What The Cast Of The Cloverfield Franchise Is Doing Today
The three films in the Cloverfield franchises aren't truly sequels. Cloverfield, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and The Cloverfield Paradox are loosely tied into the same universe. As outlets like The Guardian have suggested, it's more a case of a studio tacking a franchise onto an existing script than a series of movies that clearly need to follow one another.
That said, the three films have definitely developed a cult following and plenty of fans. The first film furthered the popularity of the found-footage genre, 10 Cloverfield Lane was a wonderful example of a small but impressive cast breathing life into a feature, and The Cloverfield Paradox certainly was a movie.
Look, they can't all be winners.
If you're a fan of the various actors who have appeared in the Cloverfield franchise, here's where you can find them today.
Lizzy Caplan - Marlena (Cloverfield)
Lizzy Caplan had appeared in several smaller roles prior to Cloverfield (including a memorable supporting part in Mean Girls), but it could easily be viewed as her star-making turn. She played Marlena, one of the guests at the party that's interrupted by the monster's attack. Later on, one of the smaller creatures bites her, and the wound eventually kills her in a gruesome fashion.
Caplan has appeared in a number of major films and television series in the years since Cloverfield. She's generally had better luck on television, however. Caplan starred on Masters of Sex as Virginia Johnson and headlined the second season of Castle Rock as Annie Wilkes. More recently, she appeared alongside Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul on the Apple TV+ series Truth Be Told.
Caplan has appeared in several films since Cloverfield as well, including The Disaster Artist, Now You See Me 2, and Extinction. She also stars in the upcoming horror film Cobweb.
Jessica Lucas - Lily (Cloverfield)
Jessica Lucas plays Lily, the only main character in Cloverfield who (seemingly) survives the monster's attack on the city –- she gets on the helicopter just before the rest of the main characters, and the film never tells us her fate afterward. Lucas was an up-and-comer when cast in Cloverfield, and she has found success in a few other roles in the years since.
Not long after Cloverfield, Lucas started landing even bigger and more lucrative parts. She had recurring roles on the 90210 and Melrose Place reboots, as well as parts in big-budget films like 2013's Evil Dead and 2014's Pompeii. She also starred in the Canadian police procedural The Murders.
Probably the role she's best known for in recent memory, however, was as Tabitha Galavan/Tigress on the series Gotham. She appeared on the show's second season in the "Rise of the Villains" arc and remained a central character until the show's final season.
T.J. Miller - Hud (Cloverfield)
Comedian T.J. Miller's first onscreen credit is Cloverfield, where he played Hud, the guy walking around with the camera for most of the film. Considering Miller is probably best known for his voice, he was a good fit for the disembodied audience surrogate. Miller has enjoyed more success than some of his Cloverfield co-stars, though he's also been subject to controversy.
Cloverfield may have launched Miller's career, but his role as Erlich Bachman on Silicon Valley made him a household name. He's appeared in major blockbuster films like the Deadpool franchise and Ready Player One, and he's utilized his voice talent in features like Big Hero 6. His most recent major role came in horror flick Underwater.
Various allegations have also been levied against him, including bullying on set and sexual misconduct off-camera. The accusations haven't seemed to slow his career down much.
Michael Stahl-David - Rob Hawkins (Cloverfield)
Michael Stahl-David plays Rob in Cloverfield, the film's central character and the one whose footage the government is using (and taping over; we occasionally see snippets of his day out with Beth underneath the film's main narrative) to determine what happened with the giant monster. It was one of Stahl-David's first major roles, and it's still probably what he's best known for, though he has started to attract a bit more attention with larger roles in recent years.
Stahl-David has appeared on several television series since his role in Cloverfield, though most big shows only used him in guest roles. You may have caught him on Numb3rs, New Girl, and Evil. In recent years, he's started to find his niche. He appeared as Chris on nine episodes of Narcos, and he's had multi-episode arcs on a few other series, including The Deuce, Chambers, and Almost Family.
Mike Vogel - Jason (Cloverfield)
The first main character to die in Cloverfield is Jason, played by Mike Vogel. Jason was the host of the party that kicks the film off, and he's on the bridge when the creature destroys it. Like many of the actors in Cloverfield, Vogel was a relatively unknown commodity when he was cast in the film.
