What The Cast Of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Is Doing Now

Back in 2010, writer Seth Grahame-Smith published his novel "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," shortly after his breakout success with "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." It wasn't long until the film rights for the adventures of Honest Abe were optioned, and the movie hit theaters in the summer of 2012. It received lukewarm reviews, though it made a modest return at the box office and has achieved a bit of a cult following.

If you're unfamiliar with the story, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" tells the story of Lincoln's rise through politics ... but through the lens of him battling with the undead. His parents? Killed by vampires. The Civil War? Well, vampires feed on slaves, so they back the South against Lincoln's Union troops.

It's bizarre and silly, and the parts that work are mainly due to the impressive ensemble cast. "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" is one of those movies you sit down to watch and can hardly believe how many talented actors are involved. Here's what the cast of "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" has been up to since.

If you're going to make a movie about Honest Abe battling vampires, you've got pretty big shoes to fill right off the bat ... literally. Lincoln was known for his extremely large stature, and he rocked a size 14 shoe!

Well, those shoes were filled by actor Benjamin Walker, who was mostly known as a stage actor when "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" was released. Before the film, Walker originated multiple roles on Broadway, including the lead role in "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson." He would later star in "American Psycho: The Musical" and "All My Sons," the latter of which netted him a Tony nomination.

All those leading roles on stage have left Walker little time for major film parts, though he has nabbed a few since portraying Abe Lincoln. He had a recurring role on the third and final season of Netflix's "Jessica Jones," where he played Erik Gelden. He also has a role in Amazon's highly anticipated "Lord of the Rings" series.

Every story about a vampire hunter needs a wily mentor — someone who can teach the character (and the audience) how the vampires in this world work. In "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," that mentor is Henry Sturges. Henry is played by English actor Dominic Cooper, who's seen his star power increase dramatically since his time teaching Lincoln how to effectively use silver weapons.

Dominic Cooper has shown a lot of range in his time as an actor, and he's probably best known for two comic book roles. He played the lead role of Jesse Custer on AMC's series "Preacher," based on the Vertigo comic of the same name. He's also played Howard Stark in a few MCU properties. His first appearance came in "Captain America: The First Avenger," and he reprised the role on "Agent Carter" and "What If...?"

Cooper doesn't just appear in comic book properties either. He played Sky in "Mamma Mia!" and its sequel, and he has a central role in "Warcraft" as Llane Wrynn, just to name a few.

Lincoln's oldest friend and one of his most trusted confidants is a Black man named Will Johnson. Played by Anthony Mackie, Johnson is based on a real person from Lincoln's life, a former slave who eventually wound up employed by the president.

Anthony Mackie has seen his stardom soar since appearing in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter." His biggest role began shortly after he played Will Johnson, as two years later, he made his first appearance as Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." Almost a decade later, Sam took up the star-spangled shield himself after the events of the Disney+ series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," and he looks poised to make several more appearances as a central player in the MCU.

It's not all comics for Mackie, though he does tend to do a lot of futuristic science fiction. He starred on the "Black Mirror" episode "Striking Vipers," and he's also had major roles in "IO," "Altered Carbon," and "Outside the Wire." Mackie also produced "Outside the Wire," and he seems on the cusp of being one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

Being the president is tough, especially when you're fighting a Civil War and battling the undead. Luckily, Honest Abe's got the support of his loving wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. Mary gets her own chances to dish out some undead ass-kicking, and she's instrumental to Abe's triumph. 

Action star Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Mary Todd in the film. Prior to "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," Winstead had already proven her action bona fides in films like "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and "Death Proof." She's definitely proven to have some serious range, but her physicality in action films tends to push her in that direction. Like a lot of the other cast members of the film, Winstead has seen her star power grow even more in the years since, starring in films like "10 Cloverfield Lane" and "Gemini Man" and taking on the role of Huntress in "Birds of Prey."

Winstead also occasionally pops up in interesting TV roles. Keep an eye out for her as Nikki Swango on the third season of "Fargo."

Many of the twists and turns in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" come courtesy of Joshua Speed. Lincoln's friend and advisor eventually defects to the side of the undead, revealing Abe's plans and setting up the climactic train showdown. However, Speed's defection is all part of the plan, as it also lures the vampires into a trap and gives Lincoln the upper hand to win the day. Speed is played by character actor Jimmi Simpson, who has more than enough talent to make this tricky role believable.

Simpson is mostly known as a television actor, though he occasionally pops up in supporting film roles. One of his early, notable roles came as the incredibly creepy Liam McPoyle on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." It could have been a gross-out, one-shot part, but like many characters from that series, Simpson has returned with chaotic glee over the years.

Simpson has also shown a deft hand at dramatic roles. He played Gavin Orsay on "House of Cards," and he also plays a major role as the younger William on HBO's "Westworld." Finally, he's part of the trapped space crew on one of the most memorable episodes of "Black Mirror," "USS Callister."

Though his role in the film is small, we can't overlook Alan Tudyk's performance as Stephen Douglas in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter." As an actor, Tudyk is everywhere, and his impressive skills let him fit almost any role perfectly. He isn't even credited in the film, but keep your eyes peeled for him as the politician and Lincoln's political rival.

Tudyk is one of the rare actors who moves between live action and voice work with ease. On the voice-over side of things, you've definitely heard Tudyk somewhere, even if you don't realize it's him. He was the voice of the sarcastic, reprogramed K-2SO in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," and he regularly works in Disney films. He's King Candy in "Wreck-It Ralph," the Duke in "Frozen," and he even plays Heihei (the ridiculous chicken) in "Moana," among many others.

