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Originally titled The Seinfeld Chronicles, Seinfeld went from inauspicious origins to become one of the most iconic TV shows of all time, turning its stars into household names. But Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards weren’t the only actors to get their break on the show about nothing. These now-familiar faces appeared in bit parts on the series before making it big.
1. Peter Krause // Season 3, Episode 18
On Seinfeld: Before he was spotted driving a hearse on Six Feet Under, Peter Krause played a white supremacist who winds up riding in a limo with Jerry and the gang.
Since Seinfeld: He’s gone on to become a bonafide leading man, most recently on Parenthood.
2. Jeremy Piven // Season 4, Episode 23
On Seinfeld: In one of the series’ more meta moments, Piven plays an actor who auditions for the part of George in “The Pilot.”
Since Seinfeld: Piven has had a long career in TV and film since Seinfeld, but his name is now synonymous with irate super agent Ari Gold from HBO’s Entourage.
3. Lauren Graham // Season 8, Episode 20
On Seinfeld: She plays Jerry’s speed-dial ranking girlfriend.
Since Seinfeld: A few years after getting dumped by Jerry, Graham landed her most famous role as Lorelai Gilmore on the much-loved Gilmore Girls. She's currently on Parenthood, where she plays Peter Krause's sister.
4. Patton Oswalt // Season 6, Episode 5
On Seinfeld: A fellow stalwart of the mid-nineties stand-up circuit, Patton Oswalt made his first-ever TV appearance as a video store clerk on this episode of Seinfeld.
Since Seinfeld: Oswalt’s career now spans TV, movies, stand-up specials, books, and even video games.
5. Brad Garrett // Season 7, Episode 22
On Seinfeld: Garrett had a successful stand-up career and had even performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson before his Seinfeld debut, where he played Tony, the mechanic who was deeply dedicated to his craft.
Since Seinfeld: Garrett has lent his dulcet tones to animated hits like Tangled and Finding Nemo, but he’s perhaps most recognized for his role on Everybody Loves Raymond.
6. Michael Chiklis // Season 3, Episode 10
On Seinfeld: In the early '90s Chiklis was a serial guest-star of shows including Miami Vice, L.A. Law and of course Seinfeld, where he played a friend who lives way out on Long Island.
Since Seinfeld: The same year as his Seinfeld appearance, Chiklis landed his first big role in The Commish, which ran until 1996 on NBC. Since then he’s found fame and critical acclaim on The Shield and starred in blockbusters like Fantastic Four.
7. Jane Leeves // Season 4, Episode 10
On Seinfeld: Pre-Frasier Jane Leeves played the titular virgin in "The Virgin" who eventually leaves Jerry for John F. Kennedy, Jr.
Since Seinfeld: Leeves clearly impressed the NBC brass — she was cast as Daphne on Fraiser just months after “The Virgin” first aired.
8. Jon Favreau // Season 5, Episode 20
On Seinfeld: Favreau played Eric the Clown, the entertainer at a kids' party that was interrupted by a fire — and George's subsequent cowardly escape.
Since Seinfeld: Favreau turned his own struggles into the surprise hit Swingers, a breakout moment that led to a successful career as an actor, writer, and director.
9. Debra Messing // 8, Episode 19
On Seinfeld: Messing played Jerry’s date in two episodes of Seinfeld, including classic “The Yada Yada,” where she’s revealed to be a closet racist.
Since Seinfeld: Just a few months after her final outing on Seinfeld, messing would go on to become one of the stars of her own groundbreaking sitcom, Will & Grace.
10. Christine Taylor // Season 8, Episode 14
On Seinfeld: Taylor made an early appearance on Seinfeld as one of Jerry's many flames.
Since Seinfeld: She’s starred in hits including Zoolander and Dodgeball. In 2000, she married Ben Stiller, whose dad Jerry starred on Seinfeld as George’s father, Frank Costanza.
11. Courteney Cox // Season 5, Episode 17
On Seinfeld: Courteney Cox played Meryl, a girlfriend who masquerades as Jerry's wife in order to share his dry cleaning discount.
Since Seinfeld: Cox will always be known for playing Monica during Friends’ decade-long stint next to Seinfeld on Thursday nights.
12. Teri Hatcher // Season 4, Episode 19
On Seinfeld: The same year that she got her big break opposite Dean Cain in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Teri Hatcher appeared as Jerry's girlfriend Sidra, who Elaine thought had fake breasts. Her oft-quoted retort, “They’re real and they’re spectacular,” told Jerry all he needed to know after it was too late.
Since Seinfeld: Alongside her aforementioned turn as Lois Lane, Hatcher starred as a Bond girl in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies before returning to the small screen on ABC’s Desperate Housewives.
13. Marcia Cross // Season 9, Episode 7
On Seinfeld: Marcia played a life-saving dermatologist who Jerry dismissed as "Pimple Popper M.D."
