Whatever Happened To The Cast Of The Practice?
By 1997, writer and producer David E. Kelley had already attained a degree of success in television thanks to the success of such series as "Chicago Hope," "Doogie Howser, M.D.," and "Picket Fences." That year, Kelley launched a new ABC series, "The Practice," a quirky legal drama that centered on the lawyers working at a small Boston law firm, Donnell, Young, Dole & Frutt. At the top of the pyramid was Bobby Donnell, a scrappy, hard-charging lawyer (played by Dylan McDermott) who led a ragtag group of defense attorneys.
"The Practice" ran for eight seasons, ending its run in 2004 as one of television's most critically acclaimed and award-winning series, receiving Emmys, a Golden Globe, and even a coveted Peabody Award. Kelley famously went on to further success with series such as "Boston Legal" (a spin-off of "The Practice"), "Ally McBeal" (which premiered the same year as "The Practice"), "Goliath," "Big Little Lies," and many others.
When the series ended, its stars went their separate ways, going on to various other projects. To find out more, keep on reading to find out whatever happened to the cast of "The Practice."
Dylan McDermott has appeared in the American Horror Story, FBI, and Law & Order franchises
For actor Dylan McDermott, playing Bobby Donnell on "The Practice" proved a star-making experience. After the series' end in 2004, McDermott appeared in several movies before landing the starring role on "Big Shots," a short-lived ABC drama in which he played a high-powered CEO. Subsequent TV series have included "Dark Blue," "Hostages," "Stalker," and the comedies "LA to Vegas" and "No Activity."
In 2011, McDermott starred on the first season of FX anthology series "American Horror Story," playing a husband and father who moves his family into a California home with a dark and horrific past. In 2020, "AHS" producer Ryan Murphy tapped McDermott for the key role of a gas station owner/actor/pimp in his epic Netflix miniseries "Hollywood." In 2021, McDermott guest starred on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" as a mob-connected businessman who's on trial for murdering the wife of Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). The character returned in a recurring capacity as Stabler's nemesis on the spin-off "Law & Order: Organized Crime." In 2023, McDermott joined the "FBI" franchise, playing Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott in the spin-off series "FBI: Most Wanted."
McDermott has credited his post-"Practice" success to his ability to differentiate good scripts from great ones. "In television, it was 'The Practice,' 'American Horror Story,' and 'Hollywood,'" he told CBS News. "I knew that they would all be big shows."
Kelli Williams' acting career flourished after The Practice
Fans of "The Practice" will recall Kelli Williams for her long-running role as crusading lawyer Lindsay Dole (and, eventually, Bobby Donnell's wife) during the series' first seven seasons. "Gosh, working for David Kelley. I don't know what more I could ask for," Williams said during a 1999 interview with Ultimate TV. "In the TV world, he's the man."
Following "The Practice," Williams jumped right into another series, "Medical Investigation," which was canceled after just one season. She followed that with several TV guest spots (including a six-episode stint on "Men in Trees") before starring alongside Tim Roth in the procedural crime drama "Lie to Me," which ran from 2009 until 2011. In 2012, she joined TV drama "Army Wives," followed by recurring roles on "Ties That Bind," "The Fosters," and "Coyote." She's also starred in several television movies, including "Mommy's Prison Secret" and "A Song for Christmas," both of which debuted in 2017. In addition, she's appeared as a guest star on the likes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "NCIS," and "Criminal Minds."
More recently, Williams was cast as a series regular on the TV drama "Found," which marked her return to acting after taking a few years off. Her character, Margaret Reed, works with a crisis management team, using her keen observational skills — developed due to the trauma of her son's disappearance years earlier — to help find people who've gone missing.
Lara Flynn Boyle's career was a roller coaster ride after her firing from The Practice
Lara Flynn Boyle portrayed Assistant District Attorney Helen Gamble on seven seasons of "The Practice," exiting the series prior to its eighth and final season. Ahead of that season, Boyle was one of several cast members axed by the show, reportedly for budgetary reasons; as she stated in an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the time (via The Age) she was not happy about it. "We gave our heart and soul to 'The Practice' and we were dispensed of for whatever reason there is. We didn't make any decision," she said. "We had a decision that was translated to us."
It didn't take Boyle long to find work again, next appearing in multi-episode stints on the TV series "Huff" and "Las Vegas." She appeared in a few films and TV movies after that but began working more sporadically. Meanwhile, her personal life made headlines when comedian David Spade claimed that she began dating Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson while they were still a couple. In 2010, Entertainment Weekly reported she was set to star in a reality show on E!, but those plans never came to fruition.
After appearing in the 2015 film "Lucky Dog," her next screen role was in 2020's "Death in Texas." When interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter about the film, Boyle balked at the notion that her first role in five years was a comeback. "I never went anywhere," she insisted.
