Charmed first introduced television viewers to the power of the three way back in 1998, when The WB still existed and Shannen Doherty was a megastar. The series starred Doherty, along with Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano as the Halliwell sisters, three witches with extraordinary magical powers. Their goal: fight the darkness while concealing their true nature to the mortal world.
The series quickly became a hit for The WB and gained a cult-like following, even after the departure of Doherty. Writers brought in a Halliwell half-sister, Paige, as portrayed by Rose McGowan. The series remained a hit until its cancellation in 2006.
Television viewers could not get enough of the special brand of magic that the Halliwells brought to the screen. The series also starred Brian Krause as Leo, an angel sent to guard the family and help them protect their secrets. There was drama and romance, horror and comedy, and combined, viewers ate it up like enchanted candy. The series remains an important part of popular culture and it is even getting a reboot on The CW.
The old Charmed was then and this is now. The actors who portrayed these characters on the original series look a lot different today.
Here is Charmed: What The Cast Looked Like In Their First Episode Vs Today.
Holly Marie Combs (Piper)
Although they all look a little older, time has been good to the actresses who portrayed the Halliwell sisters, including Holly Marie Combs. When she turned back up on television in Pretty Little Liars, it was almost as if she had never left, and she looked better than ever.
As Piper on Charmed, she was the fan favorite of the series; the no-nonsense witch who eventually fell in love with her family's whitelighter, Leo. Piper was always an unofficial head of the family and was the sister that everyone turned to when they needed help.
Later, Combs was Aria's mother on Pretty Little Liars until 2017, when the show got canceled. She has been one of the most outspoken members of the original cast against the reboot of the Charmed series.
Brian Krause (Leo)
It's not just the women of Charmed that seem to have magical powers when it comes to aging. Brian Krause, who played Leo, also managed to age really well, too.
Krause was Leo on the series, the whitelighter guardian angel sent to protect the Halliwell sisters. He ends up falling in love and marrying one of them, Piper, which creates a lot of conflict between the sisters and the Elders.
Krause continued to act after Charmed, and seems to look similar to how he did way back in 1998. Sure, there are a few extra lines on his face, but he's still immediately recognizable as the angel who stole every fan's heart during Charmed's magical run. Even better? He and Holly Marie Combs remain friends to this day.
Shannen Doherty (Prue)
As the oldest sister, Prue Halliwell (Shannen Doherty) was a bit of a know it all, but was also probably the strongest of the three Halliwell sisters. When Doherty decided to leave the series in season three, writers eliminated her character off as the victim of a demonic assassin. At the time, Doherty already had a reputation of being difficult to work with, and rumors circulated that her leaving the show possibly had something to do with that.
Regardless, Doherty did age a little since she last appeared on the show, thanks to her growing bad reputation, legal problems, and a battle with breast cancer. She became a hero, though, for being so upfront with her battle against the disease, and officially announced that she was in remission in 2017.
Julian McMahon (Cole)
One of the most dramatic storylines on Charmed involved the romance between the witch Phoebe and the half-demon Cole. The two were truly in love, but events kept happening that always threatened to keep them apart. Constantly trapped between the demon and mortal worlds, Cole constantly faced an inner struggle of a human who loves Phoebe and a demon who wants to destroy the Halliwell sisters. Even after his end, the drama continued.
Actor Julian McMahon nailed the role and then went on to become a big television star. He also has that magic spell that makes him age well. He seems even better looking with a little salt and pepper in his hair and more lines on his face. It's easy to see why Phoebe fell for his character.
Alyssa Milano (Phoebe)
It is highly likely that Alyssa Milano really is a magical witch of some sort because she has shown very few signs of aging since Charmed first aired in 1998. As the middle Halliwell sister, Phoebe, she probably had the least amount of magical skill as her sisters, but Phoebe's powers did eventually grow and evolve. There was that ill-fated romance with the half-demon Cole, but fans forgave her and mourned with her during her heartbreak.
In real life, Milano is an outspoken strong woman who often tweets her displeasure with the state of the world and modern U.S. politics. She's involved with several charities and remains an activist for women, using her power as a celebrity to try to make a difference in her world.
Drew Fuller (Chris)
Drew Fuller looks a little scruffier now than he did when he first appeared on Charmed. Fuller didn't show up until season five, but his character's storyline really came to fruition in seasons six.
Fuller portrayed Chris Halliwell, the second oldest son of Piper and Leo. He was fully grown on Charmed because he came from the future to prevent his older brother, Wyatt, from becoming an evil dictator in the future. He eventually was taken out in the past - right before Piper gave birth to his baby self. It's all very wibbly wobbly timey wimey.
Fuller has been busy ever since, including playing a recurring role on Army Wives and guest roles on NCIS: Los Angeles and Longmire. He also has a string of movies under his belt.
Rose McGowan (Paige)
Rose McGowan stepped in to fill the void left with Doherty's departure. The series added her character, Paige, as a long-lost half-sister to the Halliwells (keeping to the show's theme of the "power of three"). She is the daughter of a witch and whitelighter, which eventually leads her to having angelic-like powers.
