What The Cast Of Mom Is Doing Now - Looper (2024)

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ByMike WilliamsonOct. 29, 2022 12:14 pm EST

Sitcoms tend to take a power sander to life's rougher edges, filing them down into a nice, smooth episode of televised entertainment. These well-burnished programs might be fun, light, and easily digestible, but they can often ring hollow, especially when they attempt to address real-world issues and resolve them in a tight half hour. But there are some sitcoms that tackle these problems head-on and don't relegate them to just one "very special episode."

"Mom," which ran on CBS from 2013-2021, is one of these shows. Created by Chuck Lorre, "Mom" follows Christy Plunkett (Anna Faris) and her estranged mother Bonnie (Allison Janney), both recovering addicts, as they struggle to repair their relationship and stay sober in Napa, California.

During its eight-season run, the show received praise from critics for its ability to balance comedy with a realistic depiction of addiction and recovery, as well as for the performances of both Faris and Janney. The AV Club noted that one of the key ingredients to the show's success is its ability to accurately portray the difficult nature of recovering from addiction, "without forgetting that comedies should have jokes."

However, all good things must come to an end. When Anna Faris left the show after Season 7, many speculated that the end was nigh, and the show was cancelled just a few episodes into Season 8. The series finale aired on May 6, 2021, in front of 6.05 million viewers (per Programming Insider), leaving many to wonder what was next for the much-lauded cast. And that's where we come in! Keep reading to find out what the cast of "Mom" is doing now.

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Allison Janney is the only cast member to appear in all 170 episodes of "Mom." Her role as Christy's mother, Bonnie, received critical acclaim and got her two back-to-back Emmy wins. Despitebeing a supporting role in the earlier seasons, Janney quickly came to form the emotional core of the show along with Anna Faris. In an interview with Vanity Fair following the series finale, Janney described the pride she felt in playing a role that shows "it's never too late to reinvent yourself."

She has certainly done that in her decades-long career. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, Janney got her start performing in Off-Broadway productions (perPlaybill). Her breakthrough came as C.J. Cregg on the NBC political drama "The West Wing,"which netted the first four of her eventual seven Primetime Emmy Awards.Janney also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Tonya Harding's mother LaVona in the 2017 biopic "I, Tonya" and has been nominated for two Tonys, which has brought her within reach of the Triple Crown of Acting.

After the end of "Mom," Janney has returned to the big screen, playing the titular role in the Netflix action movie, "Lou." She has several upcoming film projects, including an appearance in "The People We Hate at the Wedding," and lead roles in the Gareth Edwards sci-fi project "True Love," and the Nat Faxon action comedy "The Heart." Janney will also take on the role of Evelyn in the upcoming 1960s set drama series "Mrs. American Pie."

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Perhaps best known for playing Cindy Campbell in the horror spoof "Scary Movie" and Shelley Darlingson in "The House Bunny," Anna Faris is certainly no stranger to comedy. But she made a slightly more dramatic turn when she took the role of recovering-addict and single-mother Christy Plunkett in "Mom" back in 2013. When asked what initially attracted her to the show, Faris said that she was eager to take on a more multi-dimensional part than the ones she was usually offered (per The Seattle Times). Her venture into drama was well-received by critics and audiences, and she was nominated for three People's Choice Awards during her tenure on the show.

Since leaving the show following Season 7, Faris has mostly taken on voice acting roles, first as Lil' Bunny and Chartreuse in two episodes of the animated comedy "HouseBroken," which is about a dog who provides therapy sessions for other pets. She also voiced Ashley on an episode of "The Simpsons."

Her upcoming roles include another drama-heavy comedic role alongside Toni Collette in the movie "The Estate." Faris plays Savanna in this Dean Craig comedy, where two sisters vie for the affection of their dying relative, in the hopes of inheriting her fortune when she passes away. She also set to appear in an unspecified role in the drama film "Tunnels," which is currently in pre-production.

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Christy and Bonnie's AA sponsor Marjorie Armstrong-Perugian is played by veteran comic actress Mimi Kennedy, whose forty-plus year career began in the late 1970s. Marjorie was a recurring character in Season 1 before being promoted to the main cast in following year and becoming an integral member of Christy and Bonnie's support system throughout the subsequent seasons (perThe Hollywood Reporter).

