What Happened to...? is an investigation into the whereabouts of former icons.
Dear Sally, it's been 23 years since Felicity Porter followed Ben Covington to UNY on the hit WB drama Felicity.
The love child of then-fledgling creators J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves, Felicity forewent flashy twists and action sequences in favor of the quiet, painstaking horrors of unrequited love and all-night cram sessions. Over the course of four seasons, viewers were treated to low-stakes college drama full of cozy sweaters, indie music, and autumnal lighting. And as the titular heroine (Keri Russell) juggled classes and a perpetual love triangle with Ben (Scott Speedman) and Noel (Scott Foley), her brainy best friend Elena was there to provide constant reality checks and quippy comebacks.
Tangi Miller played Elena throughout the show until(spoiler alert) she was unceremoniously killed in a near-final episode only to be bafflingly resurrected in the series finale. But more on that later.
“I literally went from being a student to being in Hollywood,” Miller told VICE via Zoom from her home in Atlanta. “When I got Felicity, it was just like, wow. To be thrown right into the middle of the mix where you're on a really hot show where the girl cuts her hair and everybody's talking about it. It was wonderful. I wouldn't change it.”
‘Hell-evision’ dreams
The oldest of six kids, Tangi Olivia Miller—her mom loved Motown singer Tammi Terrell and thought “Tangi” was a nice nod to “Tammi”—was born and raised in a religious household in Miami where television was referred to as “hell-evision.”
“My family was very, very strict. I wasn’t allowed to watch television. My mother believed that you should be doing stuff that was Jesus-like,” Miller said. “Love Boat was like a sin. It was a little bit cuckoo.”
She left home to study business and marketing at Alabama State University, an HBCU in Montgomery. But by her junior year, it was clear acting, which she'd always done as a hobby, was her passion. “It was an escape. That’s all it was at first,” she said, “and then I realized that I loved it.” An apprenticeship with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival followed, and then she headed west to study acting in graduate school at the University of California, Irvine.
Those college experiences weren’t exactly what Felicity and the gang experienced at the fictional University of New York. “There were elements of it, but we didn't have those big beautiful dorms,” Miller said. “[When I got to the Felicity set], I was like this dorm is just too extravagant. She wouldn’t have this big room.”
Landing Felicity
Armed with an agent out of grad school, Miller secured guest parts on Arli$$ and Michael Hayes before landing an audition for a supporting role on a new 1998 pilot for The WB called Felicity.
She wowed the casting room with her brazen confidence as she cracked jokes and chatted with two assistants. It was only later that she learned those two people were not, in fact, assistants but the show creators: Abrams and Reeves. “I did not know who they were. I would have been freaking out,” she said. “They looked really young.”
And though she thinks the character of Elena was originally written as Puerto Rican, “they liked me, and I just auditioned and auditioned and auditioned until I won the part.”
Once on the show, Miller said, Abrams frequently invited her to have input into shaping her character and her storylines. “J.J. was innovative. He was really searching for authenticity. He wanted to know if you were in a situation, what would you do? And he listened,” she said. “I remember being like, ‘My character wouldn’t say that. She’s supposed to be smart. She can’t just say stupid stuff unless she’s joking.’ He wanted it to be honest.”
Though a quintessentially New York series on screen, Felicity was filmed mostly on a studio lot in LA. They’d only venture to New York for a few days or weeks each season to shoot exterior street shots and the café scenes at Dean and Deluca. On either coast, Miller remembers the cast all getting along and everyone always being “in a happy place.” Delightfully, she refers to co-star Scott Speedman as “Speedy.”
“Speedy was so crazy. He had to play basketball before we started shooting every day. He was very athletic. I thought he was nuts. But now in hindsight, I’m like, he was really smart because he was getting his workout in first thing before we filmed 12 or 14 hour days,” Miller said. “Keri was so sweet. She was just a nice person, and she’s kind of shy.”
As the show took off and earned Emmy, Golden Globe, and Teen Choice nominations, as well as an NAACP Image Award nod for Miller, the cast found themselves thrust into a new level of fame. And yes, there were plenty of on-set romances. Foley met his future wife, Jennifer Garner, on the show when she appeared in two episodes as Noel's girlfriend, and Russell and Speedman dated for a time. Beyond that, Miller’s lips are sealed.