On the live-action front, you might get teary-eyed remembering him as Wash from "Firefly" and "Serenity." More recent television roles for Tudyk include Mr. Nobody on "Doom Patrol" and the lead character, Harry, on "Resident Alien."

Abraham Lincoln is a pretty impressive historic figure, so crafting a villain that could stand toe-to-toe with the Great Emancipator is an impressive feat. "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" turns to veteran British actor Rufus Sewell to play Adam, the ancient leader of the undead in America, to clash with Abe. And Sewell has more than enough gravitas to take on the role of the sinister vampire.

Sewell still regularly performs on stage, so he doesn't take as many film and television roles as his contemporaries. However, he still manages to crop up in some pretty major productions. He had a major supporting role as John Smith in "The Man in the High Castle" and played Lord Melbourne in the series "Victoria." He also tackled the Agatha Christie miniseries "The Pale Horse," starring as Mark Easterbrook, and his guest appearance as Declan Howell on a 2018 episode of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" netted him a Primetime Emmy nomination.

Sewell also has some impressive film work in the last few years. He played Paul alongside an Oscar-winning Anthony Hopkins in "The Father," and he has a role in M. Night Shyamalan's "Old."

Kiwi actor Marton Csokas often takes on villainous roles, and he's a great fit for Jack Barts, the vampire/plantation owner who serves as the catalyst for Lincoln to start his crusade against the undead. Csokas hasn't quite hit stateside stardom like a lot of the cast of "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," but there are still a number of roles you may have caught him in.

On the film side of things, Csokas frequently appears as small roles in big films. Before playing Jack Barts, you may have caught him in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy as Lord Celeborn. He shows up as Lamech in the biblical epic "Noah" and Teddy in "The Equalizer." He also has taken on a few different comic book roles — he played Damien Lord in "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" and Dr. Ashley Kafka in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."

Csokas also pops up in a number of television series. One of his more notable recent roles came on the AMC martial arts series "Into the Badlands," where he played the ruthless and arrogant Baron Quinn.

Honest Abe's parents don't get a huge role in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," but Thomas and Nancy both are extremely significant to the plot. Joseph Mawle portrays Abe's father, and he would go on to play a small but memorable role in one of the most popular television series of all time.

Mawle is an English actor, and seemingly every English actor ever was tapped to play a role in "Game of Thrones." However Mawle wasn't just some random villager to serve as a dragon snack. Instead, he played Benjen Stark. Even though Benjen himself only appears in a handful of episodes, he's a driving force in the plot of the series. Jon Snow joins the Night's Watch because of Benjen, and he later shows up to help battle the army of the dead north of Winterfell.

Some of Mawle's other television roles include playing Odysseus on "Troy: Fall of a City" and Detective Inspector Jedediah Shine on "Ripper Street," both products of the BBC. He will also play a villain named Oren on Amazon's "The Lord of the Rings" series.

One of the few members of the featured cast to never really make the leap to mainstream success in the United States is Robin McLeavy, who plays Abe's mother, Nancy. She isn't a major role in the film, but her storyline is central in pushing Lincoln into vowing revenge against the undead.

After "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," McLeavy only has a few film credits to her name. She had a major role in little-seen thriller "Backtrack," and she also voiced a koala in the Australian computer-animated film "Blinky Bill the Movie."

McLeavy has had more of an impact on a few TV series since her time as Abe's mother. She showed up as Eva across every season of AMC's "Hell on Wheels," and she played several different characters on the sketch comedy series "A Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting." She also had a guest appearance on a few episodes of "Homeland," playing Charlotte Benson.

Actor John Rothman has been in a ton of film and television projects over the years, but he often plays small roles in them. He doesn't have a ton of screen time in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," but he makes the most of it as Jefferson Davis, the leader of the Confederacy who makes a deal with the undead menace.

Rothman has been acting professionally since the early 1980s, and he even made small appearances in classic comedies of the era like "Big" and "Ghostbusters." Playing Jefferson Davis also wasn't his only foray into the Civil War either. He appeared as General John Fulton in 1993's "Gettysburg." Plus, he's made guest appearances on dozens of popular television series, and he's one of those faces that you often recognize but can rarely name.

More recently, you might have seen Rothman on Tig Notaro's series "One Mississippi," where he plays Bill. On the movie side of things, Rothman played Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in "The Report" and Martin Hyman in "Bombshell."

Harriet Tubman plays a major role in history but a relatively minor one in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter." Even still, actress Jaqueline Fleming's turn as the historical figure is a memorable one.

Fleming has never really broken into the mainstream, though she still has a lot of acting roles to her name. She's had memorable guest spots on popular series like "NCIS: New Orleans," and she's also had a few chances to shine on series like "The Quad," where she plays Cynthia Diamond. When she has gotten lead roles in films, they typically have underperformed, like the forgettable thriller "Atone."

However, not every Hollywood regular gets there as a blockbuster actor. Fleming is known almost as much for her acting chops as she is for her teaching. She started Jaq's Acting Studio in New Orleans while she was struggling to break into larger roles, and one of her success stories was a young actor named Jason Mitchell who got his start at her studio. Mitchell would later go on to major roles like playing Eazy-E in "Straight Outta Compton."