A Ranking of Daphne's Portayals

6/16/2022

Daphne has arguably had the second most actress changes over the years compared to Velma. While I didn't dislike any of the actresses she has had like I did with Velma, there were definitely some I liked more than others. In this post, I will be ranking every portrayal of Daphne, including her live-action actresses and voice actresses. There's a bit of a hot take in here, so you can look forward to that haha.

10. Kate Melton

Once again, I want to make it clear that this getting bottom ranking doesn't mean I disliked Kate's portrayal, but I felt her version of the character wasn't quite as strong as some of the others here. It felt like a very similar situation to Nick Palatas, where she was decent in the role, but nothing about it screamed "this is Daphne." Also like Nick, it's sad that her acting career never really took off after this film, because I do think she's a good actress.

9. McKenna Grace

The young voices of the gang are kind of hard to rank at this time, since we only see them for such a brief period of SCOOB!. However, I thought McKenna was one of the strongest of the young voice actresses for the gang. She's also in Young Sheldon alongside Iain Armitage, playing Sheldon's friend Paige in a recurring role, so part of it might be that I'm more familiar with her acting than Velma and Fred's young voice talents. I also discovered when looking up the picture of her that she played young Sabrina Spellman in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which I've seen before but didn't realize it was her! So I guess I'm familiar with her in quite a few different roles haha.

8. Amanda Seyfried

Amanda was the standout voice actress to me in SCOOB!. She did a great job as Daphne, arguably the best job out of any of the four celebrity voice actors. However, I wouldn't say she was particularly memorable compared to many of Daphne's other voice actresses, thus her ranking here.

7. Sarah Michelle Gellar

I really debated about this one, because I do like her portrayal of a more strong, empowered Daphne, but I feel like part of the reason I like her is over nostalgia from Sarah's role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Setting that aside, I don't feel like her portrayal of Daphne was a case of "yes, this fits Daphne's character" exactly. She was certainly very good in the role, but I would say the remaining six actresses top her for me.

6. Kellie Martin

Kellie did a great job providing a different spin on Daphne's character. She really gets down Daphne's bossiness and standoffishness. While I would say I'd probably put Velma and Fred's young voice actors above hers, Kellie's portrayal of Daphne was still excellent.

5. Mary Kay Bergman

Although her role as Daphne was very brief given it was only for a few films, I thought she did an excellent job as Daphne and made a great replacement for Heather North. She did a great job portraying a more strong, independent version of the character than we'd previously seen.

4. Sarah Jeffery

Alas, we have arrived at my hot take haha. While I know a lot of people are not a fan of this film and are probably reading this saying "how could you rank her so high?" One of the things I most like in a voice actor is their ability to provide a different take on the character. Sarah's version of Daphne explored her quirkier, sheltered, more optimistic side, which is something we've seen throughout the franchise but it was never really explored in the depth it was here. While it was certainly a very different take on Daphne, Sarah Jeffery's version of Daphne was my favorite of the live-action Daphnes. It's certainly an unpopular opinion, and if anybody chooses to rank these in the comments, I would be very surprised to see anybody put her as high as I did, but I really appreciated this different take on Daphne. She felt more natural as Daphne than Kate Melton and Sarah Michelle Gellar did, in my opinion.

3. Indira Stefanianna Christopherson

This is one of the few cases where I didn't choose the original voice actress as my top choice. I really like Indira's voice and think she fits the role of Daphne exceptionally well, but given she was only in one season, I guess her voice didn't stand out quite enough to feel as iconic to me as Grey's and Heather's.

2. Grey Griffin

Grey Griffin is such an amazing actress, and I think she fits the role of Daphne perfectly. One of my favorite parts of Grey's Daphne voice is that she can adapt it to fit so many different versions of Daphne: the more fashionista version of her in What's New Scooby-Doo?, the quirkier version of her in Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, and the more typical version of Daphne in SDMI, Guess Who and the DTVs. Grey is an all-around amazing voice actress in my opinion and shows great versatility in her portrayal of every character I've heard her voice.

1. Heather North

Was there ever any doubt? haha Heather is iconic as Daphne and gets her voice down so well. When I think of classic Daphne's voice, I think of Heather North. She did such an amazing job with the role.

I hope you enjoyed reading my rankings! If you'd like to share your own, feel free to leave them in the comments!

