Photo: Netflix via MovieStillsDB (jeffw616).
By
Arielle Port
Published 18 minutes ago
Arielle Port started as a TV producer, developing content for Netflix (Firefly Lane, Brazen) and Hallmark (The Santa Stakeout, A Christmas Treasure) before transitioning into entertainment journalism. Her love of story went from interest to lifelong passion while at The University of Pennsylvania, where she fell in with a student-run web series, Classless TV, and it was a gateway drug. Arielle Port has been a Writer for Screen Rant since August 2024. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and more importantly, her cat, Boseman.
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Netflix’s hit series A Man on the Inside is back for season 2, having premiered on November 20. While Charles (Ted Danson) and Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) neatly wrapped up the season-long case in the Man on the Inside season 1 finale, it's exciting to see that some of the characters from Pacific View, like Didi and Ca,l are still part of their lives.
However, a new addition to the Man on the Inside cast is Mary Steenburgen, playing Mona Margadoff, Charles’s love interest. The chemistry is undeniable, which makes sense, as Steenburgen and Danson have been married for 30 years. In casting Danson's real-life wife, A Man on the Inside season 2 tapped into 2025's best TV trnd.
A Man On The Inside, Nobody Wants This, & Matlock Feature The Real-Life Spouses Of Their Stars
Leighton Meester’s guest role as "Abby Loves Smoothies" in the Nobody Wants This season 2 cast generated a lot of buzz because of Meester’s marriage to Adam Brody. Meester's Abby is a childhood friend of Joanne’s, who is married and hiring Noah to perform a baby-naming ceremony for her son. Watching Abby ignore a flummoxed Noah is peak comedy.
While Meester’s episode of Nobody Wants This was highly publicized, it was surprising to see Melanie Lynskey, currently starring not only in Yellowjackets but also in The Last of Us, pop up in CBS’ Matlock reboot. Lynskey is married to Jason Ritter, who stars in Matlock, though their characters didn’t actually share any scenes together in season 2, episode 4.
Lynskey played Debra Palmer, a piece of the puzzle that Kathy Bates’s Madeline Matlock is trying to solve. Lynskey’s scenes with Bates are kinetic, with Lynskey getting to show off a more lighthearted side. This serves as a satisfying moment, since Lynskey once said on The Late Show she would do anything to work with Bates.
However, A Man on the Inside season 2 perfected this trend of casting famous spouses. Steenburgen’s Mona is not a mere cameo for publicity, but an integral part of the sophomore season. Kudos to the decision to have their characters immediately start dating, avoiding the tired will-they, won’t-they trope when Steenburgen was obviously cast because of their relationship.
Television Relies On Star Power More Than Ever
Now that the line between “movie star” and “TV star” has almost completely vanished, television needs its A-lister. In today’s landscape, Nicole Kidman is just as likely to headline a limited series as a feature film, and even Meryl Streep — long considered the pinnacle of prestige cinema — now appears more frequently on television than in cinemas.
This shift is driven in large part by the rise of prestige TV, which offers shorter television seasons, often running 10 episodes or fewer. With lighter time commitments, the medium has become far more attractive to top-tier talent who no longer need to sign multi-year, 22-episode contracts to anchor a show.
In a saturated marketplace where hundreds of new titles debut each year, star power and recognizable IP act as shortcuts for capturing attention. Casting a well-known actor provides a built-in shorthand: audiences feel like they already know the performer, and by extension, the character.
Ted Danson in A Man on the Inside is a perfect example. After Danson's decades on television in shows like Cheers and The Good Place, viewers arrive at A Man on the Inside already trusting him, instinctively aligning with Charles before the plot even unfolds.
What shows like A Man on the Inside are increasingly doing now — casting not only stars but also their equally famous spouses — pushes this strategy to the next level. It doesn’t just leverage fanbases; it pulls figures from the actors’ real lives into the fictional world, creating an added layer of novelty, publicity, and audience curiosity.
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A Man on the Inside
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Ted Danson
Charles Nieuwendyk
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Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Emily
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A Man on the Inside
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