Can you believe it’s been five to six years since we’ve seen Erin Karpluk play Erica Strange in this time-travel comedy TV series? The series saw our main character go back through her life and change her regrets and mistakes, only to find out that life was meant to turn out that way.
According to the show’s creator, Jana Sinyor; by its fourth season, Being Erica came to a natural end and so no more episodes were created. Viewers saw in the final episode how right Jana Sinyor was, the whole series wrapped up nicely and perfectly.
The first episode saw Erica Strange as an underachiever, she gets fired from her job, she then ends up in hospital after crashing her car due to drinking coffee with nut syrup, which she’s allergic to. There she meets Dr. Tom Wexlar, played by Michael Riley. He introduces himself as a therapist who could help her, we later see her attempt to undo her mistakes from her past, with the help of Dr. Tom.
By season three, Erica becomes part of group therapy, and at the end of group therapy she becomes a trainee doctor. Then season four comes along, where she goes about completing her doctor training to officially become Dr. Erica Strange.
There were many talks about adaptations, after the show. With both the United States and the United Kingdom planning to create their own versions of the show. However, unfortunately, these plans never became actual TV adaptations.
The stars of the show went on to other things. We take a look at what they’ve been up to.
Erin Karpluk (Erica Strange)
She started her career as Cal Henries in Glory Days, but later established herself as Kate in Godiva’s, after many TV film roles. She continued with arising in TV movies whilst appearing in various episodes of TV shows, such as The L Word, The Guard, and the 2007 series of Bionic Woman. Then she was cast as Erica Strange in Being Erica.
Whilst filming Being Erica, she also had a recurring role in American drama TV series Life Unexpected, where she played Alice. More TV films and roles in Assault on Wall Street, Suddenly, Reasonable Doubt, and The Portal followed. On the TV side of things, she appeared in a few episodes of Saving Hope, before playing the recurring role of Juliet Ward in Rookie Blue in 2015, as well as the recurring role of Heather Peterson in Slasher. She is set to next appear in 2017 film A Swinger’s Weekend, playing one of the main characters called Lisa.
Fun Fact: She appeared in Supernatural twice as two different characters. She first appeared as Monica in season one episode 21 titled “Salvation”; she later appeared as Robin in season nine episode seven titled “Bad Boys”.
Michael Riley (Dr. Tom Wexlar)
He literally made his name before this series. Apart from two TV films, Michael Riley hasn’t appeared in anything else since Being Erica. He has been nominated for various awards and won some of them; most notably a Gemini Award for playing Elliot Sacks in This Is Wonderland. He also played Rick Lieberman in the Emmy-nominated Supervolcano. He also had the lead role of Brett Parker in Power Play.
Reagan Pasternak (Julianne Giacomelli)
This was Erica Strange’s boss at River Rock Publishing before they both got fired during the second season. They then start up their own publishing company called 50/50 Press. Since Being Erica, Reagan Pasternak hasn’t appeared in much films or TV series, she’s done one-off episodes, a TV movie, as well as Corner Gas: The Movie and Dark Intentions.
Before Being Erica, she has a main role in In A Heatbeat, where she played Val Lanier; as well as appearing in four episodes of medical TV show Doc, which also starred Billy Rae Cyrus. She has been in many TV films, as well as a few films as supporting cast.
Morgan Kelly (Brent Kennedy)
Brent in Being Erica helps Erica Strange impress her boss, at first, but pretty much sided with Julianne on everything. He was previously in Erica’s shoes, so knows how she is feeling. However, he’s the one who got Julianne and Erica fired from River Rock Publishing.
Morgan Kelly’s first major role was as Alex in Fries With That. Next was Falcon Beach, where he played Lane Bradshaw. He can also be seen in various films, including The Lookout as Marty, and The Watch as Chad.
Since Being Erica finished, he went on to appear in various one-off episodes of Beauty & The Beast, Murdoch Mysteries, and Alphas; before taking on a recurring role as Alvis Akari in Killjoys.