16 Comments

Matt

6/16/2022 09:24:37 am

The only one that I didn’t even know who would top the list, that is how CLOSE the top 2 are

I won’t be able to rank Kate Melton or Sarah Jeffery here

8. McKenna Grace- It is still unfair to these kid voice actors in Scoob to even compare really

7. Amanda Seyfried- I think she did good

6. Sarah Michelle Gellar- I think she did well, but I am not sure it has much to do with her voice specifically, but I liked her portrayal

5. Kellie Martin- Gave young Daphne a very distinct voice

4. Indira Stefanianna Christopherson- Certainly different from the other classic Daphne voice, but I think she does it well enough

3. Mary Kay Bergman- Really loved her Daphne. Truly tragic of what happened to her, but I believe her successor does a wonderful job keeping her legacy in Scooby Doo

2. Heather North- Surprise! I won’t fault anyone for placing Heather first AT ALL. She is truly an amazing voice for Daphne and has tons of wonderful performances, BUT…

1. Grey Griffin- This was CLOSE. Again, I had no idea what it would be until I started ranking them and got a little bit through. But two things A. Her voice is what pops into my head when I think of Daphne nowadays and B. Before they even started taking efforts to make Daphne a more distinctive character, I felt Grey did that just by her performance, especially What’s New Scooby Doo. One of the greatest voice actors of the current day and deserves this number one

WildwindVampire link

6/16/2022 10:27:44 am

8. I really debated about including them in these rankings because I never had much to say about them, but ultimately I decided to just since they will get main roles in Holiday Haunt.

6. Yeah, nothing about her voice screamed Daphne, but the portrayal was good.

3. Completely agree.

1. Interesting! I wouldn't have expected Grey to come on top but I agree she has gotten close to that iconic level when it comes to Daphne. It's pretty amazing how all the current actors have become so iconic. Grey's voice is incredible and she definitely deserves all the praise she gets.

Jacob Staggs

6/16/2022 11:02:56 am

My Top 5 Daphnes
5) Amanda Seyfried - Best gang performances in the movie.
4) Kellie Martin - I don't really think she sounds like or acts like the Daphne character per se but she did a very professional job doing a very distinctive voice.
3) Mary Kay Bergman - Great for playing a more mature Daphne.
2) Grey Griffin - She basically IS Daphne.
1) Stefanianna Christopherson - My favorite by far. Distinctive voice. Exquisite line delivery. Usually any time I think of Daphne's lines, the first ones that come to mind are Stefanianna's. My favorite one : " Wow, I wonder how to get out of this creepy inner sanctum. Well, my intuition tells me...that way." It always gets to me.
Well, we are already to it. Like I said in the Shaggy ranking, I felt that Matthew Lillard and one other performer always detract from the franchise entries they participate in. These two always at least slightly lessen the quality of the episodes they work in. That other person for me is honestly ( no joke) Heather North. The only time I ever slightly enjoyed her performance was in Legend of the Vampire and I think that was just intriguing that she did the voiy while sounding so much older. If not for this singular film, I would not be able to give Heather North any credit for anything. Starting with season 2 of WAY, she did the voice year after year and contributed practically nothing imo. Almost a non entity! Anything worthwhile that came from the character during Heather's tenure had nothing to do with Heather. In the 70s and 80s, if anything interesting was done, it was by the artists. With Bravo Dooby Doo, it was the writing.
Heather was never really Daphne to me and still isn't. That is why I didn't think they should have brought her back for the New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show. Her voice acting never evolved over time and remained lifeless. I know that it may sound a little harsh but that is just how I feel.

WildwindVampire link

6/16/2022 01:13:33 pm

4. Yeah, I agree Daphne's personality in Pup felt very different, but I think Kellie did a great job with the role.

1. I didn't want to put Stefanianna Christopherson as low as I did, because I really like her voice. I like her delivery and her performance is definitely very memorable despite only being there for one season.

Wow, I have to admit, I never would have guessed that. When I said I had a guess as to what it was, I was thinking you didn't like Frank's Scooby voice. I can definitely understand your opinion, even though I necessarily don't agree with it.

Thanks for sharing your rankings, it was fun reading them and seeing your perspectives!

Jacob Staggs

6/16/2022 03:51:45 pm

In certain shows and movies, I really like Frank Welker voicing Scooby but most of the time I find his performance just to be okay.