Steve Harris has maintained a steady screen presence
Steve Harris played attorney Eugene Young throughout the entirety of "The Practice," with audiences getting to know the character well — and the actor who played him — over the course of all eight seasons. "I work hard to try to create the character," Harris told The Washington Post in a 1999 interview. "I take my own things and [incorporate] them into the views of what Eugene would think."
Following "The Practice," Young's services as an actor remained in high demand. He went on to appear in various films (including 2005's "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," 2015's "Chi-Raq," and 2018's "The First Purge") and guest-starred in numerous television series, including "Grey's Anatomy," "Friday Night Lights," and "Justified." He was also a series regular in the TV series "Awake," "Filthy Rich," and "BMF."
In 2022, he starred in "#Matter," the first scripted podcast from "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes' Shondaland company. On the podcast, Harris portrayed an ex-NFL player who loans his car to a friend's son, and winds up in a fraught situation when the son's friend, a young Black man, is killed by white police officers. "I don't view this as a heavy subject," Harris said in an interview with Shondaland. "I view it as a subject. When it's something that happens [this often], it's not out of the norm. That's not what we're getting to — the problem is it's been normalized."
Camryn Manheim wound up on Law & Order
In the role of attorney Ellenor Frutt, Camryn Manheim became a fan favorite on "The Practice," and her performance won her an Emmy Award in 1998.
Her extensive screen credits after "The Practice" have included portraying Gladys Presley (mother of Elvis) in the 2005 TV miniseries "Elvis," Delia Banks on all four seasons of "The Ghost Whisperer," and Sam Barton in the Halle Berry-starring TV miniseries "Extant." Manheim was also a series regular on "Living Biblically" and "Stumptown," both of which were canceled after their debut seasons. In 2021, she guest starred as Lt. Kate Dixon on "Law & Order: Organized Crime" and went on to reprise the character in two episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and then, since 2022, as a regular on the original "Law & Order" when it returned to NBC after several years off the air.
Interviewed by the Golden Globe Awards, Manheim reflected on playing the "law" role on "The Practice" and then moving to the "order" category with her "Law & Order" role. "Everything I've ever learned about the law, I learned from 'The Practice' and now 'Law & Order,' so I'm happy to give anyone advice in either category," Manheim said. "Now I'm a 60-year-old woman playing a badass lieutenant on 'Law & Order,' so what better life could I wish for?"
LisaGay Hamilton has starred in TV, film and Broadway
LisaGay Hamilton starred as Rebecca Washington on "The Practice." The character was initially the firm's receptionist and paralegal before passing the bar exam and becoming an associate with Donnell, Young, Dole & Frutt.
After "The Practice" ended, Hamilton guest starred on numerous TV shows, including "ER," "Without a Trace," and "Numb3rs" and before becoming a series regular on the dramedy "Men of a Certain Age." She subsequently appeared on "Grey's Anatomy," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Scandal," and "The Lincoln Lawyer," the latter of which her boss on "The Practice," David E. Kelley, produced. More recently, she portrayed Alberta King, mother of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on "Genius: MLK/X." Hamilton has also starred on Broadway, in 2004's "Gem of the Ocean" and in a 2018 production of "To Kill a Mockingbird," playing Calpurnia from November 2019 until the show paused due to the pandemic in March 2020. Hamilton has also appeared onstage in Hollywood, including starring in a 2023 production of the play "Stew" for the acclaimed Pasadena Playhouse. "Theater has always been my first love and will remain so," Hamilton told Broadway World.
Hamilton also stepped behind the camera to directing an episode of "The Practice" and her documentary "Beah: A Black Woman Speaks," both in 2003. She won a Peabody Award for the latter.
Michael Badalucco has appeared in various films and TV series
Michael Badalucco remains best known for playing working-class lawyer Jimmy Berluti on "The Practice," yet he wasn't initially a part of the show. After unsuccessfully auditioning to play a flasher in the series' pilot, he subsequently landed a small role — as a police officer — in the film "One Fine Day." The film's star, Michelle Pfeiffer, was so impressed by Badalucco's acting that she raved about him to her husband, David E. Kelley — who remembered Badalucco from his earlier audition and brought him back to audition for Jimmy. He got the part and went on to win a 1999 Emmy. As Badalucco told Radiance in a 1999 interview, Jimmy was his dream role. "If I had all the money in the world and I asked a guy to write a part for me, I don't think he could do as good a job," he declared.
Following "The Practice," Badalucco appeared in various TV series, guest starring on the likes of "Joan of Arcadia," "Monk," and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." He also appeared on "Boardwalk Empire," and several episodes of "The Young and the Restless." More recently, he played a recurring role on Netflix's "Never Have I Ever" and voiced a character in the film "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem."