“I’m not telling, honey,” she said. “But sometimes I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is gonna crash and burn.’ I did not have any, but there were some cute little romances. That’s all you’re getting out of me.”
“Hey, I’m here”
Still, as the only Black main cast member, Miller said she had to make an effort to have her voice heard.
“I feel like I did have to remind them that, hey, I’m here. And this is what I would be feeling. This is what I would be doing. But it wasn’t horrible,” she said. “It wasn't bad because I felt like J.J. and Matt and the team that we had were conscious, as you can see in how they developed the storylines. I heard horror stories from other [Black] folks [on other shows], you know, ‘I’m working on this show and I'm just there,’ as opposed to really being included. I felt like they worked really hard to include me. They were always checking in to see how I was doing and how I was getting along with everybody. I appreciated that.”
During season 1, Gina Prince-Bythewood worked as a consulting producer on the show until she left to direct Love & Basketball. And guest stars included Taraji P. Henson, Tyra Banks, Monica, and, as two of Elena’s love interests, Donald Faison and Kenan Thompson.
“I thought [Faison] just adored me. He said I scared him. I’m like, ‘That was the character! It wasn’t me.’” Miller said. “Elena's supposed to be tough.”
And in the hair and makeup room, Miller's experience on Felicity was better than other sets she’d worked on where she'd have to come to set ready to do her own glam because the stylists didn’t know how to do Black hair or makeup.
“My makeup artist was amazing, and we actually had a Black hairstylist on our show. So I didn’t have those problems on Felicity. But I have had those problems on other shows, where they didn’t even have my [foundation] color, so they were putting body makeup on my face, and I would break out really bad,” she said. “It's so hard to get a job, the last thing that you’re going to complain about is your hair and your makeup. You want to be easy. You want people to call you back. And that’s why I think it’s taken so long, but thank God there are a lot more shows with diverse folks now.”
That ridiculous season 4 twist
Each season of Felicity followed the cast through a different year of college, so ending the show after four years made logical sense. But while the sentimental season 4 episode called “The Graduate” seemed to wrap the series up with a tidy bow as Felicity got her diploma and ended up with Ben, an additional four episodes then aired that were absolutely and completely bonkers.
The spoiler-heavy gist of those final episodes: Felicity and Ben move to California for grad school where he immediately cheats on her, and Felicity wishes she'd chosen Noel instead. For reasons unknown, Elena dies in an offscreen car accident. (“I was superstitious about that. Like, dude, does she need to die?” Miller said. “I thought it was nuts, I’m not going to lie.”) Amid this turmoil, Felicity’s witchy former roommate Meghan performs a spell that sends Felicity back in time to have the chance to choose Noel instead of Ben. Somewhere in the past, Noel dies in a fire. When Felicity comes back to the future in the two-hour series finale, Elena is inexplicably alive, and Felicity ends with everyone celebrating the wedding of Noel (who also came back to life) to someone else.
It’s all wildly different from what the show had been up until that point (though critics didn’t hate it), and the exact reasoning for why it played out the way that it did is murky. At a 2018 reunion panel, Russell said the network had effectively canceled the series and then asked them to film the additional episodes after the intended episode 17 finale. But Miller remembers things differently.
“That's not how it happened, and we never got canceled,” Miller said. “There was even talk about doing another year. They just got creative [with the ending]. You know what I think? J.J. started working on Alias and he wasn’t there as much, and so we started to lose a little bit of his presence. The other writers kind of stepped up more, and people just got kind of kooky with it.”
As for Elena’s miraculous resurrection in the final episode? Abrams and Reeves’ DVD commentary revealed two crucial scenes were cut that showed Felicity, mid-time travel, urging Elena to choose a different grad school far away from the scene of the car accident and thus saving her life in the future.
“I really can’t tell you. It didn’t make any sense to me,” Miller said. “I just remember we were at our wrap party and we were like, ‘That thing was crazy.’ So, I think we sipped a little bit more champagne and were like, ‘Whatever.’”
Post-Felicity
When Felicity ultimately ended in May 2002, “it was very bittersweet,” Miller said. “I was really excited to get to do other things. But as I got older, I realized, wow, we were so lucky. We didn't realize how lucky we were until it was over.”