Jakob123

6/16/2022 05:27:16 pm

Just okay?... How can anybody not like Frank Welker? He is a legend!

WildwindVampire link

6/16/2022 05:51:46 pm

I don't want to ruin my rankings for Scooby so I won't comment on the top thing yet haha.

However, Jakob, we've talked about this before and while I completely agree with you that Frank is a legend, it's okay if people disagree. Not everybody has the same opinion and that is okay.

Carson Maitland - Smith link

6/17/2022 01:52:04 am

Love Amanda 💜

Becker

6/17/2022 05:35:51 am

After the copy paste job that was the Shaggy ranking of both of us, now we're finally getting to a ranking with some pretty big differences!

10) Kate Melton
I just didn't like her Daphne. Doesn't really come across the way it should or could. Not quite as bad as another Mystery Begins version, but still one of the misses imo. (Ironically, unlike Kate and Nick, the actor I just referenced who was really miscast went on to do fairly well in the industry to this day).

9) Mckenna Grace
Very generic kid voice, the performance doesn't stand out either with how little material she had. Next.

8) Sarah Jeffery
Not a fan of Daphne & Velma. One of the many reasons is that I don't get invested in those portrayals. She's fine I guess, not memorable at all to me.

7) Sarah Michelle Gellar
Feel similarly to her husband. Good enough in the role, could've gotten someone better suited for the character, but by no means bad. Her voice is good too.

6) Amanda Seyfried
Pretty decent all around. Definitely not a top tier incredible portrayal, but good. Not much else to say.

5) Kellie Martin
Works very well for this specific type of Daphne, which is quite different from pretty much every Daphne. Don't know how well she would have fit for more of a regular Daphne, but that's not why they got her in the first place, so.

4) Indira Stefanianna Christopherson
This is a weird situation, because she IS the originaI Daphne. However, her legacy is nowhere nearly as impactful as the other original voice actors. She wasn't even in those behind the scenes voice actor interviews from the 90s, Heather was there. And Nicole Jaffe was also there despite having retired long before. Her lack of legacy is mainly due to the fact that she was only there for the first season and then left. Thus, she's often seemingly forgotten or people mistake her successor for the original Daphne. Btw, I don't know if it's me but her voice sounds somewhat Velma-ish at the same time (or at least I seem to hear it in her Daphne). Especially in retrospect, kinda strange how that worked out. She's fairly different from the rest, even though there are certain similarities that Grey and Mary took after. I don't think she's that close to the top 3, partly due to the limited amount of time with her, and partly due to my own preferences. But she is no doubt a very good Daphne, I like her delivery.

3) Heather North
Often mistaken for the original Daphne, but I can't say I don't get why. I guess she was technically part of the original crew because she did voice Daphne in SDWAY, but not from the first season, just the second. And she's also remembered a lot more because she played her in a lot more stuff than Indira. 1 and a half decades straight of classic beloved Scooby projects from '70 till '85. And then returned for a few special appearances later on (Bravo Dooby Doo and the 2003 movies). It's understandable she'd receive more credit for all she's done. Plus, she came in and did not try to copy Indira at all, instead she went full on with her own voice and performance. I respect that. I do find it funny that the more modern Daphne don't seem to take inspiration from Heather almost at all despite her legacy. If anything they sound a bit closer to Indira than her. That makes her voice even more unique among them. As for why she's not higher, she does have some Pat Stevens-like moments here and there, in that her delivery can be slightly off. It doesn't happen often or as much as Pat, but it's there from time to time. So I guess yes, there was some to answer that question lol. She's still a great Daphne, was close to #2.

2) Mary Kay Bergman
For as little time as she got to voice her, Mary was absolutely incredible. It's sad what happened in the end, but we can't change that. Once Zombie Island came around, with Mary behind the voice, Daphne as a character suffered a huge important change in how she's portrayed from that point onwards in the franchise. She's the one that began this new era of Daphne portrayals, and an big part of how it started is Mary's way of playing her. A very sweet new voice and a brand new way of delivering and characterizing her through her lines. Amazing Daphne, pretty perfect for the projects she was in. Her impact is a lot bigger than many realize.