Post-"Practice," Badalucco has racked up numerous big screen roles as well, including the films "The Eagle and the Albatross," "The Hammer," "Rules Don't Apply," and "The Resident."
Marla Sokoloff headlined her own series and returned to her Full House roots
Prior to joining "The Practice" in its third season, Marla Sokoloff had racked up screen credits as a child actor, most notably as Gia, best friend of Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin) on "Full House." Sokoloff was just 17 when she was cast as Lucy Hatcher, the "Practice" law firm's opinionated receptionist. "Lucy says whatever she feels at that moment and doesn't care who she's going to insult," Sokoloff told Entertainment Weekly.
After "The Practice" ended, Sokoloff guested on a few TV series (including "Desperate Housewives") and starred in movies (including "Crazylove") before starring in the short-lived 2006 sitcom "Big Day," which ran for one season. She went on to play a recurring role on "The Fosters" and reprised her "Full House" character in several episodes of the revival series "Fuller House."
Sokoloff has also established herself as a director, helming several made-for-TV movies. These included "Hall Pass Nightmare," "Blending Christmas," and "Christmas Hotel" — as well as the indie comedy "Rosé All Day." As Sokoloff said in an interview with MediaVillage after directing her first TV movie, her education came from growing up on film and TV sets. "I've taken so many notes from directors on how to talk to actors over the years, which comes in really handy," she explained. "It's being creative in a completely different way. It's exciting but also scary because if something goes wrong or looks bad on camera, it's your fault."
Jessica Capshaw became a series regular on Grey's Anatomy
The daughter of actor Kate Capshaw (and stepdaughter of director Steven Spielberg), Jessica Capshaw joined "The Practice" in 2002, playing type-A attorney Jamie Stringer for the series' final two seasons. When "The Practice" ended in 2004, Capshaw guest starred on a few TV series ("Bones," "The L Word"), and the miniseries "Into the West."
In 2009, Capshaw was cast Dr. Arizona Robbins on hit medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," which was initially intended to be a guest starring role. "I ended up auditioning a couple of times for 'Grey's Anatomy' and I didn't get it but eventually I did end up getting it," Capshaw told Rose & Ivy. "Who knew when I started as a guest star on three episodes that I would be there for 10 years?" As fans of the show will certainly recall, Capshaw's character was openly gay, which proved a profound experience for her. "There is no end to how incredibly moved I have been by the letters or direct messages or tweets or Instagram comments from people whose lives have been in some way, shape, or form affected by just the telling of a gay woman's story on primetime network television," Capshaw told Marie Claire.
Capshaw ultimately portrayed the character for more than 220 episodes until exiting the show in 2018. Since then, she's appeared in the rom-com "Holidate," the coming-of-age drama "Dear Zoe," and the 2022 TV series "Tell Me Lies."
Ray Abruzzo went on to The Sopranos, Mad Men, and more
Ray Abruzzo appeared in 44 episodes of "The Practice" throughout the series' eight-season run, playing the recurring role of Boston police detective Michael McGuire. In 2002, he was cast as Carmine Lupertazzi Jr. (aka Little Carmine) on "The Sopranos," a role that overlapped with "The Practice" until its conclusion in 2004. When auditioning to play Little Carmine, the role for which he's arguably best known, Abruzzo didn't think he had much of a shot. The producers were looking for a far larger actor to play the character, who was described as weighing in excess of 350 pounds. "In my audition, I thought, 'I'm not going to get this, let me do something,'" he recalled during an appearance on the "Talking Sopranos" podcast. Leaning into a character description indicating that Little Carmine isn't as smart as he thinks he is, Abruzzo spontaneously decided to pronounce Versailles as "ver-sales" — and wound up landing the role.
After "The Sopranos" ended, Abruzzo maintained a steady presence on television, appearing as a guest star in a dizzying number of TV series. Among those was "Mad Men," in which he played a doorman named Jonesy for three episodes. He also played a recurring role in the groundbreaking series "Transparent," and even appeared in the spin-off of "The Practice," "Boston Legal" — albeit as an entirely different character than the cop he played on the original show.
Holland Taylor displayed her comedic side on Two and a Half Men
Holland Taylor appeared in 29 episodes of "The Practice" as Judge Roberta Kittleson, who memorably embarked on an affair with Michael Badalucco's Jimmy Berluti. In 2003, during the final season of "The Practice," Taylor was cast on "Two and a Half Men" as Evelyn Harper, the snobby and overbearing mother of Charlie (Charlie Sheen) and Alan (Jon Cryer) throughout the sitcom's 12-season run.