Joanna Douglas (Samantha Strange)
This was Erica’s sister, who played an active role in this TV series. However, before the show, she hadn’t really done much apart from appearing in one-off episodes of Flashpoint, Heartland, Rookie Blue, and Warehouse 13. She had an active recurring role in Happy Town as Officer Shell Jenkins. Film-wise, she appeared in Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, as well as becoming one of the main characters, Allison Godfrey, in New Year.
After Being Erica finished, she went on to appear in more one-off episodes of shows Murdoch Mysteries, Suits, and Saving Hope. Additionally, she appeared in two episodes of 11.22.63, which also starred James Franco. Her film roles included playing secondary characters in films Crimson Peak, Undercover Grandpa, and Standoff.
Sebastian Pigott (Kai Booker)
Kai was a barista at a coffee shop that Erica frequented. It is revealed that he is undergoing similar therapy as Erica is with Dr. Tom; only he is actually in the midst of a session ten years into his past, which is the present. Before this show, much like the other actors, he has popped up in one-off episodes of shows like Haven, The Border, The Bridge, Cra$h & Burn, Heartland, and The Listener. He also appeared in Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, alongside Joanna Douglas. In 2008, he took part in season six of Canadian Idol, where he made it to the Top Eight. He later followed a singing career, where he formed a duo with his brother, Oliver, called the Pigott Brothers, who released their debut album “Pigottry” in 2009; a second album followed in 2012 titled “The Age Of Peace”.
After Being Erica, he had a prominent role in Bomb Girls, as James Dunn; additionally, he appeared in four episodes of Revenge as Lyman Ellis, and three episodes of Rogue as Greg. He also played a prominent role in Below Her Mouth, where his character was called Rile. He will next be seen in the 2017 film Anon.
Adam Fergus (Adam Fitzpatrick)
This Irish actor was a part of the group counselling sessions that started in season three of Being Erica. Before the show, he had appeared in Rory O’Shea Was Here; had a main role in Satellites & Meteorites as Daniel, and appeared in Happy Ever Afters.
Since Being Erica wrapped up, he was in the Irish four-part series called Clean Break, playing one of the main characters called Frank Mallon. Recently, he popped up in the twelfth series of Supernatural, playing Mick Davies.
Vinessa Antoine (Judith Winter)
Judith Winter was one of three of Erica’s best friends. Vinessa Antoine hadn’t acted much before the series, although she did play recurring character Monica for three episodes of Soul Food.
Whilst being Erica’s best friend, she appeared in seven episodes of Haven, playing Evidence ‘Evi’ Ryan; as well as six episodes of The Talent, where she played Josie; and, additionally, seven episodes of Heartland, where she played Nicole. Nowadays, she can be seen in General Hospital, the longest-running American soap opera; where she plays Jordan Ashford.
Paula Brancati (Jenny Zalen)
Another one of Erica’s best friends, Jenny Zalen was the airhead, outgoing and immature. Throughout the four seasons, their friendship was very turbulent to the point where Erica cuts her off completely. Paula Brancati made her name known playing main roles Cally Stone and Jayne Vaughn, in TV series’ Dark Oracle and Degrassi: The Next Generation respectively. She can also be spotted in the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In, which starred Corbin Bleu and Keke Palmer.
This Canadian actress hasn’t done much after the show. She has appeared in one-off episodes of Call Me Fitz, Flashpoint, Murdoch Mysteries, and Slasher. She appeared as Celeste in What Would Sal Do, for three episodes. Her next major role will be in the film Edging, where she will play Rachael.
Tyron Leitso (Ethan Wakefield)
Ethan was one of three of Erica’s best friends, however, he later became her boyfriend but it didn’t last long enough because Erica thought he was constraining her. They stayed friends throughout the remaining series. Tyron Leitso, much like the other actors and actresses, had established his career before the show. His first major role was Derek MacMahon in Edgemont, which was a role he played for seven episodes. Next, he played Karl Scott in Dinotopia, for six episodes. Then, Eric Gotts in 14 episodes of Wonderfalls.
