Content Warning: The following article contains plot spoilers about the Netflix show Midnight Mass.
In his latest production for Netflix, Midnight Mass, acclaimed writer-director Mike Flanagan has compiled one of his strongest ensemble casts to date. A large part of what makes this miniseries' cast so incredible is the fact that Flanagan has rounded up some of his most talented regulars in order to construct one all-star cast of performers.
There are indeed many actors who are new to the so-called "Flanaverse" in Midnight Mass, but the majority of the series' main characters are portrayed by some of Flanagan's best and brightest collaborators, ranging from those who have only appeared in one other of his works, to those who have been in nearly all of them to date.
Samantha Sloyan (Bev Keane)
In Midnight Mass, Samantha Sloyan's Bev Keane is arguably the true villain. As the right-hand woman of St. Patrick's Church, Bev wields an immense amount of power over all residents of Crockett Island, something she does largely through fear and intimidation.
While this is Sloyan's biggest role in a Mike Flanagan project to date, it certainly isn't her first. Sloyan appears in 2016's Hush as Sarah, the ill-fated friend of Kate Siegel's Maddie. In The Haunting of Hill House, she appears in the recurring role of Steven's estranged wife, Leigh, who delivers a particularly chilling and Bev-like monologue in one of The Haunting of Hill House's scariest scenes. Sloyan will also appear in Flanagan's forthcoming Netflix series, The Midnight Club.
Michael Trucco (Mayor Wade Scarborough)
Michael Trucco is best known for his work in series with cult followings, like teen drama classic One Tree Hill and the science fiction epic Battlestar Galactica. He is particularly known for playing charismatic, impulsive characters who happen to be real ladies' men. But in Midnight Mass, Trucco plays against type in the subdued role of Crockett Island Mayor Wade Scarborough, a father who finds himself faced with one impossible decision after another.
Prior to joining Flanagan's stellar cast in this Netflix miniseries, Trucco has worked with Flanagan once before. Trucco also appears alongside Sloyan and Siegel in the 2016 film Hush, where he plays the key role of Sarah's boyfriend, John Stanley, a character who provides the protagonist with fleeting hope of survival.
Robert Longstreet (Joe Collie)
Joe Collie is one of the more tragic characters in the world of Midnight Mass, which is truly saying something given how hopeless many of the characters feel. The island pariah, Joe is an alcoholic who has never forgiven himself for the terrible incident in which he paralyzed Leeza Scarborough while hunting. His only companion is his beloved dog Pike, who is senselessly murdered, and whose loss allows Longstreet to shine in a truly devastating fashion.
Midnight Mass isn't the first Flanagan work in which Longstreet has been breaking hearts, however. He appears as Horace Dudley in Hill House, where he provides one of the series' most gripping monologues and one of the Haunting anthology's best performances. He also appears in Flanagan's 2019 film Doctor Sleep and will have a supporting role in the forthcoming The Midnight Club.
Alex Essoe (Mildred Gunning)
Mildred Gunning is one of Midnight Mass's biggest surprises. When the series begins, she is an elderly woman struggling with dementia. Over time, due to the influence of the vampire's blood, she grows younger, healthier, and returns to her former youthful prime. Mildred also plays one of the most crucial roles in the series, as her relationship with Father Paul/Monsignor Pruitt was the driving force behind the priest's actions - a relationship that Essoe's nuanced performance fully brings to life.
Essoe has appeared in two of Flanagan's other, most famous works, neither of which involves the use of old-age makeup and prosthetics the way Midnight Mass does. In Doctor Sleep, Essoe offers a new take on Shelley Duvall's iconic character Wendy Torrance from The Shining. In Bly Manor, Essoe recurs as Charlotte Wingrave, the deceased mother of the series' central Wingrave children.
Rahul Kohli (Sheriff Hassan Shabazz)
In Midnight Mass, Rahul Kohli's Sheriff Hassan Shabazz is arguably one of the series' most nuanced characters. One of the only practicing Muslims on the island, he is routinely subjected to racism and general bias in all their hateful forms. But Hassan remains one of the series' steadiest characters, and one of its truest heroes, thanks to the immense grace and gravity Kohli brings to the role.
Rahul Kohli has previously stolen viewers' hearts with his turn as Owen Sharma in Bly Manor. The resident chef of Bly Manor, Owen is known for his many puns and jokes, but also for his deeply sensitive nature and the strength of his unconsummated romantic bond with Hannah Grose. Bly Manor and Midnight Mass are Kohli's only two collaborations with Flanagan to date, but his characters have been so beloved and his performances so acclaimed that it is only a matter of time before these two work together again.
Henry Thomas (Ed Flynn)
When Ed Flynn first appears in Midnight Mass, it is almost impossible to recognize Henry Thomas beneath the layers of age makeup and the weight of the resentment and pain he carries following his son, Riley's, devastating act. As the series progresses, however, Ed grows younger and healthier again, and as he sheds the layers of makeup, his emotional side begins to make itself known, allowing for Thomas to turn in yet another devastating paternal performance.
Thomas has become one of Flanagan's most frequent and consistently incredible collaborators. He first appears in villainous roles in both Ouija: Origin of Evil and Gerald's Game. Perhaps his best-known performance is in Hill House as the pained patriarch Hugh Crain. After Hill House, Thomas took on the daunting role of "The Bartender," a spectral return of Jack Torrance, in Doctor Sleep, before once again returning to the Haunting anthology as the self-loathing Henry Wingrave in Bly Manor.
Kate Siegel (Erin Greene)
Erin Greene first appears as one of Midnight Mass's supporting players, but as the series progresses, she quickly becomes Crockett Island's beating heart. Erin has returned home to the island she left to flee an abusive mother, only after fleeing an abusive husband on the mainland, and now finds herself preparing for a future as a single mother. But as Crockett Island descends into darkness, Erin becomes one of the series' only sources of light, something that Kate Siegel plays with devastating perfection.
As Flanagan's most frequent collaborator and inspiration, as well as his wife, Kate Siegel has been turning in incredible performances year after year. Although Midnight Mass outperforms the Haunting anthology by finally giving Siegel a main role, Siegel has been working her way through one incredible role after another, including Marisol Chavez in Oculus, Maddie in Hush, Jenny Browning in Ouija: Origin of Evil, Sally in Gerald's Game, and of course Theo Crain in Hill House and Viola Lloyd in Bly Manor.
Annabeth Gish (Dr. Sarah Gunning)
As Crockett Island's resident doctor, Annabeth Gish's Sarah Gunning becomes a far more major player in the miniseries than anyone could have anticipated as the drama unfolds. With her medical expertise, Sarah holds many of the answers to the bizarre events occurring on the island, but she also knows that there are some things not even science can explain. But it is in her scenes with her mother, Mildred, and her long-secret father, Paul, that Gish truly shines, revealing the emotional burdens that her character carries every day.
Gish consistently offers incredible, captivating performances, and her collaboration with Flanagan in Midnight Mass is no exception to this. But like so many others, Gish and Flanagan have been collaborating for years. She makes her first appearance as a social worker, Natalie Friedman, in his 2016 film Before I Wake. But it is her gripping work as the traumatized, true-believing Clara Dudley in Hill House that is so far their best collaboration.