And when she began looking at other acting gigs, she admitted, “I was a little bit snooty.”
“Once you work on a show like Felicity, everything else is kind of like, ‘Oh, I don't have to do that,’” she said. “And I wanted to create my own opportunities. My representation, they were not happy about that. But I wanted to produce. I wanted to create my own stories.”
After starring in films like Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood and Madea's Family Reunion, Miller shifted her focus to producing and launched her own production company to help tell the stories she wants to about love and relationships. She’s produced more than a dozen films, including Diva Diaries and Love and Other Four Letter Words, and she’s also made time to invest in real estate and travel the world. (She’s been to more than 60 countries and was supposed to go to Antarctica before the pandemic forced her to cancel her trip.)
Now based in Atlanta, Miller continues to produce and work with her non-profit, E.A.T.: Education, Arts, and Travel, which encourages kids to go to college and follow their creative passions. “A lot of times we lose children at middle school age, and we just need to inspire them, to open the door and let them know that you can do this,” she said. “I was the first [person] in my family to go to college. A lot of kids are smart. They just don't have people behind them.”
She’d love to act in another TV drama, and while she doesn’t often stay in touch with her former Felicity castmastes, she’s game for a reboot. “There was talk. I don't know if they were serious or not,” she said. “But that would be too cute. How would you get us together? Maybe Felicity and Elena are both doctors now.”
As for her answer to the most common Felicity question of all?
“I think Felicity really was in love with Ben,” Miller said. “But I was Team Noel.
FAQs
Tangi Miller played Elena throughout the show until (spoiler alert) she was unceremoniously killed in a near-final episode only to be bafflingly resurrected in the series finale.
What is Tangi Miller doing now? ›
She's acting, directing, and producing.
Her most recent onscreen credit is a role in the 2021 rom-com Entanglement, and she has another movie, Nwannem: Sisters, listed as being in pre-production. The actor stuck to her promise to herself and has also focused much of her career on producing.
What happened to Elena on Felicity? ›
Elena is killed in a car accident in season four, but remains alive in alternate timeline due to Felicity's spontaneous time travel.
Who does Ben end up with in Felicity? ›
Instead of merely ending the series with Ben and Felicity graduating, going home to the same grad school, and living happily ever after, show creators Matt Reeves and J.J.
What happens to Felicity's dad in Felicity? ›
Trivia. Felicity discovers that her father left his job at the hospital and is taking sleeping pills and medicine for anxiety. She and her Dad establish a new rapport when she asks him not to protect her and trust her with how he feels.
Who does Ben have a baby with on Felicity? ›
Lauren informs Ben that she got pregnant from their one-night stand; Felicity stresses about her future as an artist.
Did anyone from the Felicity cast date? ›
The love connections
At least two romances went from the screen to reality thanks to Felicity. Keri Russell and Scott Speedman dated during the later half of the show, and Scott Foley married Jennifer Garner, whom he met when she played his season one girlfriend Hannah.
Why was Julie written off Felicity? ›
She cites the main reason for her departure from Felicity (1998) in 2000 was that she needed to grieve for her mother. Her mother had died two years previously and she felt that being on such a prominent show hadn't given her the time or space to do so.
Why did they get rid of Julie on Felicity? ›
Amy Jo Johnson, who starred in the first two seasons of “Felicity,” says she needed to leave the show to “fall apart” somewhere after her mother passed away.
What happens to Ruby's baby on Felicity? ›
After she comes back we learn that she has had an affair with a producer named Wade. She decides to keep her baby and that becomes the downfall of Noel and Ruby's relationship. Eventually, she decides to go home to her parents so they can help her take care of the baby.
Eli is a character in Season 1 of Felicity. He is portrayed by Simon Rex. Felicity loses her virginity to Eli in Season 1 episode 'The Fugue'.
How does Felicity series end? ›
When Felicity comes back to the future in the two-hour series finale, Elena is inexplicably alive, and Felicity ends with everyone celebrating the wedding of Noel (who also came back to life) to someone else.