He then followed Erin Karpluk and appeared in the same films as her: Assault On Wall Street and Suddenly. Most recently, he played the main role of Ben Matthews in Family For Christmas.
Devon Bostick (Leo Strange)
Leo was Erica’s brother, he constantly pops up in her past, yet he was one of her biggest regrets. He died in a barn fire 13 years before the first series starts. If you could save a loved one, would you? Devon Bostick is probably one of the most recognised faces from this TV series. Before the show, he appeared in many films and television films including Godsend, The Land Of The Dead, Aruba, Adoration, and Knights Of The South Bronx. He had previously worked with Paula Brancati in Degrassi: The Next Generation; where he played Nic for three episodes.
He has gone so much further than the other stars of this show since Being Erica ended. He has played Rodrick Heffley in the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid film series; acted alongside Christian Slater in the film Sacrifice, where he played Mike Lopez; played Dean Taylor in The Entitled; he starred in A Dark Truth, as Renaldo; played the main character, Casper Galloway, in Dead Before Dawn 3D; and worked with Nick Robinson in Being Charlie, where he played Adam. He has even done well within TV, he played Marcus Anderson in the web series titled Aim High; but most people will recognise him for playing Jasper Jordan in The 100 for all four seasons, the fourth, of which, will be airing soon.
He will also appear in the 2017 film Okja, which is currently in post-production.
Kathleen Laskey (Barb Strange)
This was Erica’s mother in this TV show. Kathleen Laskey is a Canadian actress who has done many films and TV roles but has mostly taken part in voice overs. Her first long-running appearance in a TV show was as Marlene Weimaraner in Check It Out! She later married her co-star Jeff Pustil in 1990. She appeared in five episodes of Street Legal, and then voiced Birdie in Sailor Moon, amongst other characters; then came the voice role of Perdita Shrinks in the animated TV show George Shrinks. She came back into the world of acting, playing Roberta Thorpe in Blue Murder. But voice acting called her back, where she joined the voice over cast for Carl². She also voiced Geraldine Husk in Totally Spies for three episodes. During her time on Being Erica, she voiced Denise Feltcher in The Dating Guy.
Afterwards, supporting cast came up in a couple of TV movies, namely The Good Witch’s Wonder and One Starry Christmas. She also had a voice role in Fangbone!
John Boylan (Gary Strange)
John Boylan played Erica’s father in Being Erica. This isn’t the first time he has played alongside Kathleen Laskey, he previously played Deputy Chief of Police Talbot in Blue Murder. He has previously been in various TV movies and one-off episodes of TV shows.
He can be spotted in plenty of films, the most popular of which are The Land Of The Lost and Fever Pitch. Recently he appeared in Dead Of Winter and will be in the up-and-coming film The Meaning Of Life.
Joanne Vannicola (Dr. Naadiah)
Joanne Vannicola played Dr. Tom’s therapist, Dr. Naadiah, in this TV show. She won an Emmy award in 1990 for Outstanding Performance in a Children’s Special in Maggie’s Secret, where she played Maggie Kingston. She has played various roles within her career, starting off with Mary Neissbrkor in 9B. Next she joined PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal as Mia Stone for 13 episodes. Next. she voiced Claude in Timothy Goes To School; as well as One in Seven Little Monsters for 49 episodes; she also voiced a whole range of characters in the popular Beyblade TV series; additionally, she voiced Marucho for eight episodes of Bakugan Battle Brawlers; before taking on one of the main voice roles in Toot & Puddle, voicing Toot.
During Being Erica, she voiced Huckle in Busytown Mysteries (Hurray For Huckle!). After being Dr. Naadiah, she did more voice acting. She was Biggs in The Adventures Of Chuck & Friends, as well as voicing two characters, Jake Wendell and Emily Butane, in Crash Canyon. Recently, she voiced Woofster in Super Why! and will be playing Nick Colley in the soon-to-be-released Sea Change.