The Good Wife was a popular courtroom drama on CBS that ran from 2009 to 2016. The show starred Julianna Margulies as the main character. Juliana played Alicia Florrick, the wife of a disgraced former state's attorney trying to piece her life back together after the fallout from her husband's affair and suspected corruption. Fans of the show watched as Alicia navigated the challenges of resuscitating her legal career and the pressure of supporting her husband after his very public fall from grace.
Since The Good Wife finale in 2016, many of the cast members have stayed busy with new and interesting roles, and gone on to achieve continued success in their careers.
Julianna Margulies (Alicia Florrick)
We'll start off with the star of the show herself, Julianna Margulies -- She has made numerous TV appearances since The Good Wife ended its run. She appeared as Kitty Montgomery in AMC's Dietland and as Catherine Brant in the Showtime series Billions. In 2019, she appeared as Dr. Nancy Jaax in the National Geographic series The Hot Zone. Most recently, she has appeared as Laura Peterson in the Apple TV+ series, The Morning Show, alongside Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Anniston.
Christine Baranski (Diane Lockhart)
Christine Baranski played Diane Lockhart, the formidable senior attorney at Lockhart Gardner, the law firm that offered Alicia Florrick a position after her fifteen year absence from practicing law. Being part mentor and part adversary, Diane was a notable character on The Good Wife and had a big influence over Alicia and the events of the series.
Christine Baranski was so memorable as Diane, she went on to star in her own spinoff to the series, The Good Fight, which premiered in 2017 and ran for six seasons. Fans of Christine can currently watch her in the cast of The Gilded Age on HBO Max.
Josh Charles (Will Gardner)
Josh Charles played the memorable Will Gardner, another named partner at the firm of Lockhart Gardner. Will and Alicia's relationship went through ups and downs throughout the show, with phases of both rekindled romance and alienation. The chemistry between Will and Alicia was memorable, but fans may have stronger memories of his abrupt departure from the show.
Since leaving The Good Wife, Josh Charles has gone on to make multiple television appearances including in HBO's miniseries We Own This City, which aired in 2022. He has also appeared in The Power on Amazon Prime which premiered in 2023.
Archie Panjabi (Kalinda Sharma)
Archie Panjabi played Kalinda Sharma, the enigmatic investigator at Lockhart Gardner. There were few subjects who could outsmart Kalinda when she set her mind to discovering the truth of the case. Panjabi left The Good Wife in 2015 amid rumors of conflict on the set. Despite the murky circumstances of her departure, Panjabi left her mark on the series with Kalinda being one of the most interesting and impactful characters throughout the course of the show.
Fans of Archie Panjabi can watch her performances in multiple TV series, including the Peacock original Departure, which aired from 2019 to 2022. She currently appears in the Apple TV+ series, Hijack, which premiered in 2023.
Matt Czuchry (Cary Agos)
Matt Czuchry played Cary Agos in The Good Wife. As Alicia's Florricks rival in the early seasons of the show, Cary was motivated to compete with Alicia for the one available permanent position at the firm. Over time, Cary and Alicia's relationship evolved with the two trusting and relying on one another. In the later seasons, Alicia and Cary became partners and opened their own firm. Since the show ended, Matt Czuchry has appeared as Dr. Conrad Hawkins on Fox's medical drama The Resident, which ran for six seasons and ended in 2023. Czuchry has also appeared as Dexter Harding Jr. in the newest season of American Horror Story.
Chris Noth (Peter Florrick)
Chris Noth played the husband of the titular character on The Good Wife. It was Peter's dubious actions that set the events of the show in motion and required his wife to be as good as she was.
After the end of The Good Wife, Chris Noth returned to playing another of his iconic roles, Mr. Big. For six seasons he played the handsome yet unattainable love interest of Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City. Noth resumed the role of Mr. Big as Carrie's husband in the Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That. Although his run on the spinoff was brief, it brought back a character that largely defined his career. Noth also appeared in the CBS series The Equalizer, playing William Bishop, the mentor to the show's star, Queen Latifah.
Carrie Preston (Elsbeth Tascioni)
Carrie Preston brought welcome comic relief to tense moments in The Good Wife with her role as the unconventional yet brilliant Elsbeth Tascioni. Elsbeth had a style all her own, but she could be counted on to come through for her clients in some of the most challenging cases featured on the show.
Preston returned to play the character again on The Good Fight alongside Christine Baranski, and she is now featured in the title role of the new CBS drama series Elsbeth, which premiered in February 2024.
Alan Cumming (Eli Gold)
Alan Cumming managed to be both ruthless and lovable in his role as the shrewd campaign manager, Eli Gold, on The Good Wife. Eli took on the insurmountable task of restoring Peter Florrick's reputation and rescuing his political career after his infamous press conference that ended his time as state's attorney and resulted in criminal charges.
Fans of Alan Cumming can see him in the many prominent roles he has played throughout his career, including as Nightcrawler in X-men. Since The Good Wife ended, he has continued the role of Eli Gold in two episodes of The Good Fight. He has also appeared in the Apple Plus series Schmigadoon alongside Keegan Michael-Key and Cecily Strong. In January 2023, Cumming began hosting The Traitors US on Peacock, a reality show featuring a murder mystery game in which the contestants compete to win a $250,000 prize.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Jason Crouse)
Jeffrey Dean Morgan played private investigator Jason Crouse in the final season of The Good Wife. As an investigator, Jason assists Alicia with the challenges that come along with managing her own firm and navigating the ongoing battles with Peter Florrick's career and corruption charges.
Morgan has maintained a flourishing career since his time on The Good Wife. He has appeared in multiple feature films including Walkaway Joe and The Unholy. However, his most notable role in recent memory is as Negan in The Walking Dead. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance as Negan is both unsettling and captivating, resulting in his continued appearance in The Walking Dead: Dead City.
All of these talented cast members contributed to the show's seven successful seasons, and fans have plenty of options to view their favorite stars in current roles. The Good Wife can be found streaming on Paramount Plus for those of us who want to go back and revisit the drama of Lockhart Gardner.