Vogel has appeared in a few notable series and films since his role in Cloverfield. Not long after the film, he landed a starring role in Under the Dome as Barbie, one of the many targets of Jim Rennie. He also starred in the series The Brave, though it only lasted for one season.
On the film side of things, Vogel has generally appeared as either a large role in a smaller film or a small role in a larger film. One of his most notable recent credits came in the horror reboot of Fantasy Island, which was released in 2020.
Odette Annable - Beth (Cloverfield)
Odette Annable was credited as Odette Yustman in Cloverfield when she played Beth, Rob's ex, whom the main characters are trying to reach for much of the film. She also appears in snippets of the old footage that's being taped over. She and Rob spend the last moments of the film together.
Annable has appeared in a few different films in the years since, but she's really made her mark on television. She's had recurring roles on a number of popular series. Annable played Dr. Jessica Adams on House, Nola on Banshee, and Trudy on The Astronaut Wives Club. She also starred in the short-lived CBS series Pure Genius. More recently, she had a long run as Samantha/Reign on Supergirl, and she's in the CW series Walker.
Annable started in Hollywood as a child actor. Her first official credit came as a five-year-old in Kindergarten Cop, where she played the pigtailed Rosa.
John Goodman - Howard (10 Cloverfield Lane)
The legendary John Goodman needs no introduction. 10 Cloverfield Lane was a success because of the strength of its tiny cast, and Goodman is absolutely riveting in the film as Howard. His range and versatility are simply incredible. He can play funny, terrifying, and dramatic, sometimes all at once. It's no surprise that he continues to find work in major film and television roles.
In the years since 10 Cloverfield Lane's release, Goodman has helped anchor some large projects. He reprised one of his most famous roles as Dan Conner on Roseanne revamp The Conners, skewered televangelists as Dr. Eli on The Righteous Gemstones, and will again voice Sulley on the Disney+ series Monsters at Work.
Goodman's most recent notable film work was in the Kong franchise. He continues to be in high demand, so you'll certainly see him again.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Michelle (10 Cloverfield Lane)
The other side of the coin to Goodman's simmering rage in 10 Cloverfield Lane is Mary Elizabeth Winstead's character, Michelle. She's a great viewpoint character, discovering truths as the audience does and trying to piece it all together before it's too late. Winstead has proven every bit as capable at jumping between different genres as her co-star John Goodman, and she's found plenty of success with that ability.
Since 10 Cloverfield Lane, Winstead has leaned pretty hard into the action side of things. She starred alongside Will Smith in Gemini Man and was part of the ensemble of superwomen in Birds of Prey. Her action chops will be on full display in 2021's assassin thriller Kate.
Winstead chooses her television work carefully, but she's appeared in a few major series. She starred with Topher Grace in the "Ice Age" segment of Netflix's Love, Death & Robots, and had a recurring role as Nikki on season three of Fargo.
John Gallagher Jr. - Emmett (10 Cloverfield Lane)
Though not quite as well-known as Goodman and Winstead, actor John Gallagher Jr. more than holds his own with his co-stars in 10 Cloverfield Lane. He plays Emmett, who winds up as collateral damage at the hands of Howard. Right around the time of 10 Cloverfield Lane's release, Gallagher appeared in several films. He starred in the infinitely creepy Hush and as Mike in James Gunn's too-clever-for-its-own-good The Belko Experiment.
More recently, Gallagher starred as Marty in the creepy-kid horror film Come Play and as Liam in Underwater, the guy who somehow survives despite being dragged along the ocean floor for most of the film's runtime. You might've caught him on the third season of Westworld as the tech guru whom Evan Rachel Wood's Dolores uses to access the system he chaperones. Finally, Gallagher also has a role in the upcoming film I.S.S.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw - Ava Hamilton (The Cloverfield Paradox)
Many viewers probably saw actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw onscreen in The Cloverfield Paradox and thought, "Hey, I recognize her!" That's because Mbatha-Raw starred in what is widely viewed as the best episode of Netflix's Black Mirror, "San Junipero." She had many other roles before starring in The Cloverfield Paradox, but Black Mirror really helped her burst onto the scene.
