Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Perfectly Acknowledged A Major Casting Change

Recasting a main character can be awkward. The audience is well aware that there is a new face in the mix portraying a familiar character, and it is easy for things to go wrong. However, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend still managed to flawlessly pull off recasting the early series regular, Greg Serrano.

Initially, Greg was portrayed by Santino Fontana. The original Greg was a cynical, pessimistic alcoholic. He worked at Home Base to afford his lifestyle but was not the happiest person. Instead, Greg seemed bitter about how his life was turning out. However, this all played into the brilliance of how when Crazy Ex-Girlfriend brought Greg back into the fold, they did so with him now being portrayed by Skylar Astin.

The new Greg still has some of his previous snark, but part of the genius in recasting the character comes from the decision to highlight personal growth for Greg and Rebecca.

Last, Rebecca and Greg saw each other; they were saying goodbye at the airport when Greg decided he finally needed to get out of West Covina, declaring that his relationship with Rebecca was not getting either of them anywhere.

Two years later, Rebecca and Greg have undergone massive development. Rebecca is working toward improving her life. She is on a healthier path. Rebecca picked herself up and recognized what changes she needed to make to get to a healthier place. While Rebecca has not completed her self-growth journey, she has undoubtedly made strides.

Meanwhile, although Greg has not been on-screen since his season two leave, he has gone through his own personal growth. Greg has worked to be in recovery. He is interested in possibilities for his future and sees how he can go places. Greg no longer has the bitter resentment for West Covina that had been so obvious.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend uses Greg’s recast to acknowledge that he and Rebecca have come so far since they last interacted and that change can affect perspective. However, that does not mean the series avoids making a handful of meta jokes, either. It even helps ground the recasting decision to make fun of it.

Rebecca can see that Greg is an entirely new person now and questions how no one else notices. But, the question is written off as Greg being Rebecca’s ex-boyfriend, and given how long it had been since they had seen each other, it makes sense that he would be so different to her. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend acknowledges that the role has been taken over by someone else in a way that allows for a quick way to move past the fact.

Greg Serrano is an integral part of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but his recast never feels like he is an entirely different person in season four than who he was at the beginning. He has certainly developed, but the essence of what made him who he is remains, just with a shift in how he views the world and makes decisions.

Making jokes about being recast allows them to poke some fun at the situation and give a wink to the viewers. Santino Fontana and Skylar Astin each got to portray different iterations of Greg Serrano, but both portrayals felt true to who the character was and who he grew to become.