Original Nellie Oleson Returns for 'Little House on the Prairie' Reboot

Alison Arngrim, who played the franchise's iconic villain, makes a surprise cameo in Netflix's new version and has words of advice for her successor

Alison Arngrim, who terrorized generations of television viewers as the spoiled Nellie Oleson on the original "Little House on the Prairie," is returning to the world of Walnut Grove with a surprise cameo in Netflix's reboot of the beloved series, according to Fox News.

Arngrim revealed the appearance in a new interview, offering a glimpse of how the streaming service is folding in nods to the original 1970s series as it introduces the story to a new generation of viewers. The original show, based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's autobiographical novels, ran for nine seasons and made Arngrim's bratty schoolyard bully one of prime time's most memorable antagonists.

With the reboot recasting the role of Nellie Oleson for a new cast, Arngrim also shared advice for the actress stepping into her old shoes, drawing on her own decades of experience playing one of television's most enduring villains.

Details of Arngrim's cameo and the broader scope of Netflix's reboot were not fully disclosed, but her return signals an effort by the streamer to bridge nostalgia for the original series with a fresh retelling for contemporary audiences.

— Compiled from reporting by Fox News.