Why The Cast Of The Fall Of The House Of Usher Looks So Familiar

If you've seen any of Mike Flanagan's various horror series on Netflix, you'll probably recognize lots of actors in "The Fall of the House of Usher." Like each of his past shows on the streaming giant, Flanagan's latest project is a standalone story, but its cast features several frequent Flanagan collaborators who've appeared in "The Haunting of Hill House," "The Haunting of Bly Manor," "Midnight Mass," "The Midnight Club," or some combination of them all.

Like some of those other series, "The Fall of the House of Usher" is an adaptation. But rather than adapting a single work, it adapts the entire breadth of Edgar Allan Poe's poetry and fiction, morphing it into a modern-day amalgam that addresses classism, trauma, the inherent corruption of enormous wealth, and the opioid epidemic, among other topics. All of the spooks, extended monologues, and literary homages that fans of Flanagan's work would expect are here. Overall, it's another hit for the horror maestro, adding to one of the most impressive creative runs of the streaming era.

Of course, not every actor in the new series has appeared in a previous Flanagan production. There are plenty of new faces, as well as some who've only popped up once before in the showrunner's oeuvre. Here's why the main cast of "The Fall of the House of Usher" looks so familiar.

If you've been following Mike Flanagan's grand Netflix tour at all, you're probably well acquainted with Carla Gugino. She's played major roles in several of the writer-director's projects, portraying family matriarch Olivia Crain in "The Haunting of Hill House" and the narrator of "The Haunting of Bly Manor," in addition to a small cameo as a judge in "Midnight Mass." She's even worked with Flanagan on the film side, starring in his unsettling adaptation of Stephen King's "Gerald's Game" in 2017.

Gugino is much more than a Flanagan regular, however. If you grew up in the early 2000s, you'll probably remember her as super-spy mother Ingrid Cortez in the "Spy Kids" franchise. She's also been a frequent Zack Snyder collaborator, playing the original Silk Spectre in 2009's "Watchmen," Dr. Vera Gorski in "Sucker Punch," and voicing Superman's ship in multiple entries of the DCEU. Her other major film roles include supporting character Emma Gaines in the Dwayne Johnson disaster flick "San Andreas" and an assassin known as Madeleine in the 2021 action-comedy "Gunpowder Milkshake." On TV, she's also had prominent roles in "Californication," "Wayward Pines," and a starring role in the Cinemax series "Jett."

In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Gugino takes on the role of Verna, a mysterious and supernatural figure who haunts the eponymous family. Verna is one of the great mysteries of the show, though her true nature becomes more and more clear as the story continues.

Though Bruce Greenwood hasn't previously appeared in any of Mike Flanagan's horror series, he has collaborated with Flanagan on multiple Stephen King adaptations. Greenwood played the titular, despicable Gerald in "Gerald's Game" and Dr. John in Flanagan's "The Shining" sequel, "Doctor Sleep." Now, he's added one of the writer-director's horror shows to his list of credits by portraying detestable but tragic patriarch Roderick Usher. Greenwood brings a boatload of gravitas and drama to the role, anchoring the entire series with his gravelly confessional monologues.

On the big screen, you might recognize Greenwood as the villainous Lawrence Robertson from Will Smith's "I, Robot," Captain Christopher Pike in the J. J. Abrams "Star Trek" films, President John F. Kennedy in the political drama "Thirteen Days," or another, fictional president in "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." His other film credits are too numerous to fully list, but they include the 1999 legal thriller "Double Jeopardy," a small part in "First Blood," "Capote," and "Flight."

Greenwood gained fame on television in the late '80s for playing Dr. Seth Griffin on the medical drama "St. Elsewhere." Decades later, he returned to the genre with the role of Randolph Bell on Fox's "The Resident." His other TV credits include Gil Garcetti in "The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story" and Richard Burghoff on "Mad Men."

Seasoned actor Mary McDonnell is one of the Mike Flanagan newcomers in "The Fall of the House of Usher." But though she hasn't worked with Flanagan on any past projects, there are still plenty of movies and shows where you've likely seen her before.

On television, McDonnell is probably best known for playing Sharon Raydor in both "The Closer" and "Major Crimes" and for playing President Laura Roslin on "Battlestar Galactica." She also co-starred with Jean Smart in "High Society," played Ruby Goldfarb on Season 3 of "Fargo," and portrayed Dr. Virginia Dixon in a few episodes of "Grey's Anatomy." However, McDonnell is probably known better for her film credits.

Her big screen roles include Stands with a Fist in "Dances with Wolves" and May-Alice Culhane in "Passion Fish," both of which earned her Academy Award nominations. She also played Marilyn Whitmore in "Independence Day," Liz Ogilvy in the 1992 comedy heist film "Sneakers," and Rose Darko in "Donnie Darko." In "The Fall of the House of Usher," McDonnell takes on the role of Madeline Usher, Roderick's cold and ruthless sister who drives their company's ventures in the tech sector.

