The Only Actor Who Played 2 Different Characters on Sex and the City

TV shows that span numerous seasons often have certain inconsistencies, both minor and major, which normally stem from the writers' indiscretion. However, it's much more unusual when these inconsistencies are the showrunners' deliberate decision.

Such was the case with HBO's hit series, Sex and the City, which featured a plethora of side characters that helped to drive forward the main story. Most of the time, the new actors just played their parts for a few episodes alongside the show's main cast and then left, but there was one actor who had two supporting roles on SATS in a pretty short timespan.

Justin Theroux, Jennifer Aniston's ex-husband who you might know from American Psycho (2000) or The Girl on the Train (2016), portrayed two different characters in two consecutive seasons of SATS. He starred in the show as Jared in Season 1 and then played Vaughn Wysel in Season 2 — both writers and Carrie Bradshaw's short-lived romantic interests.

In Episode 7 of Season 1, Jared was introduced to Carrie by Stanford, their mutual friend. Selfish and eccentric in his style, Theroux's first character was named one of '30 Coolest People Under 30,' according to New York magazine. Carrie quickly realized Jared was too egoistic for her liking, and their relationship didn't progress further past the acquaintance stage.

In Episode 15 of the second season, Carrie met Theroux's second character, Vaughn Wysel. Also a writer, this man was completely different from Jared — he had a simpler style, wearing plain black clothes, boring glasses, and a bland short haircut, and he was also quite unselfish, much more invested in his family than himself. But Carrie didn't like that either and broke up with Vaughn too.

According to Theroux himself, the striking visual difference between his characters on SATS was not initially part of the script. When the showrunners approached him with the new role, they voiced their intent to make his new character unrecognizable, and that's how Vaughn ended up looking so different from Jared.

'They said, "Well, we have to figure out a way to make you look different." So we were like, "Let's just shave my head and have short hair",' the actor recalled in an episode of People TV's Couch Surfing.

So that's how the actor ended up playing two very different characters on Sex and the City. Today, 25 years after the show's premiere, the cult HBO project is still popular and boasts a sequel series, And Just Like That… Season 2 of the new show is set for release on June 22, 2023.

Source: YouTube.