Meet ‘The Boroughs' Cast and Characters
They’re more likely to play bridge than DnD...
The Duffer Brothers’ follow-up to Stranger Things on Netflix is another spooky series with an impressive ensemble of names that, this time, you’ve probably heard before. Here’s what you need to know about the cast and characters of The Boroughs.
The Boroughs is set at an idyllic retirement community in New Mexico with a dark secret. It’s about a group of unlikely heroes, just like Stranger Things. But instead of a coming-of-age, this is about a motley crew in the third act of their life! As you’ll see below, most of the characters are the retirees. We also meet the family of one newcomer and some of the employees who may/may not have secrets of their own.
Alfred Molina as Sam Cooper
Sam is a retired engineer and he’s new in town.
Molina is a stage, screen, and voice actor who played Doctor Otto Octavius in Spider-Man 2 and, almost 20 years later, in Spider-Man: No Way Home. His film resume additionally includes Raiders of the Lost Ark, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Promising Young Woman, The Da Vinci Code, and Chocolat. He was nominated for a BAFTA for his roles in An Education and Frida. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for two Ryan Murphy projects, The Normal Heart and Feud: Bette and Joan. He has also been nominated multiple times at the Golden Globes, Tony Awards, Olivier Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, and even for a Grammy Award.
Geena Davis plays Renee
Renee is a retired music manager still living life to the fullest.
Thelma and Louise, A League of Their Own, The Fly, Beetlejuice... need we say more? If you insist: Stuart Little, Tootsie, Speechless, Blink Twice, GLOW, Grey’s Anatomy, Commander in Chief, The Long Kiss Goodnight. She’s an Academy Award winner for The Accidental Tourist and had her own sitcom on ABC in the year 2000 called The Geena Davis Show. She has been nominated for four Golden Globes. She also received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars in 2020.
IG: @geenadavis
Alfre Woodard as Judy
Judy is a retired journalist whose instincts will come in handy.
Woodard is an acclaimed actress who The Boroughs fans might best remember as Betty Applewhite on Desperate Housewives. She has won four Emmy Awards so far in her career for Hill Street Blues, LA Law, Miss Evers’ Boys, and The Practice. She was nominated on fourteen (!!!) other occasions for shows and television films that include St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street, True Blood, Steel Magnolias, and Desperate Housewives. She was nominated for an Academy Award in 1983 for Cross Creek and won an Independent Spirit Award in 1993 for Passion Fish. She has also won multiple SAG Awards, most recently for The Piano Lesson.
IG: @realalfrewoodard
Bill Pullman plays Jack
Jack is the community’s most popular host for parties.
Pullman is best known for playing one of the best fictional American presidents of all time in Independence Day. You might also known and love him from Spaceballs, Casper, Newsies, Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own, Mr. Wrong, the Equalizer films and Lost Highway. Prior to The Boroughs, Pullman’s television roles include The Sinner, Halston, and 1600 Penn (another presidential role).
Clarke Peters plays Art
Art is a “soulful spiritual seeker,” according to Netflix, making him a bit more conducive to the supernatural than some of the others.
Peters is a prolific stage actor in London and New York as well as acclaimed writer. In 1992, he was nominated at the Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical for writing Five Guys Named Moe. He is best known to television-watching audiences as Detective Lester Freamon on The Wire and Albert Lambreaux on Treme. You might also know him from Person of Interest, His Dark Materials, Da Five Bloods, and Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri.
IG: @clarkepetersofficial
Denis O'Hare plays Wally
Wally is a retired doctor.
O’Hare is a two-time Tony Award-winning stage actor you’ve absolutely seen before on screen as the vampire Russell Edgington on True Blood and as several equally scary roles in the American Horror Story franchise. Some of his other television shows include The Nevers, Big Little Lies, The Good Wife, and Brothers & Sisters. His films include The Proposal, Garden State, Dallas Buyers Club, Milk and the television adaptation of the play The Normal Heart.
IG: @ohdenis
Jena Malone plays Claire
Claire is Sam’s daughter.
Today, Malone is best known as Joanna Mason in the Hunger Games films, or for playing Lydia Bennet in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. Many millennials know her as “the girl from Step Mom” or Contact. She was an indie queen in the 00s for films like Donnie Darko, Saved!, Into the Wild, Life as a House, and The Dangerous Lives Of Alter Boys. Other films include Love Lies Bleeding, Inherent Vice, The Neon Demon, and Nocturnal Animals.
IG: @jenamalone
Carlos Miranda plays Paz
Paz is a security guard with a musical background.
Miranda played Theo Ruiz on Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy. He was also a series regular on Vida and had a recurring role on Bosch. On the big screen, you’ve seen him in films like Warrior, The Bling Ring, and Righteous Thieves.
IG: @los_cain
Seth Numrich plays Blaine
Blaine is the CEO and “face” of The Boroughs.
Numrich is a stage actor perhaps best known for playing Benjamin Talmadge on Turn: Washington Spies. He had a main role on the miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven, and recurring roles on The Blacklist, Homeland, and Madam Secretary. He also played the titular role in the independent film Private Romeo, a lovely modern day queer adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, and Macduff in Macbeth: Unhinged.
Alice Kremelberg plays Anneliese
Anneliese is Blaine’s equally composed and well-coiffed wife.
Kremelberg starred in The Sinner on the USA Network, as well as the canceled Disney+ series Renegade Nell. She played an inmate named Nicole in the latter seasons of Orange is the New Black on Netflix. She is a Daytime Emmy nominee for the webseries The Feels. Her film roles include The Trial of the Chicago 7, Can You Ever Forgive Me, and The Taking Of Pelham 123.
IG: @alicekremelberg
Rafael Casal plays Neil
Neil is Claire’s husband.
Casal, a major multi-hyphenate, wrote/produced and starred in the 2018 film Blindspotting. He also wrote and produced the television spin-off by the same name that focused on his character’s partner. Casal had a supporting role in the critically acclaimed and Emmy-winning 2019 film Bad Education and the historical drama series The Good Lord Bird. He was on three seasons of Def Poetry Jam in the ‘00s. You also, NBD, might know him from the second season of the Disney+ series Loki.
IG: @rafaelcasal
Jane Kaczmarek plays Lily
Lily is Sam’s deceased wife.
Kaczmarek is probably best known for playing Lois on Malcolm in the Middle, a role that she reprised in the hilarious revival season Life’s Still Unfair on Disney+ this year. She’s a seven time Emmy nominee for that series, as well as a Golden Globe and SAG nominee a few times over as well. She was also on the underrated comedy Playing House for three seasons. If perfect sitcoms aren’t your thing, however, you might know her from movies like Pleasantville and CHiPS or shows like Raising the Bar and Felicity.
IG: @jane.f.kaczmarek
Eric Edelstein plays Hank
Hank is head of security.
Edelstein is a working actor you know from recurring arcs on shows like Shameless, the Twin Peaks revival season, and Drunk History. He often plays a cop or a guard on television, so it makes sense that the Duffer Brothers would cast him as the de factor Hopper of The Boroughs. He is also the voice of Grizzly on We Bare Bears!
IG: @ericjedelstein
Beth Bailey plays Kayleigh
Kaleigh is an employee at The Boroughs.
You’ve seen Bailey before on shows like Outer Range, Manhattan, Breaking Bad, and Midnight, Texas.
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