Why Farah From Fate: The Winx Saga Looks So Familiar

What do you get when you cross a Nickelodeon series about magical fairies with the creator of The Vampire Diaries? You end up with the dark, angsty teen drama Fate: The Winx Saga, which is already blowing up on Netflix. 

For those of you who weren't tweens in the 2000s, Winx Club was a cartoon about a group of fairies who go to school to learn how to harness their gifts and fight against the forces of evil. Now that those girls who watched this show growing up are adults, they can indulge in Fate: The Winx Saga, a new version of the tale that's decidedly not appropriate for Nickelodeon.

A TV-MA rating is just one of the many changes the reboot has made to the original series. A host of characters who didn't appear in the cartoon were created for the reboot, and one of the most prominent is the headmistress of Alfea, Farah Dowling, as portrayed by Eve Best. Farah may be new, but Best certainly isn't. She boasts an extensive resumé. You weren't placed under a spell if you thought she looked familiar, as she's appeared in critically acclaimed TV series and Academy Award-winning movies alike. 

Eve Best starred in a litany of television shows early in her career, mostly British series like The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells and Vital Signs. She made herself known to American audiences in a big way by landing the role of Dr. Eleanor O'Hara on the hit Showtime series Nurse Jackie. 

She appeared regularly on the show, starting in 2009 as a close friend and confidante to Nurse Jackie Peyton (Edie Falco). Over time, she appeared less often, and was eventually written off the show via motherhood and an international move. She makes one final appearance when Nurse Jackie throws a sobriety party, and once more when the central hospital in the series shuts its doors for good. 

On the show, she portrays a powerful woman who knows what she wants, an experience that would serve her well when she went on to portray British royalty.

The King's Speech may not be entirely historically accurate, but that clearly didn't seem to bother Academy voters when they awarded the film Best Picture. It went into the 83rd Oscars ceremony with the highest number of nominations out of any other film that year, ultimately winning the biggest prize of the night over the likes of The Social Network, Inception, and Black Swan.

The film mostly follows the exploits of King George VI (Colin Firth), who starts seeing a speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), so that he can deliver a speech to the people of the U.K. as the country declares war on Germany. The movie features a who's who of British royalty from the 20th century, including Queen Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), and his wife, Wallis Simpson (Eve Best).

Wallis' most prominent scene in the film is when she greets George and Elizabeth to her and her husband's little soiree. Despite all of George's work with Lionel, he still finds himself stuttering when he needs to speak with his brother, providing greater insight into this fascinating character. 

What would you do if you had the power to control your own fate? That's the central question at the heart of Stan Lee's Lucky Man. And yes, we're talking about that Stan Lee. Who knew the guy had a think for British TV?

The show centers on a detective by the name of Harry Clayton (James Nesbitt), who comes into possession of a mystical bracelet that grants him the ability to control luck. Eve Best plays his estranged wife, Anna, who left him as a result of his gambling addiction, which takes a significant turn once he's able to supernaturally get his way out of debt. 

Lucky Man was Best's most recent TV appearance before Fate: The Winx Saga. From looking at her massive body of work, it's clear this actress isn't just great; she's the best (sorry, couldn't help ourselves).