Carl Lumbly plays C. Auguste Dupin, one of the most interesting characters in "The Fall of the House of Usher." The character of the same name in Edgar Allan Poe's fiction is a detective, considered by many to be the precursor to more famous literary investigators like Sherlock Holmes. In the show, Dupin is an investigator of a different sort, serving as both Roderick Usher's adversary and the man to whom he confesses his many sins.

Like so many of his castmates, Lumbly has previously collaborated with Mike Flanagan, playing the role of Dick Hallorann in "Doctor Sleep" — the same character portrayed by Scatman Crothers in "The Shining." His other film roles include Mac Brashear in "Men of Honor" and Ali in "South Central." Lumbly has primarily been a TV actor throughout his career, though, most famously playing Mark Petrie on the police procedural "Cagney & Lacey" and Marcus Dixon in the J. J. Abrams spy series "Alias."

Lumbly has also contributed his talents to the superhero genre, playing M'yrnn J'onzz in the Arrowverse — the father of the Martian Manhunter, J'onn J'onnz, whom Lumbly voiced in the "Justice League" cartoons of the early 2000s. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lumbly plays the aged Black American superhero Isaiah Bradley. The character first appeared in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," and Lumbly is set to reprise the role in "Captain America: Brave New World."

Samantha Sloyan has been one of Mike Flanagan's most consistent collaborators for years, ever since she played Sarah Greene in his 2016 horror film "Hush." Though her role as Steven Crain's wife Leigh in "The Haunting of Hill House" is relatively small, she played a much larger part in "Midnight Mass" as Bev Keane, the fanatical Catholic zealot who holds the town in her grip. In "The Midnight Club," Sloyan plays the similarly spooky role of Shasta, and in "The Fall of the House of Usher," she plays Roderick Usher's oldest daughter, Tamerlane.

Beyond her work in the Flanagan universe, Sloyan has played Megs in "In the Key of Eli," Jeannine Locke on "Scandal," Victoria Seaver on "SEAL Team," and Dr. Penelope Blake on "Grey's Anatomy." She's also had cameo appearances in a number of popular shows, playing Emily Goodwin on an episode of "NCIS" and Tracy Senarak on an episode of "Criminal Minds," among many others.

T'Nia Miller hopped aboard the Mike Flanagan train with "The Haunting of Bly Manor," playing the mysterious housekeeper Hannah Grose. She returns in "The Fall of the House of Usher" as Victorine, one of the Usher children who spends her time developing artificial heart implants. If you're familiar with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, you might be able to guess which story Victorine's arc draws inspiration from.

Miller has become a real star over the past few years, especially on British television. After guest parts in shows like "Doctor Who," "Babylon," and "The Bill," she landed the steady role of DC Wilton on the BBC Three series "Witless." Since then, her star has only continued to rise. She played Maxine Tarrington on Netflix's teen comedy-drama "Sex Education," Claire Wright in "Free Rein," and Susan McLean in "La Fortuna."

Most recently, Miller has been stepping even deeper into the realm of sci-fi TV, playing Cherise Nuland in the William Gibson adaptation "The Peripheral" on Prime Video and Zephyr Halima Ifa on the Isaac Asimov adaptation "Foundation" on Apple TV+.

When he's not posting on social media about his wholesome love of "Star Wars" and "Warhammer," Rahul Kohli is busy playing a wide range of roles across film and television. He's worked on several Mike Flanagan series, first appearing as cook Owen Sharma in "The Haunting of Bly Manor" and later stealing the show as Sheriff Hassan in "Midnight Mass." He only played a small part as Vincent Beggs in "The Midnight Club," but he's back in a starring role on "The Fall of the House of Usher," portraying the deeply troubled, hard-partying game developer Napoleon Usher.

Outside of his outstanding performances on Flanagan's shows, Kohli is probably most famous for playing Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti on the supernatural crime series "iZombie" on The CW. His other notable credits include Jack Spheer on "Supergirl" and Ed in the Netflix rom-com "Happy Anniversary," as well as voice credits in video games like "Gears 5" and "Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun."

Out of all of Mike Flanagan's frequent collaborators, Kate Siegel holds a special spot, as she's also married to the writer-director. The two have been both life partners and creative partners for years, first working together on the 2013 horror movie "Oculus" before they tied the knot in 2016. Since then, Siegel has starred in and co-written Flanagan's "Hush," played Jenny in "Ouija: Origin of Evil," taken on the role of Sally in "Gerald's Game," and appeared in all of her husband's Netflix series, aside from "The Midnight Club."

