×
Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Where You've Seen The Cast Of Welcome To Chippendales Before

Robert Siegel's "Welcome to Chippendales" tells the shocking, stranger-than-fiction story of the rise of Chippendales — the famous all-male strip tease with a history that is filled with vicious crime.

Based on the 2014 nonfiction book "Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders" by K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca, this Hulu original series dissects the personal life of Chippendales founder Steve Banerjee and the gruesome things he did to keep his club at the top.

However, audiences aren't just looking forward to "Welcome to Chippendales" because it promises to be a great, highly bingeable new entry into the beloved true-crime drama genre — nor simply because some of its episodes are directed by "Game of Thrones" and "WandaVision" visionary Matt Shakman. The show also boasts an incredible all-star cast. From Kumail Nanjiani to Andrew Rannells, "Welcome to Chippendales" has secured some of Hollywood's best of the best. Here is where you've seen the actors who appear in "Welcome to Chippendales" before.

Kumail Nanjiani

In addition to serving as an executive producer for "Welcome to Chippendales," actor Kumail Nanjiani leads the new Hulu show, playing Chippendales-founder Steve Banerjee, aka Mr. Chippendale. Nanjiani has been around for quite a while, and, despite his serious role in "Welcome to Chippendales," he got his start in comedy.

The Pakistan-born actor first realized his passion for making people laugh when performing stand-up in college. Nanjiani finally started to get noticed when, in 2009, he briefly appeared on a handful of comedy shows, including "The Colbert Report." Soon enough, he started to make frequent guest appearances on popular shows, such as "Portlandia," "Veep," and "Adventure Time."

However, Nanjiani didn't become a household name until 2014 when he joined HBO's "Silicon Valley" as one of its main characters, computer coder Dinesh. With his new "Silicon Valley" fame, the actor started to lean into more serious projects. In 2017, he starred in the critically acclaimed film "The Big Sick," which he co-wrote with his wife, Emily V. Gordon, about the time she went into a coma early in their relationship. The film went on to be nominated for an Academy Award for best original screenplay.

In the past couple of years, Nanjiani pivoted to the MCU, proving that there's nothing he can't do. The actor starred as Kingo in "Eternals" and landed a role in the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" series for Disney+.

Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis, who plays costume designer Denise in "Welcome to Chippendales," has been in the public eye for over thirty years. The daughter of "High Plains Drifter" actor Geoffrey Lewis, she got her big break at the young age of 17 with a role in Martin Scorsese's acclaimed thriller "Cape Fear." Her performance landed her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

After "Cape Fear," Lewis started regularly appearing in big-name films, such as "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," where she starred alongside Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio, Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers," "The Basketball Diaries," and "From Dusk Till Dawn."

In recent years, Lewis has pivoted largely to TV. In 2018, she appeared in Lena Dunham's show "Camping" and the fan-favorite sitcom "The Conners." In 2019, she had a small role in the series dramatization of the troubled life of Gypsy Rose Blanchard in Hulu's true crime hidden gem "The Act." A year later, she appeared in Hulu's "I Know This Much Is True," and in 2021 she earned a leading role in the bingeable survival drama series "Yellowjackets." Given her impressive stint in TV, it is no surprise that her performance in "Welcome to Chippendales" is an utter delight.

Murray Bartlett

You might know Murray Bartlett from his recent role as a quirky, hilarious hotel manager in Season 1 of HBO's "The White Lotus" (2021) — but the Australian actor has actually been around for a while.

Bartlett had been acting for almost a decade when he got his breakout role as Oliver Spencer in "Sex and the City" in 2000. For the next couple of years, he started to get jobs left and right, including a part in the drama series "The Secret Life of Us," as well as a role in the popular soap opera "All My Children." For most of the 2010s, Bartlett was confined to smaller supporting roles. He appeared in "Girl Most Likely" in 2012 and "The Good Wife" in 2014 before receiving a starring role in HBO's "Looking," which ran from 2014 to 2016 and follows a group of gay friends living in San Francisco.

Following his role as choreographer Nick de Noia in "Welcome to Chippendales," Bartlett has a couple of other TV shows in the works, including HBO's "The Last of Us," a series based on the video game of the same name, and a futuristic show called "Extrapolations." Bartlett is definitely an actor to keep an eye on.

Annaleigh Ashford

Annaleigh Ashford plays Steve's wife, Irene, in "Welcome to Chippendales" and has been appearing in films and TV shows for the past decade or so. However, what viewers may not know is that Ashford is actually a seasoned stage actor, as well. In 2007, Ashford made her Broadway debut as Margot in the musical version of "Legally Blonde" before also snagging the coveted role of protagonist Elle Woods' understudy later on.

From that point on, Ashford's Broadway career took off. In 2010, she appeared in the Broadway revival of "Hair" and played Veronica Sawyer in the musical "Heathers" the same year. Her other musical credits include productions of "Rent" and "Kinky Boots."