She continues to appear in major film and television roles as well. She was part of the all-star ensemble on the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, voiced Seladon on The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, and has a substantial but under-wraps role on the Disney+ Loki series. It's safe to say that the future for Mbatha-Raw looks bright, especially on television.
She's flexed her acting muscles in plenty of films, too. She played Mrs. Murry in A Wrinkle in Time, Plumette in the live-action reboot of Beauty and the Beast, Vera in Summerland, and many others.
David Oyelowo - John Kiel (The Cloverfield Paradox)
Like his co-star Gugu Mbatha-Raw, actor David Oyelowo is on the brink of superstardom. You could argue that he's already there. Oyelowo has continued to land major roles in both film and television since playing John Kiel in The Cloverfield Paradox.
Oyelowo was actually a pretty big name even before he was cast in The Cloverfield Paradox. He played Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma and appeared in major films like The Last King of Scotland, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Interstellar. After The Cloverfield Paradox, Oyelowo teamed back up with Mbatha-Raw in A Wrinkle in Time, where he voiced The It. He also lends his voice to Star Wars Rebels as Kallus and The Lion Guard as Scar.
Oyelowo is also a part of several recent or upcoming film releases. He starred with George Clooney in The Midnight Sky, appears in 2021's Peter Rabbit 2, and will play another legendary figure, Sugar Ray Robinson, in Sweet Thunder.
Daniel Brühl - Ernst Schmidt (The Cloverfield Paradox)
Actor Daniel Brühl, who plays Schmidt in The Cloverfield Paradox, hasn't had a ton of roles since its 2018 release. However, the roles he has had (and will have, in films that are now in production) are substantial. He may be most recognizable as Zemo, the main villain of Captain America: Civil War. He will reprise that role in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when it's released on Disney+.
However, it isn't just his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that's keeping Brühl busy. He starred in the highly regarded series The Alienist as Laszlo Kreizler alongside Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning. He plays Erik Jan Hanussen in Matthew Vaughn's The King's Man, the third installment in the over-the-top spy franchise. He's also the only announced cast member of the upcoming adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front. It's pretty likely that you've seen Brühl in something.
John Ortiz - Monk Acosta (The Cloverfield Paradox)
Veteran actor John Ortiz plays Brazilian doctor Monk Acosta in The Cloverfield Paradox. Though he isn't quite as big a name as some of his co-stars, he still has lots of major film and television work under his belt, so it's pretty likely you've seen him before.
Ortiz's biggest roles mostly came before The Cloverfield Paradox. He appeared in films like American Gangster, Steve Jobs, and Silver Linings Playbook. He's also had roles in major franchises: Kong, a few of the Fast & Furious films, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, and Bumblebee. Unlike seemingly everyone, Ortiz hasn't appeared in the MCU as of this writing.
That isn't to say that Ortiz isn't still landing roles in major movies. He appeared alongside Keanu Reeves in Replica and with Brad Pitt in Ad Astra. He also had a supporting role in the indie drama Horse Girl. On the television side of things, Ortiz had a guest role as Jim Thorne on an episode of The Handmaid's Tale, and he has a major role on the series Messiah.
Elizabeth Debicki - Mina Jensen (The Cloverfield Paradox)
Elizabeth Debicki plays Mina, the incredibly creepy baddie in The Cloverfield Paradox, to absolute perfection. The actress's angular features and cold, ruthless mien have made her a Hollywood staple and memorable part of many films, from blockbuster action movies to period pieces and everything in between.
Most American audiences probably met Debicki as Jordan Baker in 2013's The Great Gatsby, though it wasn't her first role. She seems to be drawn to science fiction films: She played the golden high priestess Ayesha in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Kat in Christopher Nolan's Tenet. Debicki has flexed her subtle drama talents in plenty of major roles as well, including playing Princess Diana in The Crown, Virginia Woolf in Vita & Virginia, and Edith Farnsworth in Farnsworth House.
Finally, you may just recognize Debicki's voice: She plays Mopsy, a member of the central clan of rabbits in the Peter Rabbit franchise.