This "Zoey 101" Star Was Never Meant to Become a Recurring Character
It's hard to imagine the Zoey 101 cast without each and every beloved member. But as we learned in a recent MTV News interview, the show wasn't originally written the way you saw it on TV. Abby Wilde, the actress who played the eccentric Stacey Dillsen, revealed that she was only supposed to guest-star in one episode.
"I did my episode, and I guess I did OK, because they told me they were bringing me back," she explained.
That episode ("Chase's Girlfriend") only gave Abby's character, who was simply dubbed "Weird Girl" at the time, three lines. Her character discussed spending her summer vacation making "a scale model of [her] dream house made only out of cotton swabs and white glue," which was later accidentally destroyed by Chase Matthews (played by Sean Flynn).
But she was so funny and talented that Zoey 101 execs had to have her back.
"The next time I came in, I had a first name, and the next time I came in I had a first name and a last name," Abby said. "Then one day I came in and I had a bedroom. Then I did 31 episodes."
So that's how everyone's favorite tea-drinking, cotton swab enthusiast wound up on the show. And we're so glad she did. After Zoey 101 wrapped, Abby played Stacey again on three episodes of iCarly and one episode of Sam & Cat.
Stacey Dillsen: the gift that keeps on giving.