According to her website, Kennedy fell in love with acting when she appeared onstage alongside Sid Caesar in Neil Simon's play "Last of the Red Hot Lovers." Her career began in theater and started shifting into the comedy world as she became a member of the production of the "National Lampoon Show." She was almost cast on "SNL," but in James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales' "Live from New York," Lorne Michaels notes that Gilda Radner didn't want Kennedy to be hired because they were too similar (perVulture). Kennedy began her working relationship with Chuck Lorre in 1997, when she was cast on "Dharma & Greg."

Since "Mom" ended, Kennedy has stayed busy, appearing in episodes of "The Goldbergs," "Grace & Frankie," and "In the Dark." She is set to appear as Zandra in the upcoming comedy film, "Scrambled," and as Sue in the action comedy "Going Places." Her website notes that in 2021,she also recorded an audiobook version of her 1996 memoir, "Taken to the Stage: The Education of an Actress," and she is currently working on her first novel.

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The role of Wendy Harris (Beth Hall)was added in Season 2 as a member of Christy and Bonnie's A.A. group. Wendy became a main character in Season 3 and appeared in every following season and she even delivered the last line in the series finale.

Hall grew up in New Jersey and started her career doing sketch comedy and appearing in Off-Broadway productions in New York City. In an interview with Tell-Tale TV, Hall revealed that she had always been interested in performing because her father was a stand-up comedian. Her very first television role was in an episode of another sitcom about another woman recovering from addition, "Murphy Brown." Before her role on "Mom," Hall was best known for her role as Don Draper's secretary Caroline on "Mad Men."

Most recently, Hall appeared on an episode of the historical miniseries "Gaslit" starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn. She will also appear as Julie in the upcoming Adam Sandler Netflix comedy "You Are SO Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah!" This adaptation of Fiona Rosenbloom's novel of the same name is currently in post-production, but no release date has been announced yet (perVariety).

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Jaime Pressly joined the cast of "Mom" in Season 2 as Jill Kendall, a recovering addict, whom Christy sponsors for the remainder of the show. She was no stranger to sitcoms before joining the cast, having played Joy Turner in the NBC sitcom "My Name is Earl, for which she won the Primetime Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007. In a profile by Bella New York, Pressly stated that she was "honored and excited" when she was asked to join the cast of "Mom" and was eager to play this type of complex and nuanced character.

She started her career modeling when she was only fifteen, but soon transitioned into television with an uncredited role on "Baywatch" in 1995. In addition to her Emmy-winning role on "My Name is Earl," Pressly has appeared in the films "Joe Dirt," "Not Another Teen Movie," and "I Love You, Man," as well as several music videos including Michael Bublé's "It's a Beautiful Day."

After "Mom" ended, Pressly snagged another sitcom:Fox's "Welcome to Flatch," where she plays Barb Flatch opposite Sean William Scott's Father Joe. She also landed the role of Brenda in the upcoming comedy "The Re-Education of Molly Singer." Outside of her acting career, Pressly works as an ambassador for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (per Bella Magazine). HIV/AIDS is an issue that's personal to her because her uncle died from the disease, so Pressly is focused on increasing sex education around the United States.

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Veteran character actorWilliam Fichtner plays Bonnie's husband, the retired stuntmanAdam Janikowski. He appeared in a handful of episodes in Season 3 and joined the main cast for Season 4. This wasn't Fichtner's first collaboration with Chuck Lorre, as he previously appeared on Lorre's sitcom "Grace Under Fire" in 1994. In an interview with CBS, Fichtner praised Lorre's sitcom savvy, calling him "the king of sitcoms," and expressed how much he enjoyed being on his shows.

Fichtner studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and started his career playing Josh Landry on the long-running CBS sitcom "As the World Turns." His film career started to take off in the 1990s with roles in Michael Mann's "Heat" and the sci-fi action film "Armageddon." He has been working steadily ever since, appearing mostly in supporting roles in films like "The Perfect Storm," "Black Hawk Down," "Crash," and "The Dark Knight."

Since his role on "Mom," Fichtner has appeared on the "Tiger King"-inspired miniseries "Joe vs. Carole" as Rick Kirkham, and in the political thriller "88" as Ron Holt. His upcoming projects include Jurgens in "St. Sebastian," a post-apocalyptic thriller directed by Danny DeVito and costarring Lance Reddick, as well as an unspecified role in the Robert Rodriguez film "Hypnotic" alongside Ben Affleck and Alice Braga. Outside of the film industry, Fichtner — a native of western New York — has been reveling in the newfound success of his hometown Buffalo Bills.