1) Grey Griffin
Grey's been voicing Daphne for over two decades now, she's become synonymous with the character. And for good reason. Whenever I think of Daphne, Grey's voice, delivery, acting, everything, comes to mind first. Grey is to Daphne what Mindy is to Velma, except Grey is to an even larger extent since she's voiced the character for longer and is still voicing her, unlike Mindy. It's like Bergman's Daphne walked so Grey's could run, basically. Grey took after Mary when she succeeded her, at least in the beginning, especially in Cyber Chase, she sounds nearly identical to Mary there. And I understand why she did that, it was the last film in a series of movies that Mary played Daphne in

Becker

6/17/2022 05:38:08 am

(I was prepared for the cut off this time lol. Continuation:) And I understand why she did that, it was the last film in a series of movies that Mary played Daphne in, up to that point. Grey probably wanted to honor her version and keep it as close and loyal to how she did it, because it was the era of Mary's specific portrayal after all. And then, Grey brought even more character to Daphne through her performance than ever before. And she's managed to it in different ways too! WNSD, SDMI, BCSD, the DTVs, they all present different versions of Daphne to varying extents, and she pulls all of them off perfectly. Even adds more to them. Really impressive. She's the absolute best of this list, I didn't even need to think about it.

Only 3 spots are the same to yours, and they're all towards the bottom! Interesting.

Becker

6/17/2022 08:35:54 am

At the end of Heather's paragraph I meant to say "there was some doubt", as an answer to the rhetorical question in the article haha

WildwindVampire link

6/17/2022 02:50:16 pm

5. Yeah, I don't think Kellie Martin would have fit another version of Daphne as well. She did amazing for this more bossy, stuck-up Daphne but I think her portrayal would feel out of place in another series.

4. I completely agree with you. I loved Indira's voice, but it's just never been quite as iconic to me as Heather's. I can see how it sounds sort of Velma-ish in her inflection, although I hadn't thought that myself previously.

3. I'm kind of glad Heather didn't copy Indira's voice. Not because I didn't like Indira's take, because I really did, but it was cool Heather brought her own take to the table and I really liked her voice. I agree with you she can have some Pat-like moments, but not necessarily in a bad way.

2. I loved Mary's voice too and wish I could have ranked them all super high, because she did an amazing job with the voice. I loved her more mature-sounding take on the voice, and she definitely paved the way for Grey's voice I would argue. Definitely an iconic voice actress whose legacy continues to live on.

1. It's possible my choice of Heather was because of nostalgia, but I truly love Grey's voice almost as much. She has also become synonymous with the character at the same level as Matthew Lillard. She doesn't quite reach Mindy level for me, but she does come close. I also think she sounded super similar to Mary in Cyber Chase, and I think it's so cool she took inspiration from Mary's voice. I imagine she probably did it to honor her in a way. She definitely brought a ton of character to Daphne and arguably has shaped how Daphne evolved as a character today. I love the variety in Grey's voice as well, and she's perfectly portrayed Daphne in so many different ways and adaptions. Particularly her more quirky side in Be Cool is amazing to me, because that was a very different version of the character, yet she gets it down perfectly.

Dimitri Brenick

6/17/2022 07:09:34 am

Sorry but Sarah Jeffery was definitely the worst, you can blame more so on the writing but at least the other two live action felt more in line with the movies and shows at the time. the theater movies had the more kickass version of daphne from zombie island that we later see more of in what's new. And the origin live action movies daphne's richest was on full display with the van being her's to start off with. The daphne from the velma and daphne movie let someone else choose her outfit?! No daphne is a fashionista, that's been established for quite some time, she'd choose her own outfit.

Becker

6/17/2022 08:28:27 am

Uhm, you'd think there's probably better things to complain about than her letting someone choose her outfit. This is like the purest form of nitpicking. I'm not even a fan of this movie or the portrayal much, but that never even crossed my mind. I don't see the problem. We never really saw Daphne in general to be so much of a fashionista that she would never let such a thing happen (maybe A Pup, but that's kid Daphne, not teen/young adult Daphne)

WildwindVampire link

6/17/2022 02:51:33 pm

I doubt choosing outfits was Sarah Jeffery's choice, I think that would have been something chose in the script. I know my placing her so high was definitely unpopular so it's understandable you wouldn't agree, just my opinion on it.

Carson Maitland - Smith link

6/18/2022 11:28:26 am

How would you rate Jessica Chancellor's performance?

A Ranking of Daphne's Portayals

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