In "The Haunting of Hill House," Siegel plays Theo Crain, who possesses the strange ability to read people psychically when she touches them. In "The Haunting of Bly Manor," she plays the much darker role of Viola Willoughby-Lloyd, the original owner of the titular estate. "Midnight Mass" puts her once again in the sympathetic protagonist role as Erin Greene, a local woman ostracized by the community after returning home pregnant but unmarried. And in "The Fall of the House of Usher," Siegel taps into her despicable side as Camille L'Espanaye, an Usher sibling who runs public relations and press for the infamous family.

Though her most prominent work has often involved Flanagan, Siegel has accrued other notable credits, including her role as Annette DeTamble in 2022's "The Time Traveler's Wife."

One of the youngest stars of "The Fall of the House of Usher" Sauriyan Sapkota, who appropriately plays the eponymous family's youngest son, Prospero "Perry" Usher. Sapkota's only other IMDb credit is for Mike Flanagan's "The Midnight Club," where he broke out in 2022. In that series, Sapkota plays Amesh, a young, aspiring video game designer whose aspirations for the future are cut short by a devastating brain cancer diagnosis.

Clearly, Sapkota impressed Flanagan as well as audiences with his performance as Amesh, because he has another primary role in "The Fall of the House of Usher." Prospero may be the youngest child of Roderich Usher, but he also kicks off the main story of the show with his sex-obsessed, rich-kid recklessness. He leaves a mark on both series, and it should be exciting to see what the young star gets into moving forward, be it more Flanagan collaborations or entirely new projects.

Mike Flanagan fans will know Zach Gilford best as "Midnight Mass" lead protagonist Riley Flynn — the disgraced finance bro who returns home to Crockett Island after serving a prison sentence for drunk driving and manslaughter. He also pops up in "The Midnight Club" as Brightcliffe Hospice nurse Mark.

If "The Fall of the House of Usher" is your first Flanagan show, though, Gilford might be more recognizable as Dillon Panthers quarterback Matt Saracen in "Friday Night Lights." The popular high school football saga made Gilford a TV star, leading to recurring roles on shows like "Off the Map" (as Dr. Tommy Fuller), "The Mob Doctor" (as Dr. Brett Robinson), "The Family" (as Danny Warren), and "Good Girls" (as Gregg). He also played Taylor Swift's boyfriend in the video for her 2011 song, "Ours." From 2019 to 2020, Gilford starred as Detective Ben Walker on the Spectrum Originals series "L.A.'s Finest" alongside Gabrielle Union, Jessica Alba, and Ernie Hudson.

Though his most famous work has come on television and streaming, Gilford has also appeared in a number of films, most famously playing Shane in "The Purge: Anarchy" and Jerry Bailey in the 2013 Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie "The Last Stand." His other notable TV credits include Elias Voit on "Criminal Minds: Evolution" and various characters on multiple episodes of "Drunk History." In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Gilford plays a younger, purer version of Roderick Usher.

Willa Fitzgerald is one of the few stars of "The Fall of the House of Usher" who hasn't previously appeared in any Mike Flanagan movies or shows. However, she's still plenty experienced when it comes to horror television. One of Fitzgerald's biggest roles to date is that of Emma Duval in "Scream," the MTV (and later VH1) series based on the popular slasher movie franchise of the same name. She's also had recurring roles on TV as Lola Laffer in the Prime Video satire "Alpha House," Emma Miller in USA's "Royal Pains," cheerleading coach Colette French in the teen drama series "Dare Me," and Roscoe Conklin in "Reacher," opposite Alan Ritchson.

In addition to these roles, Fitzgerald has played a younger version of Claire Underwood on "House of Cards" and Meg March in the 2017 BBC One adaptation of "Little Women," among other, smaller parts. You also may recognize from the big screen as Kitsey Barbour in "The Goldfinch." In "The Fall of the House of Usher," she portrays a young version of Madeline, showing how Roderick's sister became the hardened tech mogul she is in the present day.

You might not know Katie Parker's name, but if you've been following Mike Flanagan's work for a while, you definitely know her face. Parker started working with the writer-director all the way back in 2013 with "Oculus," in which she plays an unnamed store clerk. She joined "The Haunting of Hill House" as the ghost of Poppy Hill and returned in "The Haunting of Bly Manor" to play Perdita Willoughby-Lloyd. She's also worked with Flanagan on "Doctor Sleep," playing Silent Sarey, and on "The Midnight Club," playing Paragon founder Aceso.

In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Parker plays Annabel Lee, Roderick Usher's first wife and the mother of Frederick and Tamerlane. Her character's name is drawn straight from one of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous poems, which is said to have been written by Roderick himself in the show.

In addition to her work with Flanagan, Parker's credits include playing Bernadette on "Masters of Sex," Nicole on "Rizzoli & Isles," and the leading role of Val Mayfield in the sci-fi series "Alt."

