10 redheads that have marked TV history

Redheads have long been stereotyped in literature and cinema. If at one point they were feared, today, many female characters with red hair are extremely popular because of their complex personality. Here is Vogue's list of 10 redheads that have marked TV history.

Miranda Hobbes - Sex and the City

Career-driven, realistic, confident, Miranda Hobbes is the incarnation of success in the legendary show Sex and the City. She is played by Cynthia Nixon, who managed to find the perfect balance in the character's personality. On one hand, she is a confident woman, on the other, she has a hidden need for affection. Miranda is a character modern women can relate to.

Beth Harmon - The Queen's Gambit

It was one of the TV phenomenons of Fall 2020. Beth Harmon, a traumatized orphan, is sent to a boarding school for girls, where the janitor teaches her to play chess. Beth is then revealed to be a chess genius. Since the release of the show, chess is back on-trend. In clubs or on smartphone apps, everyone wants to learn to play. Beth Harmon - played by Anya Taylor-Joy -, with her quirkiness and her 1960s fashion, quickly became one of the most iconic female characters ever.

Daphne Bridgerton - Bridgerton

Another popular show of 2020, Bridgerton broke the record of The Queen's Gambit, having been watched by over 63 million people in three weeks. Daphne is the main character of the first season based on Julia Quinn's novels. The pretty redhead played by Phoebe Dynevor is entering society and will be seduced by Simon Basset, the arrogant Duke of Hastings.

Sansa Stark - Game of Thrones

The beautiful blue-eyed redhead went through one of the most radical evolutions on Game of Thrones. Sophie Turner's character is, at first, a naive and superficial teenager. At the end of the show, she is the Queen of the North. Often compared to her sister, warrior Arya Stark, Sansa managed to use her wounds, turning them into power.

Bree Van de Kamp - Desperate Housewives

Impeccable bright-red hairdo, pearl necklace and ironed cardigan, Bree Van de Kamp Wisteria Lane's fashion asset. Played by Marcia Cross, Bree is a character we love to hate. Sometimes machiavellian, she cannot handle things not going her way. The perfectionist redhead is smart and manipulative. She is the first one to call if you have a body to hide.

Dana Scully - X-Files

Sent to discredit the work of agent Mulder, Dana Scully becomes his loyal ally. As the story advances, agent Scully is revealed to be essential to Mulder's research. The two characters complete each other. He's an irrational believer, ready to consider anything. She's a skeptical scientist ready to question everything. The X-Files is a gem from the 1990s that still fascinates today. In 2016, Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny came back for two reboot seasons, which ended in 2018.

Joan Holloway - Mad Men

With her hourglass figure, pencil dresses and perfect hair, Joan Holloway is the charming asset of the Sterling Cooper agency. A sassy femme fatale, she doesn't mince her words. She is played by Christina Hendricks, who received many awards for her role in Mad Men including two Critic’s Choice Television Award. The actress explained that people think her character is “sexy” because "she has a fire in her. She talks back. And men like her because she is confident in her femininity and sexuality. She's strong, and she's not going to cry in the bathroom if someone makes fun of her."

Jessica Hamby - True Blood

In the scandalous HBO show, Deborah Ann Woll is the symbol of stolen innocence. Made into a vampire when she was a teenager, her character Jessica Hamby is condemned to relive losing her virginity forever. But her fierce loyalty quickly shines through when she becomes Bill Compton's right hand, even though he is her "creator". With her white skin and red hair, Jessica is the picture of the “mystical virgin” attracting men into her net to trap them.

Willow Rosenberg - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Charmed, Rosewell, X-Files… Shows about the supernatural were very popular in the 1990s. One of them was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was nominated for several Emmy Awards and Golden Globes. Sarah Michelle Gellar was accompanied by a group of teenagers ready to fight evil. Among them, Willow is the nerdy and discreet witch. She will eventually become a powerful character. Willow and Tara Maclay were the first lesbian couple on American TV. Her actress, Alyson Hannigan, played another popular redhead on TV: Lily in How I met your mother.

Angela Chase - My So-Called Life

Before playing the Juliet to Leonardo DiCaprio's Romeo and Carrie Mathison in Homeland, Claire Danes was Angela. This series of 19 episodes broadcast between 1994 and 1995 marked television, even though it wasn't renewed. The show was acclaimed for its realistic depiction of teenage life. The main character is an ordinary American girl going through her first love, a very young Jared Leto. Born with dark blond hair, Angela starts to rebel by dying her hair red.

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Sex and the City: Miranda Hobbes in 8 irresistible quotes

Translated by Maria Atallah