Warning: Contains spoilers for Wendell & Wild.The Netflix animated feature Wendell & Wild features a cast of recognizable talent behind its colorful characters. The movie, which is helmed by The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline director Henry Selick, tells the story of Kat Elliot, an orphaned girl who has lived a troubled life ever since the death of her parents. When she returns to her hometown, she becomes marked as a Hell Maiden, someone capable of summoning demons to the Land of the Living, and is tricked into summoning the titular Wendell and Wild under the promise of her parents being brought back to life.
Wendell & Wild features a large ensemble of actors with backgrounds in both animation and live-action. As such, every performer involved has prior experience that more than justifies them for their respective roles. Here is a look at all the characters in Henry Selick's Wendell & Wild and what the actors cast in the roles look like in real life.
Keegan-Michael Key As Wendell
Keegan-Michael Key voices Wendell, the more serious of the titular demons in Wendell & Wild who want to raise money to build a theme park. Key is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the sketch comedy show Key & Peele alongside Jordan Peele, and the pair also worked together on Mad TV and the movies Keanu and Toy Story 4. Key also stars as Josh Skinner in Schmigadoon!, which earned him a Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards nomination for Best Actor, and he currently stars as the character Reed Sterling in Hulu’s Reboot.
Jordan Peele As Wild
Jordan Peele voices Wild, the goofier of the titular demon characters who also wants to raise money to build a theme park in Wendell & Wild. Peele co-created and co-starred in the sketch comedy show Key & Peele alongside Keegan-Michael Key, and he also co-created The Last O.G. and the 2019 revival of The Twilight Zone. In recent years, Peele has become more famous for writing and directing horror films, such as Get Out, Us, and Nope, with Get Out even earning him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Lyric Ross As Kat Elliot
Lyric Ross voices Kat Elliot, the main character of Wendell & Wild who summons Wendell and Wild to the Land of the Living while struggling to deal with her past and her new role as a Hell Maiden. Ross is best known for being part of the cast of This Is Us as Deja Pearson, the adopted daughter of Randall and Beth Pearson. Ross has also had small roles in the movies Rogers Park and Canal Street, and she is set to play a currently undisclosed role in the upcoming MCU show Ironheart.
Angela Bassett As Sister Helley
Angela Bassett voices the Wendell & Wild character Sister Helley, a teacher at Kat’s school and the previous Hell Maiden. Bassett had her breakthrough as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It? and since then, she’s starred in movies and television shows such as Olympus Has Fallen, and American Horry Story: Coven, the latter of which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. Currently, Bassett stars as Athena Grant-Nash in 9-1-1, and she is set to reprise her role as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
James Hong As Father Bests
James Hong voices Father Bests, the crooked principal of Kat’s school in Wendell & Wild. Hong has over 650 film and television credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific actors of all time. Some of his more notable roles include Kahn in Chinatown, Hannibal Chew in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, the maître d' in the Seinfeld episode “The Chinese Restaurant," and Gong Gong among the cast of Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Sam Zelaya As Raul Cocolotl
Sam Zelaya voices Raul Cocolotl, a transgender student in Wendell & Wild who befriends Kat at her new school. In 2022, Zelaya was cast in the short film Poppets alongside Hava Carvajal and Billy Herring. Other than that, Wendell & Wild is the only project Zelaya has featured in.
Tamara Smart As Siobhan Klaxon
Tamara Smart voices Siobhan Klaxon, a kindhearted but clingy classmate of Kat and the daughter of Irmgard and Lane Klaxon, the main antagonists of Wendell & Wild. Smart made her debut as Enid Nightshade, one of the main characters in CBBC’s The Worst Witch. Since then, she has starred as Louise Fulci in Are You Afraid of the Dark, Juliet Butler in Artemis Fowl, and Jade Wesker in Netflix's Resident Evil.
Maxine Peake As Irmgard Klaxon
Maxine Peake voices Irmgard Klaxon, one of Wendell & Wild's main antagonists trying to build a private prison in Rust Bank. Peake is best known for playing Twinkle in Dinnerladies, Veronica Ball in Shameless, and Martha Costello in Silk. Peake recently played Anne Williams in the miniseries Anne and has been cast in the sci-fi thriller Woken.
David Harewood As Lane Klaxon
David Harewood voices Lane Klaxon, husband to Irmgard Klaxon and one of the other main antagonists of Wendell & Wild. Harewood is best known for playing the character David Estes in Homeland and both Cyborg Superman and J'onn J'onzz, a.k.a. the Martian Manhunter, in Supergirl and other shows in The CW’s Arrowverse. Recently, Harewood narrated Terry Pratchet’s The Abominable Snow Baby and played himself on the Amazon series Ten Percent.
Ving Rhames As Buffalo Belzer
Ving Rhames voices Buffalo Belzer, Wendell and Wild’s father and the ruler of the underworld. Rhames is best known for his roles in such movies as Dawn of the Dead, Pulp Fiction, and the Mission: Impossible franchise. For animation, Rhames notably voiced the character Cobra Bubbles in Lilo & Stitch and its various sequels.
Wendell & Wild’s Supporting Cast & Characters
Gary Gatewood as Delroy Elliot — Gary Gatewood voices Kat’s father, Delroy Elliot. Gatewood played Harry Reynolds in an episode of NBC’s Grimm. Later, he had a small part as a security guard in the cast of Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made.
Gabrielle Dennis as Wilma Elliot — Gabrielle Dennis voices Kat’s mother, Wilma Elliot. Dennis starred as in The Game and played Tilda Johnson in Luke Cage. She currently stars in HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show and will be in the comedy series The Big Door Prize.
Natalie Martinez as Marianna Cocolotl — Natalie Martinez plays the character Marianna Cocolotl, Raul’s mother trying to take down Klax Korp in Wendell & Wild. Martinez starred as Chase in The I-Land and Dayna Furgens in The Stand. Martinez is cast in the upcoming drama Bad Monkey alongside Vince Vaughn and Michelle Monaghan.