During this time, Ashford was also claiming small Hollywood parts in projects such as "Law & Order" and "Nurse Jackie." The actor had something of an on-screen big-break when she landed a recurring role as Betty DiMello in Showtime's "Masters of Sex" from 2013 to 2016. That really put her on the map, and soon after she appeared in films like "Late Night," "A Rainy Day in New York," and "Bad Education." More recently, Ashford has boasted roles in TV series such as "Impeachment: American Crime Story" and the CBS show "B Positive."

Andrew Rannells

Annaleigh Ashford isn't the only "Welcome to Chippendales" cast member who started with a substantial career on Broadway. Andrew Rannells made his stage debut in 2002, playing Link in "Hairspray!" He steadily continued to receive stage roles for the next few years, but his breakout was Elder Price -– aka the lead character -– in the 2011 hit Broadway show from "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, "The Book of Mormon." His performance in the musical landed him a Tony nomination –- and you may remember his show-stopping performance of the show's song "I Believe" at the 2011 Tony Awards.

So how did Rannells become a famous actor, you might ask? Well, he started voice-acting for cartoons in 1993, appearing in projects like "Street Sharks," "Pokemon: The Legend of Thunder," and "Sonic X." The actor landed his first live-action job with a supporting role in the 2012 comedy "Bachelorette," and shortly after snagged small roles in big projects, appearing in a couple of episodes of "How I Met Your Mother," and appeared as himself on both "Glee" and "The Simpsons."

However, Rannells true big break was in Lena Dunham's popular series "Girls," where he plays Elijah, one of Hannah's (Dunham) close friends. Rannells acted in the series from 2012 to 2017, after which he was a well-known name in Hollywood. Following that, he appeared in "Will & Grace" as Reggie and "A Simple Favor" as Darren. He then returned to voice acting in 2018 for an episode of "Bob's Burgers" and landed a regular role on Netflix's "Big Mouth."

Robin de Jesús

What's that? Another Broadway actor in the cast of "Welcome to Chippendales"? You betcha! Actor Robin de Jesús got his big break on the stage in 2008 when he snagged the role of Sonny in the Broadway show "In the Heights," which later earned him a Tony nomination. After that, de Jesús continued to land roles in Broadway musicals, including "La Cage aux Folles" in 2010, "Wicked" in 2011, and "The Boys in the Band" in 2019.

While making his name on the stage, de Jesús also dabbled lightly in on-screen roles. In 2010, he appeared in an episode of "How to Make It in America," and a few years later, he was in a couple of episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

De Jesús' real Hollywood breakout, however, was his role as Michael in the Lin-Manuel Miranda directed true story "Tick, Tick... Boom!" which looks at the life of "Rent" creator Jonathan Larson. The film saw overall critical acclaim and de Jesús's performance was highlighted by The New York Times.

Nicola Peltz

One of "Welcome to Chippendales"' lesser-known actors, some might know Nicola Peltz as the wife of David and Victoria Beckham's son, Brooklyn Beckham. However, Peltz is also an accomplished actress who has been appearing in films and TV shows since the early 2000s.

Peltz's first Hollywood role was a small one in a Christmas flick starring Matthew Broderick, Danny DeVito, and Kristin Chenoweth called "Deck the Halls." She landed her first big part in M. Night Shyamalan's 2010 film "The Last Airbender," where she played Katara. After flexing her action chops in that film, she moved on to star in Michael Bay's 2014 film "Transformers: Age of Extinction," where she appeared alongside Mark Wahlberg.

The actress' more recent credits include "Bates Motel," the indie film "Our House," and the Emma Roberts starring Christmas rom-com "Holidate." Over the years, she has shown a vast amount of range, and her role in "Welcome to Chippendales" is no different, as the actor takes on the role of real-life Playboy bunny Dorothy Stratten, who ABC reports was murdered by her husband at 20 years old.

Dan Stevens

Early in his career, British actor Dan Stevens, who plays Paul Snider in "Welcome to Chippendales," mainly appeared in adaptations of serious, classic literary works. His first official screen credit is a role in a 2004 TV mini-series of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," followed by an adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula," Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility," and Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw."

Stevens got his big break in the period TV drama "Downton Abbey," where he played Matthew Crawley from 2010 to 2012. After that, he snagged a leading role in the mystery drama film "The Guest" and the 2014 Adam Sandler comedy "The Cobbler." In 2017, he played the Beast in a film adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast."

In the past handful of years, Stevens has been quite busy. His most recent roles include Dirtbag Danny in "Her Smell," Drew Cola in "Lucy in the Sky," Colin in "High Maintenance," and Alexander Lemtov in "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga." Beyond that, he also provided the voice of Thomas in "Earwig and the Witch," Nigel in "Love, Death & Robots," and Alo Glo Man in an episode of "Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities."