Adapted from the 2009 Stephen King novel, “Under the Dome” presents a strange and frightening world where an entire town is suddenly enclosed in an invisible, impermeable dome so powerful that its initial installation literally slices a cow in half. Closed off from the outside world who can only look on in horror, the inhabitants of Chester’s Mill struggle to adjust to their new reality while seeking answers about who created the dome and why.

A record-breaking series at its release and one of Stephen King’s most popular TV shows, “Under the Dome” presented a compelling sci-fi vision of a world filled with the type of colorful characters we’ve come to know and love from the famed horror writer. From Dean Norris’s councilman Big Jim Rennie to Mike Vogel’s troubled U.S. Special Forces Iraq War vet Barbie, the redemption arcs and relationships that play out under that dome are a big part of what makes the show worth watching. While those characters ended with the show’s cancellation, many of the actors who played them are still busy making great television today. 

Cut off from her husband by the dome, deputy and later sheriff Linda Esquivel, played by Martinez, ultimately ended up sacrificing herself to save Barbie. After leaving the series, Martinez had no problem getting cast in main roles in several promising but ultimately short-lived network series.

In 2015, she appeared alongside Ryan Phillipe and Juliette Lewis in the brooding ABC adaptation of the Australian detective series “Secrets and Lies.” She went on to play an MMA fighter on the drama “Kingdom” before getting cast as a Chicago detective on the single-season procedural “APB” and later a refugee from the future in the sci-fi series “The Crossing.” In 2019, she helped produce and starred in the severely panned Netflix sci-fi miniseries “The I-Land” before going on to appear in “The Fugitive,” “The Stand,” and “The Twilight Zone” the following year. More recently, Martinez was cast in the 2024 Vince Vaughn-starring Apple TV+ detective black comedy “Bad Monkey.”

After her role as disgraced journalist Julia Shumway ended with the series finale of “Under the Dome,” Canadian actress Rachelle Lefevre had a fairly steady stream of television appearances. She competed on two different reality TV shows “Nuclear Nerd Games” and “Battle of the Network Stars,” while also guest-starring on several popular series, including “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Law & Order,” and “Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams.”

Lefevre has also had a couple of short-lived main roles on TV shows after leaving “Under the Dome.” In 2019, she played a lawyer who focuses on overturning unlawful convictions on the Fox series “Proven Innocent.” She joined the cast of the Lifetime series “Mary Kills People” for its second season in 2018. Most recently, Lefevre broke into the Hallmark universe, appearing in both the romantic comedy “Moriah’s Lighthouse” and the mystery “The Secrets of Bella Vista.”

After the ending of “Under the Dome,” Junior Rennie actor Alexander Koch has only had a handful of roles — including music videos. In 2017, he appeared in a music video for Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Julie Michaels’ debut single “Issues,” and in 2019, he appeared in a video for the Brooklyn indie rock band Vivian Girls’ song “Something to Do.”

Koch also guest starred in the Elizabeth Olsen-starring Facebook Watch series “Sorry For Your Loss” in 2018. He went on to appear in three episodes of the short-lived CBS military drama “The Code” followed by three episodes as Pete Daily on “Lucifer” shortly after the show’s move to Netflix. In 2022, Koch guest-starred on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and in 2023, he appeared in the hiking-themed Netflix romantic-comedy “Happiness for Beginners.”

In the years since his “Under the Dome” role as Barbie ended, Mike Vogel has had his share of regular roles. Shortly after the series ended, Vogel starred in the Hallmark romance “In My Dreams” with JoBeth Williams and Katharine McPhee. The following year, he was cast in the Syfy miniseries adaptation of the 1953 Arthur C. Clarke novel “Childhood’s End,” which contains similar themes to “Under the Dome.”

From 2017 through 2018, Vogel starred in the NBC military action series “The Brave,” which was canceled after only one season. He went on to play Cooper in the two-season erotic series “Sex/Life” on Netflix. In 2021 while starring on “Sex/Life,” Vogel took time out to rather convincingly play JFK on the “Death Valley” segment of the “American Horror Story” season “Double Feature.” He was also recently cast as attorney Bill Boltz on the Prime Video crime series “Scarpetta” with Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Former “Breaking Bad” actor Dean Norris, who played Big Jim on “Under the Dome,” has also had a fairly steady stream of work since leaving the series. His rather long list of guest appearances since the series ended includes voice acting spots on “American Dad!,” “Sofia the First,” and “Mack & Moxy.” He played Ben Franklin in the History miniseries “Sons of Liberty” in 2015 followed by recurring roles on the comedy shows “The Big Bang Theory” and “Girlboss.”

From 2017 through 2022, Norris played Uncle Daddy on the Niecy Nash and Carrie Preston-starring dark comedy series “Claws,” which centers around a New Orleans nail salon that dips into the world of organized crime. He went on to appear in the sitcom “United States of Al” as veteran Art Dugan and starred in the drama “Nova Vita.” Since “Under the Dome” ended, Norris has guest starred on a number of shows including “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Better Call Saul,” “Sons of Liberty,” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” just to name a few.

After “Under the Dome,” Aisha Hinds had a few smaller roles before landing in a main spot on the popular Ryan Murphy series “9-1-1.” In 2015, she appeared on an episode of the teen sex comedy parody series “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.” Hinds went on to play Harriet Tubman in the second season of the period drama “Underground” and was part of the main cast for the miniseries “Shots Fired.”

In 2018, Hinds played Voletta Wallace in the crime drama “Unsolved,” which explores the murders of Tupac Shakur (Marcc Rose) and Biggie Smalls (Wavyy Jonez). The same year, she began playing paramedic Henrietta “Hen” Wilson on “9-1-1,” a role that would include a crossover to that show’s sister series “9-1-1: Lone Star” in 2021. 

Britt Robertson went on to appear in some pretty big shows after leaving “Under the Dome.” She had a recurring role as an assistant on the comedy series “Casual,” and in 2017, she was cast in the main role of businesswoman Sophia Marlowe on the series “Girlboss.” The following year, Robertson had a voice role as Vex on the animated series “Tangled.” She played a public defender in the ABC Shondaland series “For the People,” and had roles on “Little Fires Everywhere” and “Big Sky.”

In 2022, she was cast as an FBI agent in the short-lived “Rookie” spinoff, “The Rookie: Feds.” Although that series did not pan out, her character also got a few episodes on its parent series. According to Deadline, the series plans to continue using her character again in upcoming episodes of “The Rookie.”