Did Ben have a baby on Felicity? ›
By the time graduation rolls around, he's made his decision, as the baby, Andrew has been born and Ben finds it hard to be apart. Off to Arizona he goes. That leaves Felicity with the choice of going with him or not. Before this happens, Ben asks her to marry him, and she says yes, until she decides she won't go.
Do Felicity and Noel ever sleep together? ›
Felicity is pained by Ben's chilly silence after Noel revealed that he and Felicity slept together; Noel wallows in self-destructive behavior.
What season does Felicity get pregnant? ›
In season seven Felicity reveals to Oliver that she is pregnant and later gives birth to their daughter, Mia.
Does Felicity have a happy ending? ›
The Arrow series finale culminated in a long-awaited happy ending for both Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen, though the latter reprised the role for The Flash's final season, bidding one final farewell to the Arrowverse.
Is Ben the father of Lauren's baby in Felicity? ›
As the spring semester begins, Lauren tells Ben that she is pregnant, and that he is the father.
What episode does Ben realize he loves Felicity? ›
'Felicity Was Here' (Season 1, Episode 22)
Ben still wants Felicity to go on the road trip with him, finally acknowledging that he is attracted to her and pushing her to admit the same.
Does Felicity sleep with Ben or Noel? ›
Agreeing to do so, she has a change of heart at the thought of watching someone else raise her biological child. Felicity and Noel sleep together on the roof of the loft one night when Felicity is upset about her dad and Ben.
Did Felicity and Ben date in real life? ›
Keri Russell and Scott Speedman followed up Russell's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony with a late-night appearance, where they opened up about playing on-screen love interests, Felicity Porter and Ben Covington, on the WB drama from 1998 to 2002, and the short-lived real-life romance that followed.
Felicity was filmed in part in New York City, and is set at the fictional University of New York (UNY), based on New York University (NYU). Like NYU, UNY is located in Greenwich Village near Washington Square Park, and the school is an important part of the show.
When did Felicity sleep with Ben? ›
Where is Dean and Deluca in Felicity? ›
Dean and Deluca is a business on WB series Felicity, located in New York.
What was in Megan's box on Felicity? ›
No one knows what was in Meghan's box.
The contents of the mysterious box owned by Felicity's roommate Meghan remained unknown for the series' four seasons, and even actress Amanda Foreman isn't exactly sure what it contained — though she has an idea. “I don't know; neither does J.J.,” she said. “It was a device.
Is Felicity pregnant in Felicity? ›
The big news: Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) is pregnant with Oliver's (Stephen Amell) baby, and their daughter will grow up to become Blackstar (Katherine McNamara) in the future.
Who did Felicity go with at the end of Season 1? ›
Through the Sarah McLachlan soundtrack, the show eventually ended with Felicity getting together with Speedman's Ben — well, that was the first ending. Russell pointed out the network canceled the drama and then turned around and asked us to do more.
Does Julie ever come back Felicity? ›
Amy Jo Johnson (Julie Emrick)
She left Felicity at the beginning of the show's third season but appeared as a special guest star in its fourth and final season.
Do they ever show Sally on Felicity? ›
Felicity corresponds with her French tutor, Sally, via cassette tapes (again, how 1998!), a narrative choice that lets viewers know what Felicity is thinking. Sally never appears on the show in person, but you hear her voice often and it may sound familiar: she's voiced by Janeane Garofalo.
What episode does Noel find out the baby isn't his? ›
Is Carol really Julie's mom on Felicity? ›
Character. Carole is the biological mother of Julie Emrick. She had Julie at 18 and gave her up for adoption.
After a while they seem to be on different paths and Julie ends things with Ben, after which she learns he cheated on her with Felicity. After some estrangement they eventually manage to become friends again, and always have a close bond due to their history.
Does Felicity get back to the future? ›
Elena dies rather abruptly in a car accident before Felicity's travel through time. She then reappears once Felicity goes back in time. But in the final episode, when Felicity goes "back to the future," Elena is still there at Noel and Zoe's wedding.
Does Ben cheat on Felicity with Avery? ›
Turns out, he made a B-minus on the final he didn't cheat on, which he's excited about, but Avery's all, “That sucks, you should've cheated,” and for some reason that's what it takes for him to realize that she's terrible.
