Why Dr. Natalie Manning From Chicago Med Looks So Familiar

Over the course of its already lengthy small-screen run, "Chicago Med" has seen more than a few key cast members make their way out of the hallowed halls of Gaffney Medical Center. But fans of the "One Chicago" medical drama might agree few of the series' departures were quite as heartbreaking as that of Gaffney's longtime pediatric ER specialist, Dr. Natalie Manning. 

Dr. Manning debuted on "Chicago Med" during the series' pilot episode. And over the ensuing 119 episodes, she became one of the key players in several personal and professional dramas unfolding in the Gaffney ER and beyond. She, of course, was also at the center of one of the biggest romantic plot lines on "Chicago Med," capturing the heart of Gaffney mainstay Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) for much of her series tenure.

That relationship gets complicated and then some as the series progresses, and ultimately comes to a head just before Manning's abrupt Season 7 exit. But every step of the way, her melodramatic tale was brought to heartfelt life by the stellar work of Torrey DeVitto. Here's where you've seen the former "Chicago Med" star before.   

You may not realize it, but Torrey DeVitto has been a working actor for two full decades now, earning her first screen credits in the early 2000s with minor roles on "Dawson's Creek," "Scrubs," and "The King of Queens." In 2008, she even turned up for a three-episode arc on the beloved Nickelodeon series "Drake & Josh." That same year, the actor also caught a pretty big break when she joined the cast of the hit CW teen drama "One Tree Hill."

Fans of that long-running series will surely have no trouble placing DeVitto's face as she played one of its more notorious baddies, "Nanny" Carrie. The character earned a couple of more colorful nicknames during her 14-episode arc too, including "Crazy Carrie," and "Psycho Carrie." And if you recall her arc on "One Tree Hill," you know those names were well-earned as DeVitto's devious caregiver tried harder than most to earn the title of "homewrecker." 

She was largely unsuccessful in that endeavor, and she paid for her crimes against the Scott family in a surprisingly brutal fashion by "One Tree Hill" standards. But any fan of the show can agree DeVitto's delightfully unhinged work in the role made Carrie a character who viewers would not soon forget.

Dr. Natalie Manning is arguably Torrey DeVitto's most recognizable role to date. But "Chicago Med" is not the first time the actor has played a doctor on the small screen. In fact, she checked that box off for the first time a few years before her "One Chicago" debut, doing so on another program that called The CW home.

That program was "The Vampire Diaries." And it found DeVitto stepping into the role of Dr. Meredith Fell for a 12-episode arc spread over the show's 3rd and 4th seasons. It also found Dr. Fell getting in deep and then some with several of the beautiful, blood-sucking beasts at the heart of the narrative. She does so after meeting Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis), whom Dr. Fell treats after he gets hit by a car, and miraculously walks away all but unharmed. Intrigued by his speedy recovery, Dr. Fell pursues and eventually begins dating him.

Their relationship is rocky to say the least, particularly after Alaric becomes the Darkness. Dr. Fell's own duplicitous nature and questionable practices don't exactly make things any easier, of course. But while she was around, DeVitto helped make the not-entirely-good doctor a character worthy of mention in the blood-stained annals of "The Vampire Diaries." 

Interestingly enough, Torrey DeVitto's 12-episode stint on "The Vampire Diaries" came and went as the actor played a regular role on another small-screen hit, "Pretty Little Liars." That teen drama would air a whopping seven full seasons of mystery-driven action on Freeform between 2010 and 2017. And the series would help make stars of central up-and-comers Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell, and Ashley Benson, who appeared in all 161 episodes of the series that made it to air. 

Though DeVitto didn't log quite that many episodes, she did appear in every season of "Pretty Little Liars," racking up 40 credits as Melissa Hastings. Initially penned as a primary antagonist, Melissa would go on to wear many different hats as the series untangled its almost comically sticky webs of lies. Whether you knew her as Melissa, Black Swan, Queen of Hearts, or Demented Doll, she remained a figure of constant intrigue from her first series appearance to her last. And if you ever saw DeVitto playing the part on "Pretty Little Liars," you know the actor had an absolute blast exploring each and every facet of the character.

As she's continued to earn accolades for her work in teen dramas and network hits, Torrey DeVitto has also taken on a far more festive small screen persona, fronting several made-for-TV holiday flicks. The first of those came in Lifetime's 2012 offering, "The Real St. Nick," in which she plays a cynical psychiatrist who falls for a wounded man who may or may not be the jolly character of the title.

A couple of years later, DeVitto hit the holiday movie big time when she scored her first Hallmark Channel hit "Best Christmas Party Ever." In the years since, DeVitto has fronted several more television projects for the greetings card company, including holiday favorites "Write Before Christmas," "The Christmas Promise," and "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The actor hasn't stopped at fronting holiday-centric fare for Hallmark Channel, either, with DeVitto also taking the lead role in the 2022's fantastical mystery "Rip in Time," in which she plays an organic farmer swept off her feet by a man claiming to be from the year 1787.

Given DeVitto's clear affinity for working with the Hallmark team, it seems likely the collaboration is only just beginning. And we cannot wait to see what sticky sweet Hallmark treats she'll line up next.