Why Patty From For All Mankind Looks So Familiar

Apple TV's "For All Mankind" presents an alternate timeline where the Soviet Union wins the space race, landing a cosmonaut on the moon ahead of the Apollo 11 mission that carried Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the lunar surface in July 1969.

In the series, NASA responds to the Soviet effort by enlisting the help of women and people of color, who were traditionally excluded from the agency's real-life efforts in the 1950s and 60s. 

In Season 1, astronaut Deke Slayton (Chris Bauer) is tasked with training a class of female astronauts, one of whom is a helicopter pilot named Patty Doyle. Patty and her ASCAN classmate Molly Cobb (Sonya Walger) had previously been recruited by NASA for the Mercury program, and Patty and Molly are at the top of the class for most of the program until Patty dies in a crash during a training flight.

Patty is played by Cass Buggé, who has an acting resume that includes nearly three dozen credits dating back almost two decades and features some popular TV series, several shorts, and a handful of lesser-known feature films. 

Cass Buggé made her acting debut as Sharon in the 2005 drama "Rigodon." The film chronicles the lives of three Filipino immigrants living in New York City and starred Joel Torre and Arthur Acuña, both of whom also appeared in "The Bourne Legacy." Her next role was as a professor named Jane in "The Crab," an independent film about a man named Levi (Guy Whitney) who lives with ectrodactyly, commonly known as lobster claw syndrome. Levi has a crush on Jane even though she is dating his best friend. Despite his disability, Levi is far from a sympathetic character, constantly lashing out at the people closest to him with bitterness and rage. 

Angus Wolfe Murray of Eye for Film pointed out that audiences could come to resent the film's main character during its 103-minute run time. "Levi is so full of bile and self pity, empathy lies bleeding in the gutter," he wrote. "If you care for him and express sympathy for his disability you might last the course."

After starring in "The Crab," Cass Buggé had a small role in the 2010 romantic comedy "Going the Distance." The film featured a sizable number of Hollywood A-listers, including Drew Barrymore, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate, Ron Livingston, Justin Long, and Charlie Day. Despite its star power, the film has decidedly unimpressive 54% and 52% ratings, respectively, from critics and audiences at Rotten Tomatoes. 

Felix Vasquez of Cinema Crazed criticized the movie for its ham-fisted calls to 1980s nostalgia and overuse of improvisation, which he criticized as being self-indulgent, directionless, and not the least bit amusing. "At least all of these hipster comedians get a chance to make themselves laugh," he wrote. "Meanwhile, 'Going the Distance' never knows where it wants to go or what it really wants to do with itself from the very opening." 

After "Going the Distance," Buggé appeared on an episode of the sketch comedy series "Key & Peele" as Jordan Peele's girlfriend, attending a cocktail party where the guests use flatulence in place of proper names. Fortunately for Buggé, she was soon able to move on to projects with a higher level of sophistication.

In 2014, Cass Buggé made a guest appearance on the FX comedy "Married," which starred Judy Greer, Nat Faxon, and Jenny Slate. "Married" lasted just two seasons despite a 72% audience rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with critical approval lagging behind at just 56%. 

Mary MacNamara of The Los Angeles Times praised the strong performances of Faxon, Slate, and Brett Gelman, but criticized the show's too-frequent jokes about domestic abuse. Still, she expressed hope that "Married" would be given a chance to develop into something special. "And for every ridiculous plot twist, there is a lovely flash of honesty," she wrote. "With a marital spat derailed by a shared joke or a child struggling to make it through a sleep-over, you see the show 'Married' might become once it grows up, just a little." Buggé's next television role was on the HBO dark comedy "The Brink," which starred Tim Robbins and Jack Black as U.S. government officials struggling to keep the nation out of World War III.

In 2015, Buggé appeared on three episodes as Samantha Gregory, an assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan. "The Brink" was criticized for its inaccurate portrayal of Pakistan's global position and relationship with the U.S., and the show was quickly made unavailable on Pakistan's cable and streaming platforms. Buggé came back from "The Brink" quickly, however, and landed a role on a highly acclaimed drama later that year. 

Cass Buggé also appeared on three Season 2 episodes of the Amazon Prime drama "Transparent" as Georgia. "Transparent" lasted five seasons and was a critical darling, earning a 91% rating from professional reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes to go along with its eight Emmy award wins and 28 nominations. Along with those kudos, however, came some controversy. While Jeffrey Tambor earned two of those Emmy awards and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Maura Pfefferman, he was fired from the show for sexual harassment between Seasons 4 and 5.

Creator Jill Soloway also took heat for casting cisgender actors in transgender roles, something she said in retrospect she would not do again. While "Transparent" did feature its share of transgender actors, including Ian Harvie and Trace Lysette, Soloway admitted that the casting of Tambor, in particular, left her open to justified criticism. "I would unequivocally say it is absolutely unacceptable to cast a cis man in the role of a trans woman," Soloway told TV Insider. "Ever. I know that sounds ironic coming out of my mouth, but at this point I would throw that down as absolute."

In 2022, Cass Buggé appeared in five of the eight episodes of "Night Sky," an Amazon Prime sci-fi series that starred J.K. Simmons and Sissy Spacek as Franklin and Irene York, a rural Illinois couple that discovers a portal to another planet underneath a shed on their land. 

Buggé plays Jeanine Albemarle, the Yorks' new neighbor. Over the course of her five-episode arc, Jeanine grows increasingly impatient with her husband Byron (Adam Bartley), who quickly becomes suspicious of the Yorks after the Albemarles move in next door. 

Lucy Mangan of The Guardian described "Night Sky" as three shows in one: a unique sci-fi tale about the passageway between planets, a love story between Franklin and his terminally ill wife, and a story of international political intrigue and dangerous government secrets. 

She especially singled out the interplay between Simmons and Spacek, praising the experienced pair for their nuanced performances. "You can feel the Yorks' whole half-century together from the moment they enter a scene," she wrote. "The actors bring their everything to understatement, evoking their enduring love, and the anxieties beginning to nibble round the edges as the tribulations and indignities of old age start to gather."