Why Carol Corbett From Lucifer Looks So Familiar

Among the considerable number of TV shows based on DC comic books that came out in the 2010s, the Tom Ellis-starring "Lucifer" makes a solid case for itself as the most interesting. Starting out on the Fox network in 2016, the metaphysical procedural lacks the melodramatic tropes of The CW's "Arrowverse" cluster of shows; it's a little more comfortable delving into a network TV-friendly degree of sleaze and dark humor, and its cult following was strong enough to justify three more seasons on Netflix after Fox canceled "Lucifer" in 2018. It's certainly not unprecedented for a DC series to get canceled and then uncanceled, but it's hardly the norm.  

During the final 10 episodes of this incarnation of Lucifer Morningstar's streaming adventures, Detective Carol Corbett (Scott Porter) shows up as a love interest for Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia). If "Lucifer" fans think Carol looks familiar, that's probably because Porter has been appearing in television and movies since the mid-'00s. He's also an accomplished voiceover actor and musician, but the Omaha native's live-action endeavors are what really put him on the map. Here's where else you might have seen him on screen.

Scott Porter has mostly worked in television over the years, but he also played an important part in a misunderstood and historically significant would-be blockbuster.  

In 2008, the Wachowski sisters followed up their ludicrously successful "Matrix" trilogy with "Speed Racer" — an adaptation of a classic anime that was definitely misunderstood by critics and audiences and had the crummy timing of hitting theaters the same month as "Iron Man," the first installment of what became the MCU. But films with entirely digital backgrounds were still something of a curiosity in the late '00s, making "Speed Racer" something of a groundbreaking special effects project, if also probably not the Wachowskis' best movie. Even though his character, Rex Racer, ostensibly dies in flashbacks, Porter can still say he contributed to a one-of-a-kind slice of sci-fi-fantasy cinema.

"At first it's a little bit intimidating. You're a little bit lost; you don't know what to do," said Porter during the "Speed Racer" press junket when asked about acting in front of a green screen. "The great thing is that they have such great actors on this film that even if two of you are on green screen, you're getting so much from the other actors." 

He continued, "The toughest part was being on the racetrack, because it was just me in a cockpit with a complete green screen around me. Luckily, the directors are so fantastic at letting you know exactly what's happening that ... it's easy to imagine yourself in that world."

Even though "Speed Racer" is a $120 million film with major movie stars involved, if you look at Carol Corbett and think to yourself, "I think I've seen him in something else before," that "something else" is more than likely not "Speed Racer." Odds are, you're recalling Scott Porter from his 42 episodes of NBC's 2006 high school sports drama, "Friday Night Lights," which established Jason Katims as one of the era's most notable TV showrunners and helped launch a handful of young actors from the cast — Jesse Plemons, for example — into stardom.

In "FNL," Porter played Jason Street, the star quarterback of the Dillon Panthers who loses the use of his legs when a play goes tragically awry in the pilot episode. Porter moved on to other projects before the end of "FNL" Season 3, but his portrayal of a once-worshiped athletic star coping with physical disability and the emotional fallout of his post-sports life manages to resonate, even in a series that also includes performances by acting heavyweights like Michael B. Jordan and Jurnee Smollett. 

"Friday Night Lights" got spectacular reviews while it was on the air, and it's probably fair to suggest that positive word of mouth continues to garner "FNL" new viewers more than a decade after its 2011 cancellation. The same cannot exactly be said for "Hart of Dixie," which ran on The CW from 2011 to 2015. A starring vehicle for Rachel Bilson of "The O.C." fame, "Hart of Dixie" begins when doctor and ex-Manhattanite Zoe Hart (Bilson) moves to Bluebell, Alabama, after some professional and personal setbacks in the Big Apple. Upon arrival in Alabama, Zoe meets one of the show's other main characters — lawyer George Tucker, played by Scott Porter. Though clearly not without its supporters, "Hart of Dixie" has more or less faded into TV obscurity in the years since it took a bow after four seasons.

However, Porter is credited as appearing in all 76 episodes, which means his performance as George Tucker technically lasted much longer than any of the other roles he's ever worked on. So if the sight of Carol Corbett reminds you of the Obama Administration's second term for reasons you can't explain, you haven't gone crazy — you're just remembering George Tucker from "Hart of Dixie."  

"He's the town golden boy who ran away for reasons unknown to go to law school and get an Ivy League education and practice law in a big city," Porter said of George while promoting the show. "He missed it, so he came back home. That's who George Tucker is." 

These days, the type of soapy teen dramas we used to associate with The CW — for example, "Gilmore Girls," "Dawson's Creek," and "One Tree Hill" — seem like they'd make better fits for Netflix, which is currently streaming "Never Have I Ever," "Wednesday," and most pertinently to Scott Porter's career, "Ginny & Georgia." The latter program co-stars Porter as Paul Randolph, the crooked mayor of Wellsbury, Massachusetts. "Ginny & Georgia" is widely recognized for getting ripped to smithereens by a Taylor Swift stan mob in 2021 and definitely not being anything like "Gilmore Girls," despite the similar mother-daughter age dynamic between the two title characters and the quirky New England setting. 

The first episode of "Ginny & Georgia" aired the same year "Lucifer" ended, and it's honestly hard to say if the two show's audiences are likely to cross over much. That said, "Ginny & Georgia" is the most heavily promoted project Porter's currently involved in, so if by some fluke you're a few years late to the party on "Lucifer" but already saw "Ginny & Georgia" Season 1, that's probably where you know Porter from.

Plot details of "Ginny and Georgia" Season 2 are currently unknown, but Season 1 ends with Mayor Randolph engaged to Georgia who, as it turns out, has committed more murders than Lorelai, Rory, or even Emily Gilmore could ever dream of. 

"What I am worried about is whether Paul makes it out the other side," Porter told OK Magazine. "Because all the people that have actually been married to Georgia, things don't end well, so we will have to see what happens."