Why Geri From Walker Looks So Familiar
Walker, The CW's brand new reboot of the nineties Chuck Norris series Walker, Texas Ranger, is a big hit for the broadcast network, with the premiere snagging 2.43 million viewers, the most-watched episode of a CW show since a 2018 episode of The Flash and the most-watched premiere since season 4 of The Flash in 2017, according to TVLine.
The reason Walker is such a hit is because it stars CW icon Jared Padalecki, who played Sam Winchester for 15 seasons on Supernatural, which ended in November 2020. Padalecki wasted no time lining up his next gig, and he's an executive producer as well as the star of Walker. He plays Cordell Walker, a veteran member of the Lone Star State's legendary law enforcement agency, the Texas Rangers. He's grieving the murder of his wife Emily (Genevieve Padalecki, Jared's real-life wife), and trying to reconnect with his children after leaving them to go on a long undercover mission shortly after Emily's death.
Walker's primary confidante is his friend Geraldine "Geri" Broussard, who was also Emily's friend. Geri owns a bar where Walker hangs out. Geri is played by Odette Annable, an actress who should be familiar to CW watchers and monster movie fans alike.
Odette Annable was Beth in Cloverfield
Annable's breakout role was as Beth McIntyre in the 2008 found footage-style horror hit Cloverfield. She was credited in the film using her maiden name, Yustman, as she married actor Dave Annable in 2010.
Beth has a will they/won't they relationship with Rob (Michael Stahl-David), whose going-away party is ruined by the arrival of the city-destroying monster, Clover. Beth had brought another man to the party, and she leaves after she and Rob fight but before the monster shows up. Much of the plot of the movie follows Rob and his friends as they try to move through a crumbling Manhattan to rescue Beth. When they find her, she and Rob reconcile. The movie ends with footage of the two of them at two different times: their final profession of love to each other as the military bombs the city, and a happier day together in Coney Island.
While it's implied that Beth died at the end of Cloverfield, the ending is ambiguous, so there's a chance Annable could reprise her role in the upcoming Cloverfield sequel if that's the direction the filmmakers decide to go in.
She was Dr. Adams on House
Annable joined the cast of the beloved medical procedural House for its eighth and final season in 2011. She played Dr. Jessica Adams, the final member of Dr. Gregory House's (Hugh Laurie) diagnostic team.
House meets Adams when he is in prison. She is a young doctor working in the prison infirmary, who is impressed with House's abilities and encourages him to stay in the medical field when he is considering leaving it. She runs a test on a patient, which House recommends against the wishes of her supervisor, which leads to her being fired. When he gets out of prison, he hires her to work on his diagnostic team.
Adams was often paired onscreen with Chi Park (Charlyne Yi), who also joined the show in the final season, and the two characters are shown to have very contrasting personalities. Adams grew up in an old-money family and believes that charitable giving is the way to make a difference in the lives of less fortunate people, while Park was the child of immigrants who came to America with almost nothing, and believes in self-reliance over everything else. Nonetheless, they grow to become close allies on House's team.
In an interview with HitFix at the time, Annable said the job was "challenging," because she was a newcomer to a show that had been on for a long time and the cast was already like a family that she and Yi weren't really part of. "They're jokesters and we're getting hazed a little bit, but it's nothing we can't give back." The hazing prank on House was to smack the script out of someone's hands while they were studying their lines.
She was Reign on Supergirl
In 2017 to 2018, Annable played Samantha Arias/Reign, the primary antagonist in season 3 of Supergirl. Sam Arias is a high-ranking L-Corp executive and friend of Kara Danvers' (Melissa Benoist). She is also, unwittingly and unwillingly, Reign, a Kryptonian warrior sent to Earth to take it over. Sam doesn't know about Reign, her split personality, until Reign starts to manifest and cause problems in her life. Reign and Supergirl fight throughout the season, while Sam tries to protect herself and her daughter, Ruby. Eventually, Sam is freed from Reign with the help of Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath), and with Kara's help, is able to defeat Reign for good.
Reign is depicted as the most fearsome foe Kara had ever faced at that point in the series, as they basically had all the same powers, both being genetically-engineered Kryptonians. Reign can fly, is invulnerable, has super-speed and super-strength, and has the ability to create and spread a deadly plague. But in the end, she proves no match for Supergirl and her friends.