Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Whatever Happened To The Actor Who Played Valerie?
For the current generation of TV fans, the name Sabrina Spellman likely conjures images of Kiernan Shipka donning short blonde hair, a black headband, and some sort of 1950s-looking sweater. But for all the '90s kids out there, the name will forever be tied to Melissa Joan Hart. The actor did, after all, originate the role on the hit family-friendly series "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," portraying the angsty, spell-casting Archie-comics creation for seven full seasons between 1996 and 2003.
The series understandably made a star of Hart, who's perhaps still best known for playing the young witch during her own teen years. "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" also helped launch the careers of several of her young castmates, including the actor who played Sabrina's bestie Valerie Birkhead during the show's second and third seasons.
The then-relatively unknown Lindsay Sloane debuted on the show during the Season 2 premiere as a recent Westbridge, Massachusetts transplant who is befriended by Sabrina on her first day of school. The pair were pretty inseparable for the better part of Sloane's run on the show, with the actor serving as one of the series' comedic highlights throughout.
Not surprisingly, Sloane has continued to earn laughs on screens big and small since her "Sabrina" gig came to an end. And if you've been tracking Sloane's career, you know she's become a legit, low-key scene stealer along the way, sharing the screen with the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, Charlie Day, Matthew Perry, and many more.
Lindsay Sloane has become a comedy A-lister in the years since Sabrina the Teenage Witch
If you count yourself a fan of Lindsay Sloane, you know it's easy to argue the actor has gone on to have a bigger post-"Sabrina the Teenage Witch" career than many of her old co-stars, Melissa Joan Hart included. Like her "Sabrina" bestie, Sloane got started in Hollywood at an early age, scoring roles on small-screen hits like "The Wonder Years" and "My So-Called Life."
She's continued to book roles in notable film and television projects since saying goodbye to Valerie Birkhead, too. That includes a two-episode arc on "That '70s Show," portraying a radical femme who briefly dates Wilmer Valderrama's Fez. She followed that gig with a memorable one-off appearance on "The West Wing," and scored another teen-centric hit when she portrayed the villainous cheerleader Big Red in "Bring It On."
A couple of years later, Sloane was sharing the screen with Michael Douglas and then-rising star Ryan Reynolds in the 2003 comedy "The In-Laws." In 2006, Sloane landed a key role in the underrated Hollywood insider comedy "The TV Set," and made a lone appearance in another entertainment industry satire in the HBO hit "Entourage." In the years since, Sloane has been seen stealing scenes in "How I Met Your Mother," and "The Odd Couple," as well as big screen comedies "She's Out of My League," "The Other Guys," and "Horrible Bosses."
Most recently, Sloane turned up opposite Shailene Woodley and Sebastian Stan in the indie romance "Endings, Beginnings." And she's soon to be seen with Jimmi Simpson and Rainn Wilson in the ensemble comedy "Home Delivery."