Where You've Seen The Cast Of Tales Of The Walking Dead Before

Ever since Rick Grimes first woke up from his coma, the "Walking Dead" universe has been expanding outward. Every survivor's story offers a look into a different corner of the post-Wildfire virus world, and every new "Walking Dead" spin-off series brings fresh perspective to that world as a whole. While "The Walking Dead" explores the lives of survivors in the eastern United States and "Fear the Walking Dead" revolves mainly around people from California, Mexico, and Texas, "Tales of the Walking Dead" gives fans of the gruesome TV universe a chance to find out what's going on beyond those communities.

Uniquely, "Tales of the Walking Dead" is an anthology series. This format allows it to have some fun with a wide variety of tropes, structures, and even genres. For example, Episode 5 of Season 1, "Davon," is a trippy noir piece, while Episode 2, "Blair; Gina," is a time loop tale set at the beginning of the outbreak. Telling a completely different story within each episode offers viewers a chance to meet plenty of new and interesting survivors (who aren't psychologically burdened by hours of listening to Rick's intense monologuing), not to mention the talented actors who play them. Some of these performers might even look a bit familiar. Where do you know these famous folks from? We're here to answer that question. Here's where you may have seen the cast of "Tales of the Walking Dead" before they arrived in the zombie apocalypse.

Terry Crews plays dog lover Joe, whose post-apocalyptic life is shattered when his best furry friend gets eaten by a walker. This life change is enough to drag him out of his bunker and onto an epic road trip, where he encounters Evie. In real life, Crews is just as interesting as his on-screen character. A Flint, Michigan native and flautist – a skill he showed off on America's Got Talent – Crews had a successful career in the NFL during the 1990s, playing for the Los Angeles Rams, the San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. All the while, he honed his skills as an artist, a talent he displayed on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" 

Though Crews initially dreamed of working in special effects — seeing "Star Wars" as a kid made that much of an impression — this Renaissance man ended up in front of the camera. After a handful of tiny and uncredited parts, he landed the role of Damon in the 2002 "Friday" sequel "Friday After Next." Crews played basketball star Latrell Spencer in 2004's "White Chicks," and in 2005, he played Cheeseburger Eddy in Adam Sandler's "The Longest Yard." Crews went on to portray Chris Rock's dad Julius in the 1980s-set sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" before playing Nick, yet another TV dad, on "Are We There Yet?" More recently, Crews starred on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" as NYPD sergeant and later lieutenant Terry Jeffords. He can also be seen hosting "America's Got Talent," where he looks for every opportunity to sneak in a little flute solo.

Starring as Blair's frazzled and put-upon receptionist Gina in "Blair; Gina" is Jillian Bell, whose extensive background in comedy is a perfect fit for the unlikely pairing at the center of this "Tales of the Walking Dead" episode. After a couple of small acting roles in projects like "Preppy Hippies" and "Worst Week," Bell joined the "Saturday Night Live" writers' room in 2009. She appeared as Maureen, an inappropriately-dressed professional, on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" that same year. 

"Saturday Night Live" worked out well for Bell: In 2010, she and the show's other writers were nominated for an Emmy for outstanding writing. This upward trajectory continued swiftly. From 2011 through 2017, Bell played nerd's nerd and cat lover Jillian Belk on "Workaholics." Bell also began to add quite a bit of voice acting to her body of work, including roles on "Bob's Burgers," "Gravity Falls," "Archer," and "Green Eggs and Ham." She's earned a number of film roles as well, including Lorraine Conyers in "Goosebumps," Mercedes in "22 Jump Street," and Dr. Taylor Wood in "Bill & Ted Face the Music."

In "Amy; Dr. Everett," Episode 4 of "Tales of the Walking Dead," Anthony Edwards plays Dr. Chauncey Everett, a naturalist who spends the apocalypse alone until he encounters Amy. The ultimate misanthrope, Dr. Everett sees walkers as a natural apex predator in the food chain, naming them "Homo mortuus" and using his drone to study their behavior in the wild. 