Like Roderick and Madeline Usher, C. Auguste Dupin gets a lot of screen time during 1970s flashbacks in "The Fall of the House of Usher." His younger self is played by Malcolm Goodwin — a newcomer to the Mike Flanagan universe. Though he hasn't worked on any of Flanagan's previous projects, Goodwin has collaborated with some of the show's other stars, most notably performing alongside Rahul Kohli as Clive Babineaux on "iZombie." He also played opposite Willa Fitzgerald, who appears in the flashback scenes with him in "The Fall of the House of Usher," on Prime Video's "Reacher." Goodwin portrays police captain Oscar Finlay on the show.

Beyond these credits, Goodwin's most famous role to date is probably that of Shea Daniels on A&E's "Breakout Kings." He's also appeared as Darnell Hayes on "House of Cards," Joe Thornton on "True Blood," Kevin Lawson in the 2020 miniseries remake of "The Fugitive," and Detective Joe Hall in 2022's "Alone in the Dark."

Every story needs a truly detestable villain, and in "The Fall of the House of Usher," that's slimy business magnate Rufus Wilmot Griswold, played by Michael Trucco. Named after a real-world literary critic and rival of Edgar Allan Poe, Griswold serves as both the antagonist and evil inspiration for young Roderick and Madeline Usher. The series is Trucco's third Mike Flanagan project, as he previously played John in 2016's "Hush" and Wade Scarborough in "Midnight Mass."

You may recognize Trucco for his role as Robin Scherbatsky's love interest Nick Podarutti on "How I Met Your Mother," or as Samuel Anders on "Battlestar Galactica." He played Cooper Lee on "One Tree Hill," Nate Ryan on the ABC drama "Revenge," Sean Del Monte on the police procedural "The Rookie," and Billy Parker on the crime drama series "Killer Women." He also played the leading role of Justin Patrick on USA's "Fairly Legal" from 2011 to 2012. Most recently, Trucco has been starring in the popular CBS drama "Fire Country" as Luke Leone.

It's always hard for child stars to outgrow their original roles, especially when that role is one of the most famous of its kind in Hollywood history. Henry Thomas will always be known as Elliott, the boy who befriends a visiting alien in "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." But he's also built a massive and impressive body of work outside of that career-defining part, much of which has come in collaboration with Mike Flanagan.

The professional relationship between the two started when Thomas played Father Tom Hogan in 2016's "Ouija: Origin of Evil." He followed that up with roles as Tom in Flanagan's "Gerald's Game" adaptation, Jack Nicholson's famous Jack Torrance character in "Doctor Sleep," and Crain family patriarch Hugh in "The Haunting of Hill House." Since then, Thomas has also played Henry Wingrave in "The Haunting of Bly Manor," Ed Flynn in "Midnight Mass," and Freedom Jack in "The Midnight Club."

Beyond his work with Flanagan and his initial rise to fame under Steven Spielberg, Thomas has appeared in a huge number of movies and TV shows. While still a young actor, he played roles like Davey Osborne in 1984's "Cloak & Dagger" and Samuel Ludlow in "Legends of the Fall." He worked with Martin Scorsese on "Gangs of New York," playing Johnny Sirocco, and portrayed John Adams in the 2015 History miniseries "Sons of Liberty." He also played Charles McNider on "Stargirl." In "The Fall of the House of Usher," Thomas takes on the role of eldest son Frederick Usher — a wax figure of a man with no self-esteem who ultimately falls down a hole of jealous rage.

You probably don't need anyone to tell you why you recognize Mark Hamill. He's Luke Skywalker, after all — perhaps the most famous protagonist in all of cinematic history. When you're the star of a franchise as big as "Star Wars," it's hard for any of your other work to get out from under the shadow. To this day, Hamill is certainly best known for his work on George Lucas' original trilogy, as well as his reprisals of the role in "The Last Jedi," "The Rise of Skywalker," and, in a digitally modified capacity, "The Mandalorian."

Outside of "Star Wars," Hamill is most famous as a voice actor, having played the Joker for decades across TV cartoons, movies, and video games. He's also known for voicing the villainous Fire Lord Ozai in "Avatar: The Last Airbender." But as far as on-camera roles go, Hamill certainly still has a long list — it just isn't quite as famous as his other work. He played the supervillain Trickster in the 1990s "The Flash" series, reprised the role in the Arrowverse, and has had cameos as himself in numerous projects. More recently, Hamill has been a lot more active on the big screen again, playing Robert Minkow in "Con Man," Ted Mitchum in "Brigsby Bear," James Arnold in "Kingsman: The Secret Service," and Al Kreischer in "The Machine."

Hamill's "The Fall of the House of Usher" character, Arthur Pym, is one of his most fun yet. It's a mysterious, sometimes comical, always spooky role that drives much of the supernatural plot forward.