One of Netflix‘s most highly-anticipated upcoming projects is definitely The Sandman, a live-action take on Neil Gaiman’s iconic comic universe. After announcing the first batch of casting choices for the series in January, fans were curious to see how the remainder of the ensemble cast would be populated — and now we’ve started to get our answer. On Wednesday, Gaiman took to Netflix’s blog to reveal the latest round of casting choices, including some pretty major names.
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Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Cruella, The Good Place) is Death, Dream’s wiser sister. Mason Alexander Park (Cowboy Bebop, iCarly) is Desire, Dream’s sibling, and desire personified. Donna Preston (The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Fully Blown) is Despair, Dream’s sister, and the twin of Desire. Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who, The Serpent) is Johanna Constantine, haunted exorcist and occult adventuress for hire. Niamh Walsh (Good Omens, The English Game) is young Ethel Cripps, a betrayed and determined young woman seeking to survive. Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck, 101 Dalmatians) is Ethel Cripps, master thief and woman of a thousand identities. David Thewlis (Harry Potter, Wonder Woman) is John Dee, Ethel’s son, Dangerous, insane and on a quest for truth.
For “The Doll’s House”, the second big Sandman storyline — Kyo Ra is Rose Walker, a young woman on a desperate search for her missing brother. Stephen Fry (Gosford Park, V for Vendetta) is Gilbert, debonair protector of Rose Walker. Razane Jammal (Paranormal, Carlos) Is Lyta Hall, Rose’s best friend and travel companion. Sandra James Young (Eastenders, Captives) is Unity Kincaid, heiress and mysterious benefactor. And Patton Oswalt (M.O.D.O.K., Agents of SHIELD) will voice Matthew the Raven, Dream’s trusted emissary.
A rich blend of modern myth and dark fantasy in which contemporary fiction, historical drama and legend are seamlessly interwoven, The Sandman follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he’s made during his vast existence.
The Sandman is produced by Warner Bros. Television with Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman, Grey’s Anatomy) serving as Executive Producer and Showrunner. David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Terminator: Dark Fate, Foundation) serves as Executive Producer with Goyer and Heinberg acting as Co-Writers on the project. Neil Gaiman also serves as executive producer.
Keep scrolling to get a look at the newest cast members for The Sandman, and share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
KIRBY HOWELL-BAPTISTE AS DEATH
“Dream’s wiser, nicer, and much more sensible sister. Significantly harder to cast than you might imagine (well, than I imagined, anyway). Hundreds of talented women from all around the planet auditioned, and they were brilliant, and none of them were right. Someone who could speak the truth to Dream, on the one hand, but also be the person you’d want to meet when your life was done on the other. And then we saw Kirby Howell-Baptiste’s (she/her) audition and we knew we had our Death.”
MASON ALEXANDER PARK AS DESIRE
“Dream’s sibling and everything you want, whatever you want and whoever you are. Desire is also trouble for Dream. Families are complicated. We had barely started looking when Mason Alexander Park (they/them) reached out on Twitter, and threw their hat into the ring. We were thrilled when they got the part.”
DONNA PRESTON AS DESPAIR
“Desire’s twin, Dream’s sister. She is the moment when all hope is gone, the bleakest of the Endless. Donna Preston (she/her) will be playing her, and her performance is chilling and sad. You feel her pain.”
JENNA COLEMAN AS JOHANNA CONSTANTINE
“Eighteenth-Century occult adventuress, John Constantine’s great-great-great-grandmother. This Sandman character became so popular that she even had her own spin-off series. I created her to fill the role that John Constantine does in the past. When we broke down the first season, given that we knew that we would be encountering Johanna in the past, we wondered what would happen if we met a version of her in the present as well. We tried it and the script was sparkier, feistier, and in some ways even more fun. So having written her, we just had to cast her. Jenna Coleman (she/her) gave us the Johanna of our dreams – tough, brilliant, tricky, haunted and probably doomed.”
NIAMH WALSH AND JOELY RICHARDSON AS ETHEL CRIPPS
“Roderick Burgess’s love, John Dee’s mother, is a small but vital role in the comics, but she became more important as we told our story. In the 1920s and 30s, she is played by Niamh Walsh (she/her): a betrayed and determined young woman seeking to survive. In the present day, now a woman of a hundred identities and a thousand lies, she’s played by the brilliant Joely Richardson (she/her).”
DAVID THEWLIS AS JOHN DEE
“Ethel’s son is dangerous. He was driven mad, long ago. Now he’s out and on a quest for Truth that may destroy the world. We needed an actor who could break your heart and keep your sympathy while taking you into the darkest places. We were lucky that David Thewlis (he/him) took the part.”
KYO RA AS ROSE WALKER
“A young woman on a desperate search for her missing brother, who finds a family she didn’t know that she had, and a connection to Dream that neither of them can escape. We needed someone young who could make you care as she ventures into some very dangerous places. Boyd Holbrook’s Corinthian is waiting for her, after all. Kyo Ra (she/her) achieves that as Rose.”
RAZANE JAMMAL AS LYTA HALL
“Rose’s friend, a young widow mourning her husband Hector. Rose doesn’t know that Hector has started showing up in Lyta’s dreams, though. Or that strange things are happening. Razane Jammal (she/her) is Lyta, and she’s terrific.”
SANDRA JAMES YOUNG AS UNITY KINKAID
“Heiress, Rose’s mysterious benefactor. She has spent a century asleep. Now she’s awake, having missed out on her life. She’s played by Sandra James Young (she/her).”
STEPHEN FRY AS GILBERT
“Rose Walker’s debonair protector. A dab hand with a paradox and a sword cane. Stephen Fry (he/him) is a National Treasure, and we forget sometimes that he’s also a remarkable actor. Seeing him in costume and make up on the dailies made me blink: it was as if the comic had come to life.”
PATTON OSWALT AS MATTHEW
“Dream’s trusted emissary. A raven. I expected our animals to be CGI, and was both taken aback and thrilled when the dailies started coming in, and there was Dream talking to… well, a raven. But ravens don’t really talk. The question was, could we find an actor who could make you care about a dead person who was now a bird in the Dreaming – one who isn’t certain what’s going on, or whether any of this is a good idea? And could we find a voice performer who was also the kind of Sandman fan who used to stand in line to get his Sandman comics signed? The answer was, we could if we asked Patton Oswalt (he/him). And Patton was the first person we asked, and the first person we cast, the day before we pitched The Sandman to Netflix.”
