He and Burns called it quits in 2001. He tied the knot with Kelly Paniagua in 2014.

Drew Fuller (Chris Halliwell)

Drew Fuller portrayed the mysterious Chris, who arrives in season 5 and turns out to be Piper and Leo's son, sent back in time to avert a catastrophe.

Fuller relished playing the role, as he discussed in a 2022 interview with Digital Journal: "Chris was really a lot of fun to play since he had secrets and I had to constantly execute things but without telling everyone how I was going to go about doing it so that was always fun.”

Fuller began his career as a model, appearing in commercials and music videos. Charmed was his first major acting role. When the series wrapped, he starred in the Lifetime drama Army Wives from 2007 to 2012. Since then, he's appeared in episodes of Longmire (2015) and The Rookie (2023).

Kaley Cuoco (Billie Jenkins)

Kaley Cuoco played Billie Jenkins, a witch with the powers of telekinesis and reality-warping. She's introduced in the eighth season looking for her sister Christy, who was kidnapped by the Triad.

In a 2020 interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Cuoco described her first day on the show: "I came into that in their final year, which is really hard to do. The girls are really set in their ways, and I was the new girl. I walked onto the stage where they were shooting Alyssa and Rose… Alyssa came running up to me, gave me this huge hug and said, 'Welcome to our show.'"

Famous for her sitcom roles, Cuoco landed her first big break as John Ritter’s eldest daughter on 8 Simple Rules (2002–2005) before spending a year on Charmed. She then led the smash hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019) as Leonard and Sheldon's across-the-hall neighbor, Penny.

Cuoco has since voiced the title character in the animated series Harley Quinn (2019–present) and headlined the comedy thriller show The Flight Attendant (2020–2022). At the movies, the actress has headlined the time-loop rom-com Meet Cute (2022) with Pete Davidson and, most recently, the assassin comedy Role Play (2024).

Cuoco's first marriage to professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting lasted from 2012 to 2016. In 2018, she married show jumper Karl Cook, but the pair split in 2022. She then began dating actor Tom Pelphrey in 2022 and gave birth to their daughter Matilda in 2023. Cuoco and Pelphrey announced their engagement in August 2024.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.