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Kristen Johnstonfirst appeared in Season 4 as Bonnie's former foster sister Tammy Diffendorf. She joined the main cast for the show's final two seasons, becoming a member of the same A.A. group as Bonnie and Christy. Like her "Mom" co-star French Stewart, Johnston's breakout role was on "3^rd Rock from the Sun," where she won two Primetime Emmy awards for playing Sally Solomon.

Johnston has chronicled her own struggles with addiction and recovery in her memoir "Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster."By the time she played Tammy, Johnstonhad been sober for ten years, telling the New York Post that she's gotten many gifts from sobriety and the recovery community, including her job on "Mom." Her personal experience with the show's subject matter is likely a key reason why her performance was so well-received by audiences.

A graduate of NYU, Johnston began her career with the Atlantic Theater Company, founded by playwright David Mamet. It was her theater work that lead her to the role of Sally Solomon, as she was discovered by a casting agent during a performance of "The Lights" at the Lincoln Center (perTV Guide).

Following her role on "Mom," Johnston appeared in the HBO pirate comedy "Our Flag Means Death" and voiced She-Hulk on the podcast series, "Marvel Wastelanders: Doom." Variety recently announced that Johnston will appear in the Season 3 premiere of "The Righteous Gemstones," which will be available to stream on HBO Max in 2023.

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Matt Jones was fresh off his star-making role as Brandon "Badger" Mayhew in the mega-hit "Breaking Bad" when he was cast on "Mom" as Baxter, Christy's ex-boyfriend and father of Roscoe. With an extensive background in sketch and improv comedy, including a three-year stint with the Boom Chicago group in Amsterdam, Jones told Vulture that one of the main reasons he was interested in joining the cast was to perform in front of a live audience after five years of "playing to silence" on "Breaking Bad." Jones was a main character in the first three seasons and appeared in a handful of episodes until his final appearance in Season 6.

After his departure from "Mom," Jones reprised his role as Badger in the "Breaking Bad" sequel film "El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie" and voiced the recurring character Nuber in the animated Netflix comedy "F Is for Family."

He is currently the voice of Dave in the Disney children's show "Hamster & Gretel," and stars as Douglas on another Chuck Lorre CBS show, "Bob Hearts Abishola." He is set to star alongside Bobby Lee as Death in the tragicomic short film "Death and Ramen" which is currently in post-production. Video game fans might also recognize his distinctive raspy voice from his work as Wedge in the 2020 "Final Fantasy VII Remake."

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Child actor Blake Garrett Rosenthalplays Christy and Baxter's son Roscoe.Roscoe was a main character in the first three seasons and had a few guest appearances in Season 4, before the show pivoted to focus on the relationship between Christy and her mother.

Before joining the cast of "Mom," Rosenthal, like his fellow "Mom" cast-mate Spencer Daniels, appeared on an episode of "The Office" in 2010, and landed his first movie role in the 2012 picture "Crazy Eyes." During his time as Roscoe, Rosenthal also appeared in a few episodes of "New Girl" as Elvin and played Archie Lloyd in the 2014 movie "Finding Harmony."

After his final appearance in Season 4, Rosenthal seems to have retired from acting at the ripe old age of 12. According to his Instagram account, he is currently attending San Diego State University in San Diego, California. It is currently unclear whether he plans to return to acting anytime in the future.

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Sadie Calvano was a main cast member for the first three seasons of "Mom," playing Christy's daughter, Violet. At the beginning of the show, Violet is a senior in high school, who becomes pregnant at 17 just like her mother. Calvano was in high school when she was cast, but was no stranger to the spotlight since she has been performing in musical theater since she was seven.

Following Season 3, Calvano began attending Occidental College in Los Angeles and took classes part time so she could keep appearing as a recurring character in Season 4. In fact, "Mom" series creator Chuck Lorre wrote her letter of recommendation for collegeand told Glamour that it was easy "to rave about this young lady. ... Any college would be lucky to have her."

