A fan-favorite character actress in the Whedonverse, Amy Acker made a lasting impression with her portrayal of Winifred "Fred" Burkle on Angel; the actress has gone on to have prominently featured roles in both film and television since the show ended after season 5 in 2004.
Fred Burkle joined the cast of Angel in 2001 and made her debut appearance in season 2, episode 19, "Belonging". Angel and the gang are investigating Fred's disappearance; she was a physics student at UCLA who ended up being transported to an alternate dimension known as Pylea, where she has been lost for five years prior to her recovery. Though shaken due to her experiences as a slave in Pylea, Fred acclimated to a role as a researcher on the team, joining Wesley (Alexis Denisof) whenever it became a necessity to hit the books, using her smarts as a real asset to the Angel Investigations family. Fred came into her own and developed a strong sense of inner strength and bravery—she was also romantically tied to both Gunn and Wesley in the series. Although Fred's character met a tragic end on the show, one of the most heartbreaking for fans of Angel, Acker got to exercise her formidable talents as a second character, Illyria, in the final season.
Since then, she has worked with Joss Whedon on a handful of other projects, including another TV show, Dollhouse (2009-2010), The Cabin in the Woods (2011), and Much Ado About Nothing (2012). She's one of his recurring talents, and for good reason—she's shown a significant range and variety in her roles, some of which have been a significant departure from Fred Burkle. Here's everything Amy Acker has done after Angel.
What Amy Acker Has Done Since Angel
Acker was one of many Buffy and Angel cast members to appear on Supernatural, but her role was limited to just one episode in 2005. After that, she went on to have a recurring role as Helena Bertinelli in Justice League Unlimited, spanning 4 episodes. She had a lead role in season 5 of Alias as Kelly Peyton from 2005-2006. Around the same time, Acker had minor roles on several major shows including How I Met Your Mother, Ghost Whisperer, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. She also appeared in two television movies in 2008, A Near Death Experience and Fire and Ice: The Dragon Chronicles. In 2009, Acker joined the cast of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse as Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey and had a recurring role for 14 episodes of the short-lived Fox series, which starred fellow Buffyverse alum, Eliza Dushku.
After a couple more single-episode TV shows after Dollhouse ended, Acker landed a main role on ABC's Happy Town in 2010 for 8 episodes. She starred in the Lifetime Christmas movie Dear Santa in 2011 as well as 2011 drama, Sironia, then continued with the trend of landing single-episode arcs on shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Grimm, Once Upon A Time, and Warehouse 13. In 2012, Acker landed one of her biggest roles since Angel and started with a guest role as Samantha "Root" Groves, which turned into a recurring role in season 2, then a main cast role in seasons 3-5, totaling 65 episodes.
In 2017, she got another major role in FOX series, The Gifted, where she starred as Caitlin Strucker from 2017-2019. While Acker did other movies and TV projects at the time, with appearances in shows like Suits and MacGuyver and a movie opposite David Arquette in 2017, Amanda & Jack Go Glamping. In 2020, Acker had a voice role in Superman: Red Son—a direct-to-video animated film where she lent her talents to the role of Lois Lane and appeared in one episode of the new CBS comedy-drama, God Friended Me. Angel was only the beginning for Amy Acker, and there's no doubt her career will continue to flourish in the years to come.