Since Seinfeld: Cross appeared on shows like Boy Meets World, Ally McBeal, and Spin City before getting her big break on Desperate Housewives.
14. Drake Bell // Season 9, Episode 18
On Seinfeld: Bell featured in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment from this season 9 episode.
Since Seinfeld: A Nickelodeon star turned musician, Bell has come a long way since his Frogger skills (or lack thereof) landed him in George Costanza’s bad books.
15. Jennifer Coolidge // Season 5, Episode 9
On Seinfeld: Another notch on Seinfeld’s bedpost, Coolidge made one of her first TV appearances as the masseuse from this 1993 episode.
Since Seinfeld: Coolidge went on to forge a successful career on the silver screen where she’s perhaps best remembered as Stifler’s mom from the American Pie movies. She’s also still a regular on the sitcom circuit where she has a recurring role on CBS’s 2 Broke Girls.
16. Sarah Silverman // Season 8, Episode 12
On Seinfeld: Sarah Silverman popped up as Kramer’s girlfriend Emily whose “Jimmy legs” keep the K-Man up at night, eventually forcing the couple into separate beds.
Since Seinfeld: The sharp-tongued stand-up star has appeared in her own show, released an autobiography, and recently completed the circle by joining Jerry Seinfeld as a guest on his online series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
17. Denise Richards // Season 4, Episode 16
On Seinfeld: Playing the daughter of NBC’s head of programming, Richards’ low-cut top almost costs George and Jerry their sitcom in Seinfeld’s meta show-within-a-show fourth season.
Since Seinfeld: She continued to distract the Costanzas of the world in films like Starship Troopers, The World is Not Enough, and Wild Things.
18. Kristin Davis // Season 8, Episode 16
On Seinfeld: After unknowingly using a toothbrush that had fallen into the toilet, Davis’ character becomes another in an increasingly long line of Jerry’s ex-girlfriends.
Since Seinfeld: By the time she’d appeared on Seinfeld, Davis was already a familiar face to many armchair dwellers after a starring turn on teen drama Melrose Place. But it wasn’t until a year later that she’d truly hit the big time with her critically acclaimed performance as Sex and the City’s resident prude, Charlotte.
19. Rob Schneider // Season 7, Episode 18
On Seinfeld: Rob Schneider had actually opened for Jerry Seinfeld on the stand-up circuit before he appeared on the sitcom as Elaine’s partially deaf colleague in this season 7 episode.
Since Seinfeld: The former SNL cast member has gone on to star in comedies like Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and Grown-Ups.
20. Amanda Peet // Season 8, Episode 22
On Seinfeld: Peet played Lanette, Jerry's date to the Tonys whose male roommate catches Jerry totally off-guard.
Since Seinfeld: Peet's resumé since Seinfeld includes starring roles in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The Whole Nine Yards.
21. Chris Parnell // Season 9, Episode 1
On Seinfeld: After purposely sabotaging his own set, Seinfeld is dismayed to find out that two NBC executives (one played by Parnell) were in attendance and offer Jerry's hack nemesis Kenny Bania a pilot.
Since Seinfeld: Parnell later joined the cast of Saturday Night Live and played the hapless Dr. Spaceman on 30 Rock (pictured).
22. James Spader // Season 9, Episode 9
On Seinfeld: This one's definitely pushing it—Spader had already been in several notable films before he appeared on Seinfeld—but it was a great performance. He played a recovering alcoholic who, during Step Nine of Alcoholics Anonymous' Twelve Steps, apologizes to everyone he has ever wronged—except George.
Since Seinfeld: Spader has been a mainstay in indie films and has won three Emmys for his TV work. His most recent gig has him starring as Raymond "Red" Reddington in NBC's The Blacklist.
23. Anna Gunn // Season 5, Episode 3
On Seinfeld: George’s poor squinting ability leads to him mistakenly identifying Gunn's Amy as a cheating girlfriend of Jerry's.
Since Seinfeld: Anna Gunn made her name as an Emmy award-winning star of AMC’s Breaking Bad.
24. Bob Odenkirk // Season 8, Episode 9
On Seinfeld: Elaine's almost-doctor boyfriend, Ben, who went to medical school but had not yet passed the licensing exam.
Since Seinfeld: Odenkirk would eventually join Gunn on Breaking Bad, and is currently filming the spinoff Better Call Saul. Before Seinfeld, he was a writer for SNL, and he was starring in Mr. Show when this episode first aired.
25. Bryan Cranston // Season 6, Episode 8
On Seinfeld: Cranston famously had a recurring role as Jerry’s dentist, the original re-gifter who converted to Judaism for the jokes. It seems that even then he was destined for great things. Seinfeld has said that he knew the actor would become a star the second he walked on set.
Since Seinfeld: He’s had a successful and varied career in both film and TV, but Cranston will always be remembered for his Emmy-winning turn as Walter White in Breaking Bad.