McGowan has changed a lot since she first appeared on the show. At the time, she seemed an innocent fresh-faced young woman, an actress with nothing but star power. She continued to work, but recently, she resurfaced in pop culture as an outspoken member of the #metoo community, sharing her stories of how she suffered from harassment and assault while working in Hollywood. Now, she's calling out every abuser and harasser on social media and TV.
Dorian Gregory (Darryl)
Witches who go up against minions of darkness need to have a few mortals on their side, especially when things go sideways. One of those mortals who was very important in the lives of the Halliwell sisters was Darryl Morris, a police officer who at first is suspicious of the sisters but who eventually gets brought into their secret world. He spends a lot of time helping the sisters cover up cases that involves monsters and demons and eventually becomes a good friend to them. But Daryl and his family move away in season seven and that's the last fans saw of him.
In real life, his actor, Dorian Gregory, still appears on television occasionally, including in a small guest role on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Kaley Cuoco (Billie)
Before there ever was a show called The Big Bang Theory, television fans knew Kaley Cuoco as Billie Jenkins, a young college student and witch who becomes the charge of Paige once Paige decides to take on Whitelighter duties (being half Whitelighter herself).
The only thing that Billie wants to do, though, is find her sister, kidnapped by the Triad 15 years before the Halliwells meet her. Once they are reunited, she goes dark side because her sister is under the influence of demons.
Cuoco seems to have also been subject to the magic that keeps the women of Charmed looking young and beautiful. She is now the bombshell star of The Big Bang Theory, and even has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Michael Bailey Smith (Belthazor)
Michael Bailey Smith is sort of like Doug Jones: most people would not recognize him because most of the roles he has done as an actor have been under heavy makeup and prosthetics.
On Charmed, Smith was Belthazor, the demon counterpart of Cole. Although Julian McMahon portrayed Cole when he was human, Smith is the actor who stepped into the heavily made up role of Cole's demon version. The demon Belthazor appeared in Charmed seasons three and four, but after that Smith went on to bigger and better things.
He had a recurring role on My Name Is Earl, as well as roles in The Hills Have Eyes, House, Pair of Kings, and Shameless. He has also done roles in several movies requiring heavy makeup and prosthetics.
Rebecca Balding (Elise)
Before she appeared on Charmed, TV fans knew Rebecca Balding as Carol David on Soap. On Charmed, though, she was Elise Rothman, which would serve as her last major role in pretty much anything. In fact, there aren't very many photos of her available after her stint on the series.
Charmed introduced Elise in season four as the editor-in-chief of The Bay Mirror, the newspaper that Phoebe worked for as an advice columnist. She and Phoebe became close friends and their relationship was almost that of a mother and daughter. Although she had no knowledge of magic in the beginning, the sisters eventually trusted her as an ally.
Her look changed mostly through her hair on the series, as shown above (the first photo is from season four, the last photo is from season eight).
Ted King (Inspector Trudeau)
Officer Andy Trudeau (portrayed by actor Ted King) was a trusted friend to the Halliwell sisters and was one of the first police officers to become an ally to their cause, thanks to his childhood friendship and close relationship with Prue (he was her first boyfriend). He didn't last very long, though, because in the season one finale, a demon took his life.
King went on to work on General Hospital, One Life To Live, and Prison Break. He also has had guest roles on other television shows, as well as roles in movies that date right up to the present. King seems to have embraced the silver fox mentality, because his hair is now peppered with gray, unlike during his time on Charmed.
Greg Vaughan (Dan)
During Charmed's season two, we meet the hunky boy next door (literally), Dan Gordon, as portrayed by Greg Vaughan. A former baseball player with a bum knee, he quickly melts the heart of Piper and actually dates her before she ever falls for Leo. Eventually, after his involvement with the Halliwell sisters, Piper casts a spell on him to make him forget her, the sisters and magic, and he moves away so that he can get on with his life.
Vaughan has changed dramatically since his time on Charmed. He's now a leading man on Days of Our Lives with gray hair and a beard. He doesn't even resemble the young man who lived next door to the Halliwell sisters now. But there's no denying that he actually now looks even better.
Jennifer Rhodes (Grams)
Penny Halliwell, more lovingly known as "Grams," is the maternal grandmother of the Halliwell sisters. She was also the person who bound the girls' powers for their own protection - although they later gained their powers back.
She acted as a surrogate mother to the girls after their mother's death until she passed away 20 years later. That didn't stop her from keeping an eye on the girls and her spirit remained a part of their lives long after.
Jennifer Rhodes, the actor who portrayed Grams, embraced her silver hair, but like the other women of Charmed, she seems to have aged gracefully and looks as good now as she did then. She still turns up on television from time to time, usually in guest roles.
James Read (Victor)
Victor Bennett wasn't exactly a very good father to the Halliwell sisters, at least in the beginning. As a mortal, he found it difficult adjusting to a life with magic, which he didn't learn about until after he married the sisters' mother.
He believed magic was dangerous and did not want his girls exposed to it. Eventually, he lost that argument and left his wife and his daughters. They were only reunited again when the girls were adults.
The actor who played him, James Read, went on to star in Wildfire, Persons Unknown, and Days of Our Lives. He is definitely a little more gray now, but still managed to get some of that special Charmed magic that prevents bad aging.
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