Many TV shows can run for decades, and it is fascinating to watch how your favorite characters grow up and even grow old. Even though the makeup artists are using every trick in their vast arsenal, the actors will get more and more wrinkles as the seasons go by. But that’s just life, right? Since there’s no such thing as eternal youth, we get to witness our favorite actors and actresses getting older year after year.
Let’s take a look at these nine iconic TV characters in their first episodes!
1. Penny — The Big Bang Theory
Penny, played by Kaley Cuoco, has gone from a cute country girl who kept stealing Leonard and Sheldon’s wi-fi, to a gorgeous Cheesecake Factory employee who in the end married Leonard and is still stealing his wi-fi. Look how far she’s come!
2. Rachel Green — Friends
One of the most iconic American sitcom characters of the 90s has got to be Rachel from Friends. From the very first moments, the viewers fell in love with her charisma and unparalleled beauty. Even today, Jennifer Aniston looks quite stunning, and she’s 52 years old.
3. Walter White — Breaking Bad
That’s right, it’s our favorite chemistry teacher — Mr. White! He went from teaching kids how to make soda volcanoes to becoming the greatest drug lord in America.
4. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully — X-Files
The truth is out there, and so are all the seasons of the world’s weirdest detective show with Fox Mulder and Dana Scully as a couple of FBI agents unearthing alien conspiracies and all that good stuff.
5. Sam and Dean — Supernatural
For 15 long seasons, we watched Sam and Dean Winchester fight demons, angels, vampires, different gods, and even God himself. But of course, the sands of time are merciless ever to these handsome boys.
6. Jack Bauer — 24
A truly underrated gem with an exceptional concept: our hero, Jack Bauer, has 24 hours to catch whoever’s threatening the country or sometimes the world. That kind of work doesn’t do your health any favors, which is probably why Kiefer Sutherland looks so old in the series finale.
7. Rick Grimes — The Walking Dead
No one is better at surviving in the zombie apocalypse than Rick Grimes. He’s been keeping himself and his friends alive for years, but even this legendary character cannot resist the flow of time.
8. Gregory House — House MD
One of the most brilliant hospital dramas would not be nearly as popular if it weren’t for Gregory House — a genius diagnostician — the show wouldn’t even be half as good. Hugh Laurie was already in his mid-40s, and by the last season, the salt-n-pepper only made him more handsome.
9. Daenerys Targaryen — Game of Thrones
When you’re born a Targaryen, the world becomes your oyster unless it’s during that time when everyone’s trying to kill your family. Daenerys went through literal fire and flames to be reborn as the Mother of Dragons and grace the viewers with an insane story of insurrection and retribution.