Who is the guy Felicity is with in Season 5? ›
Actor. Detective William "Billy" Malone (died December 7, 2016) was a police detective of the Star City Police Department, a member of Mayor Oliver Queen's Anti-Crime Unit, and the boyfriend of Felicity Smoak.
Why did Felicity choose Ben? ›
“I know people didn't like it but I liked it. She had to go back and make a different choice.” “It all makes sense to me now,” Foley, who took on the other point of the main love triangle, Noel, chimed in. “She chose Ben because I died.
Does Felicity miss her final? ›
Ben and Felicity are getting hot and heavy! The couple makes plans to spend the summer together in Palo Alto where Ben will work construction to save money for school. Unfortunately, their nonstop lust leads to Felicity missing her art final.
What episode do Ben and Felicity get back together? ›
The Biggest Deal There Is.
Is Felicity Pluto's baby mama? ›
Fel and Pluto welcomed their daughter last year and have been sharing their parenting experience. Being a first-time mom scared Fel, but with support, they have raised their daughter, who is almost six months old.
What season and episode does Felicity have a baby? ›
COMIC SHADE! CW!: ARROW!
Who does James shoot on Felicity? ›
The episode begins seconds after James shoots a gun at the Christmas party–he's fled the scene, and Elena has been shot in the arm (!) but it's not serious, thank god.
FIRST LOOK | Tane and Felicity finally get married as HOME AND AWAY celebrates 8000 episodes.
What episode does Felicity marry Arrow? ›
[PHOTOS] 'Arrow' Season 6 Episode 9 — Olicity Wedding, Donna Returns | TVLine.
Why is Felicity in a wheelchair in Season 4? ›
Felicity's injury at the hands of Damien Darhk's (Neal McDonough) goons seemed to be suggesting that she could become the comic character Oracle, although executive producer Wendy Mericle shot down that theory last week.
Why didn t Felicity want to marry Oliver? ›
There's also the fact that the last time they were engaged Felicity got sprayed with bullets immediately afterwards and then there's the Cupid thing. Felicity didn't want to relive those painful moments and she also felt like they didn't need rings and a marriage certificate to know how much they loved each other.
Why was Felicity not in season 8? ›
Click to start this article in
Shortly after the season ended, Emily Bett Rickards talked about her decision and said that her plans didn't involve a return to Arrow, as she intended to take a break from television to do work in the theater [via Collider].
What year did Felicity end? ›
Who is the manager of Dean and DeLuca in Felicity? ›
Ian Gomez (Javier Clemente Quintata)
Always eccentric and full of personality, Ian Gomez's Javier Clemente Quintata served as Felicity and Ben's manager at Dean & DeLuca.
How old is Tangi Miller? ›
What happens to Julie on Felicity? ›
After a while they seem to be on different paths and Julie ends things with Ben, after which she learns he cheated on her with Felicity. After some estrangement they eventually manage to become friends again, and always have a close bond due to their history.
Where is Dean and DeLuca in Felicity? ›
Dean and Deluca is a business on WB series Felicity, located in New York.
She continues saying that Felicity's time-travel was fun because it explores if she made the right decision in choosing Ben. “I know people didn't like it — I liked it. She made a different choice to see what would happen.” Foley chimed in again, “She chose Ben because I died.”
Who took over Dean and DeLuca Napa? ›
In 2014, Dean & DeLuca was sold to Pace Development Corp., a Thai real estate developer. Since it took over, Pace has closed most of Dean & DeLuca's U.S. locations and left vendors, suppliers, and landlords unpaid as its debts mount.
When did Ben fall in love with Felicity? ›
'Felicity Was Here' (Season 1, Episode 22)
Ben still wants Felicity to go on the road trip with him, finally acknowledging that he is attracted to her and pushing her to admit the same.
How old is Mickey Madison? ›
What network was Felicity on? ›
Why was Julie written out of Felicity? ›
She cites the main reason for her departure from Felicity (1998) in 2000 was that she needed to grieve for her mother. Her mother had died two years previously and she felt that being on such a prominent show hadn't given her the time or space to do so.
Why did Felicity end? ›
While Felicity's hair eventually grew back, the show was canned in 2002. It sounds ridiculous, sure, but now, 19 years on, Russell herself says the haircut is to blame for the show's demise. The ratings for the show were never the same.