Calvano's last appearance on "Mom" was in Episode 8 of Season 6 in 2018. Following her departure from the show, she snaggeda major role in Season 1 of Marc Cherry's anthology series "Why Women Kill" as April Warner and starred as Erin Cornyn in the TV movie "Secrets of a Marine's Wife."

Most recently, she played Everest Sanders in a 2022 episode of "The Rookie" on ABC. Her next project sees her return to film for the first time since playing J. Edgar Hoover's niece in the 2011 biopic "J. Edgar." She is set to play Web in the upcoming mystery film "Montauk" alongside Molly Ringwald.

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Former child actorSpencer Daniels plays Violet's ex-boyfriend Luke, with whom she has a daughter. Luke was a main character in Season 1, and returned as a guest in a few episodes of Season 2 and Season 4.

Daniels was enrolled at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU when he was cast in "Mom," but had been a professional actor since he was 10-years-old. He started out with minor roles and one-episode appearances on shows like "MADtv," "Cold Case," and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," before landing movie roles as 12-year-old Benjamin in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and Johnny in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek." Fans of the NBC comedy "The Office" will no doubt recognize him as Meredith's son Jake.

Since his run on "Mom," Daniels has stayed active in the industry. He currently plays Charlton on the SyFy series "The Magicians" and lends his voice to the apocalyptic thriller podcast series "Blackout" starring Rami Malek. He is set to star as Matthew, alongside Graham McTavish and Anne Heche (in her final film role) in the upcoming horror film "Chasing Nightmares," which is currently in post-production.

Outside of acting, Daniels writes blog posts for the anti-poverty, non-profit The Borgen Project, and published his first novel "The Constantine Fable" earlier this year.

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French Stewartplays Rudy, the head chef at Christy's restaurant The Rustic Fig. Rudy was a main character during the first two seasons and appeared in guest spots in the show's later years, most notably in Season 7, when he attends AA meetings with Christy.

After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1985 (per Twitter), Stewart got his break as Razor Dee in "The New WKRP in Cincinnati," the aptly named '90s spinoff of the 1970s sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati."

Following the show's cancellation in 1993, Stewart appeared in the "Seinfeld" episode "The Opposite" as the movie theater manager who tells Elaine that her boyfriend has been in an accident. His breakout moment was in 1996 when he landed the role of Harry Solomon in the NBC sitcom "3^rd Rock from the Sun" alongside future "Mom" cast member Kristen Johnson.

Since his final appearance in the final season of "Mom," Stewart appeared as Ken DeNardo in the 2021 romantic comedy "Queen Bees," which reunited him with his "3^rd Rock from the Sun" co-star Jane Curtin. He has also had minor roles in episodes of the CBS comedy "How We Roll" and the Disney Channel family comedy "Raven's Home."

Stewart has upcoming roles in two projects: "Cake(town)" a modern retelling of "Romeo and Juliet" set in the rust belt, and the thriller "A Fall from Grace," starring David Lynch and Vincent D'Onofrio.

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Nate Corddry was a recurring character on the first two seasons of "Mom." He played the role of Gabriel, the manager of The Rustic Fig, where Christy works as a waitress. During Season 1, he has an affair with Christy, despite being married to Claudia (Courtney Henggeler).

Before his role as Gabriel, Corddry had worked steadily in television with roles on the short-lived Aaron Sorkin comedy series, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," the NBC crime comedy "Harry's Law," and Diablo Cody's Showtime series "United States of Tara," alongside Toni Collette and Brie Larson.

He has also frequently performed with his brother and fellow actor Rob Corddry. The Corddrys collaborated on a recurring segment on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," aptly named Brother vs. Brother, and Nate later played a handful of roles on the Adult Swim comedy series "Children's Hospital," which Rob co-created and starred in.

Since leaving "Mom" after Season 2, Corddry has made the transition to movies with roles in such films as "St. Vincent," "The Circle," and "Standing Up, Falling Down." Most recently, Corddry appeared in the Amazon Prime original series "Paper Girls" as Larry Radakowski, and the Apple TV original series "For All Mankind" as former NASA engineer and First Gentleman of the United States, Larry Wilson.

Corddry can currently be seen in Clea Duvall's "High School," an adaptation of the memoir by indie pop sibling duo Tegan and Sara (per Pride). He was also recently added to the cast of "Sugar," a new Apple TV original series starring Colin Farrell (per Deadline).