What Happened To Caroline Julian Actress Patricia Belcher After Bones?

“Bones” was led by David Boreanez and Emily Deschanel as FBI agent Seeley Booth and forensic anthropologist Temperance “Bones” Brennan, respectively. But while this duo were the core of the series, no TV show can last a full 12 seasons without some support from other cast members. In the case of “Bones,” the Fox procedural was undergirded by a wide array of supporting characters and guest stars who helped to give the series its enduring appeal. Alongside the team of “squints” at the fictional Jeffersonian Institute Medico-Legal Lab — the idea for which was brought to the show by a real detective — there was an array of guest stars who helped expand the “Bones” universe, many of whom became fan-favorites.

Just take Patricia Belcher, who played U.S. Attorney’s office federal prosecutor Caroline Julian. She remains the only “Bones” guest star to appear in every season of the series from 2005-2017. First showing up in the season 1 episode “The Man in the Morgue,” Belcher managed to return at least once per season throughout the show’s run, ending with her appearance in the series finale “The End in the End.” Throughout “Bones,” the New Orleans native helped Brennan and Booth, not only by prosecuting their cases but also by acting as a sort of stern maternal figure that guided the duo on their investigative journeys.

By the time the series wrapped up, Belcher had established herself as an integral part of the “Bones” universe, making several fans along the way — many of whom might be wondering what the actor has been up to since.

Even before Patricia Belcher appeared in “Bones” she had been quietly constructing an impressive filmography. Her first credited role was as a nurse in 1990’s “Flatliners,” but she’s maintained momentum ever since. On the TV side, Belcher has appeared in a truly stultifying amount of small screen projects, including but not limited to “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “NYPD Blue,” “Seinfeld,” “ER,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Community,” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” She also became known for playing Mrs. Dabney on the Disney Channel’s “Good Luck Charlie” at the same time she was becoming a fan-favorite on “Bones.”

Her prolific TV output is only made more impressive by the fact that Belcher also stayed busy on the film side. Since the ’90s, Belcher has appeared in multiple movies, including “Clear and Present Danger,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “500 Days of Summer,” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” The latter project was one of her post-“Bones” appearances, but that is just one of many.

After the Fox procedural ended in 2017, Belcher didn’t slow down at all. In fact, the same year “Bones” shuttered, she appeared in episodes of Netflix’s “Santa Clarita Diet,” NBC’s “Trial & Error,” and CBS’s “Mom,” as well as finding time to appear in the TV movie “The New V.I.P.’s.” Then, in 2018, Belcher appeared in another Netflix project: Robert Smigel’s Adam Sandler comedy “The Week Of.” She also showed up in several TV shows, maintaining her impressive momentum throughout — something which continues today.

While Caroline Julian became a fan-favorite character on “Bones,” Patricia Belcher is by no means defined by that role — as her post-“Bones” career shows. The actor has remained busy in both movies and TV, and surely has one of the best agents working today. In fact, there hasn’t been a year since “Bones” finished that Belcher hasn’t appeared in a film. Highlights include her appearance in the Mark Wahlberg-led 2022 biographical drama “Father Stu,” her brief appearance in the aforementioned “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” — which actually made some money despite being one of Marvel Studios’ most maligned movies — and her role as Judge Angelic in Netflix’s nostalgia-heavy legacy sequel “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” in 2024.

As if that’s not enough to keep an actor busy, Belcher has also kept up a packed TV schedule, appearing in multiple projects each year since “Bones” ended. Her most prominent accomplishment on the small screen is landing the recurring role of Celia on Disney Channel’s “The Villains of Valley View,” but she also made guest appearances in a dizzying array of other TV series. Among her one-off appearances are roles in episodes of “Lucifer,” Ryan Murphy’s “9-1-1,” “American Dad!,” “Will & Grace,” and “Young Sheldon.” In 2024, she also appeared in two episodes of CBS’s “Matlock” revival series, and shows no signs of slowing down. There are two upcoming projects on her IMDb at the time of writing, suggesting Belcher intends to keep going until she literally cannot work any more. Details about her personal life are sparse, even on Belcher’s website, but if her output is anything to go by, she’s doing perfectly well.

“Bones” is currently streaming on Hulu.