Edwards has enjoyed an extensive on-screen career over the decades, for which he's won numerous awards. Things kicked off in the early 1980s when he landed small roles in productions like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Edwards soon earned genuine fame as Gilbert Lowe in 1984's "Revenge of the Nerds." In 1986, he gained widespread notoriety for his performance as Nick "Goose" Bradshaw in "Top Gun." 

Edwards went on to play the recurring role of Mike Monroe on "Northern Exposure" before taking the lead role of Dr. Mark Greene on "ER." In 2019, Edwards played White House Chief of Staff Mars Harper on "Designated Survivor." More recently, he appeared on the crime dramas "Inventing Anna," which chronicles the downfall of fake heiress Anna Sorokin, and "WeCrashed," which recounts the drama surrounding the WeWork scandal.

Jessie T. Usher stars as Davon in — you guessed it — "Davon," Episode 5 of "Tales of the Walking Dead." In this installment, the titular man finds himself accused of a crime. The fact that he has no memory of what really happened complicates the situation immensely. 

Usher got his start as a child actor, with minor appearances on 2000s TV shows like the CBS true crime series "Without a Trace" and Disney's "Hannah Montana." He also appeared on episodes of "Numb3rs," "Criminal Minds," and "The Mentalist." From 2011 through 2013, Usher starred on the live-action Cartoon Network series "Level Up" as popular kid Lyle Hugginson, who finds himself dealing with the consequences of a portal that connects the ordinary world to that of the fictional online video game "Maldark: Conqueror of All Worlds." In 2019, Usher began starring as the ultra-fast superhero A-Train on the brutal capes-and-cowls-centric Amazon Prime series "The Boys." He can also be found on "MacGyver," where he plays smooth criminal Vincent Broulee.

In addition to his television career, Usher has starred in quite a few films over the years. One of his most notable performances is heroic Captain Dylan Hiller in the 2016 "Independence Day" sequel "Independence Day: Resurgence." He also appeared alongside Omar Epps, Danny Glover, and Mo'Nique in the holiday film "Almost Christmas," which also hit theaters in 2016. More recently, Usher appeared as Trevor in the 2022 psychological horror film "Smile."

Julie Carmen, who plays La Doña in "Tales of the Walking Dead" Episode 6, "La Doña," has had an active acting career since the late 1970s, when she first appeared on "Guiding Light" as Carmen Monvales. Over the years, Carmen has appeared as a guest actor on dozens of popular TV shows. In the 1980s alone, she popped up on such hits as "Cagney & Lacey," "Remington Steele," "Highway to Heaven," and "Airwolf," just to name a few. She was also a main cast member on the short-lived 1983 sitcom "Condo," where she played lovestruck law student Linda Rodriguez. She would later play Sofia Stavros, a recurring role, on late '80s soap "Falcon Crest." 

In the 1990s, Carmen's list of credits continued to expand. She landed roles on "ER," "Diagnosis Murder," "NYPD Blue," and "Touched By an Angel." More recently, Carmen appeared opposite Edward James Olmos in the 2019 film "Windows on the World," and appeared on a 2016 episode of "NCIS" entitled "Home of the Brave." When she isn't acting, Carmen is working as a licensed therapist and certified yoga teacher. She's applied these skills everywhere from Ray Gordon's Cell Block Theater to Loyola Marymount University, where she has led workshops on building and maintaining healthy family relationships.

A Canadian actor from British Columbia, Lauren Glazier got her start on stage. She studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and acted in several productions at the Whitefire Theatre in Los Angeles before beginning her work in TV and film. 

Glazier landed roles in a handful of shorts and films before playing activist Anita Hoffman in the 2011 film "The Chicago 8." In 2014, she landed a small role as a journalist in David Fincher's chilling thriller "Gone Girl." This part seems to have opened doors to bigger opportunities: Glazier soon appeared as a Russian sniper in the 2018 spy flick "Red Sparrow," which stars Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton, among other major names. In 2019, she became a regular on the Netflix crime series "Mindhunter," where she played bartender (and Wendy Carr's ex) Kay Manz.