During her years on "Two and a Half Men," Taylor continued to appear in other TV series ("The L Word," "Monk," and "Electric City," to name a few), and starred on Broadway in a one-woman show (which she also wrote) about late Texas governor Ann Richards. More recently, Taylor appeared in the Netflix miniseries "Hollywood," and the streamer's academic comedy series "The Chair." Since 2019, she's played the recurring role of network chairwoman Cybil Richards in Apple TV+ series "The Morning Show." In her personal life, Taylor has made headlines for her romance with fellow actor Sarah Paulson (of "American Horror Story" fame).
Speaking with Awards Radar in 2024, Taylor looked back at her role on "The Practice" as a game changer for her. "Playing this very smart judge ... Roberta Kittleson was an extremely capable judge who also had kind of a racy personal life," she recalled. "That combination ... that was a gift to me because it was really groundbreaking on television. ... It put me on the map in a new way."
Linda Hunt spent years on NCIS: Los Angeles
An Oscar winner for her performance in "The Year of Living Dangerously," Linda Hunt was seen in 23 episodes of "The Practice" — including the pilot — as principled Judge Zoey Hiller (rumored to be based on actual Boston judge Hiller B. Zobel). As Hunt told Entertainment Weekly, her recurring role was the start of a trend in which famed character actors guest starred as judges on courtroom dramas. "That was [the show's] way of not paying actors more," she explained. "They thought, 'We'll have a stable of interesting actors as judges, but none of them will be regulars. We won't make a big thing out of any of them, but we'll keep them available to us.' But I had a good run!"
Following "The Practice," Hunt lent her narration to a video game titled "God of War" and continued to serve as narrator after the game's success spawned numerous sequels. In 2009, Hunt was cast as NCIS operations manager Henrietta "Hetty" Lange, who oversaw a team of investigators on the "NCIS" spin-off "NCIS: Los Angeles." Like its predecessor, "NCIS: Los Angeles" was a massive hit, running for 14 seasons before ending its run in 2023.
In a 2013 interview with CBS News, Hunt hinted that she'd be ready to retire from acting when "NCIS: Los Angeles" finally concluded. "I look forward to a time when I don't have to work anymore," she said. "Which is close at hand, I think."
James Spader reprised his role in The Practice in a hit spin-off
As part of the cast shake-up in the final season of "The Practice," James Spader was recruited to play morally ambiguous attorney Alan Shore, who was fired from his previous firm for embezzling. "At the same time that I find him sort of endearing and compelling, he's appalling," Spader told "Today" of his character. "[A]t the exact same moment!" He also pointed out that some of Alan Shore's core characteristics were antithetical to the practice of law. "The legal profession is based on authority; he hates authority and questions it at every turn," Spader added. "It's based on protocol and diplomacy; he hates rules, and you don't know what he's going to say next — but it'll probably be inappropriate."
When "The Practice" ended after its eighth season, Spader reprised the role in its spin-off, "Boston Legal." Like the original, the spin-off was a critically acclaimed hit, ultimately running for five seasons.
After that, Spader joined another show that was nearing the end of a long run: beloved comedy "The Office," in which he played new Dunder Mifflin branch manager Robert California in one episode of Season 7 and all of Season 8. Spader then appeared in the films "Lincoln," "The Homesman," and "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" (providing the voice of the titular Ultron). In 2013, he began starring as master criminal Raymond "Red" Reddington on "The Blacklist," which ran for 10 seasons until ending in 2023.
William Shatner joined James Spader on Boston Legal
Another addition to the eighth and final season of "The Practice" was television icon William Shatner, with his character — eccentric legal legend Denny Crane — brought on as a guest star toward the end of the season. The role brought Shatner two Emmy Awards — first as a guest actor for "The Practice," then as supporting actor on spin-off "Boston Legal," which capitalized on the palpable on-screen chemistry between Shatner's bombastic character and James Spader's Alan Shore. "Oh, I love the writing," Shatner said of the role in an interview with MSN (via LiveJournal). "I loved learning the words. I loved to do it. I loved performing with James Spader — he's such a wonderful actor. The crew was great to work with ... we had a wonderful time, and I think of it very fondly."
Following "Boston Legal," which ended in 2008, Shatner starred in the short-lived sitcom "$#*! My Dad Says." After that, he made numerous appearances in film and television while writing books, putting out musical albums and, in 2012, taking his one-man show — "Shatner's World: We Just Live In It" — to Broadway.
In 2021, Shatner celebrated his 90th birthday and hasn't exactly slowed down. Later that year, he traveled to space (becoming the oldest living person to have done so), and starred in the movie "Senior Moment." In 2023, he hosted "Stars on Mars," a reality show featuring celebrities enduring a simulation of the conditions they'd experience on Mars.