A.J. Langer—the actress best known for playing Rayanne Graff on My So-Called Life, is now a countess. That news comes courtesy of a new piece in Vanity Fair aptly titled “How a My So-Called Life Actress Became a Member of British Nobility,” which is well-worth a read for any fans of the 20-year-old show or of the millennia-old British monarchy.
Langer became the Countess of Devon through marriage, of course, having met now-husband Charley Courtenay at the Hard Rock Circle Bar in Las Vegas sometime around the turn of the millennium. At the time, she had no idea that he had a title, though she was ultimately dubbed “Lady” when they were married in 2002. Earlier this month, when Courtenay’s father, the 18th Earl Of Devon, died, he became the Earl and Langer—an actress whose hair was once absolutely riddled with baby barrettes and skinny braids—became the Countess. As Vanity Fair notes, that makes her “the real-life equivalent of Downton Abbey’s Maggie Smith character.”
There’s precious little information in the piece about what Langer’s up to now, other than speculation that she’s holding court at “the 600-year old, 4,000-acre estate Powderham Castle, near Exeter.” Undoubtedly, the one-time actress doesn’t really have to work anymore, though, around her marriage, she told People that she had “a lot to learn,” noting “what a job it is to run a castle.”