Where Else You've Seen The Cast Of Sandman

It's been a good year for adaptations of Neil Gaiman's iconic graphic novel series "The Sandman," which ran for 75 issues from 1989 to 1996. Despite its reputation as one of the greatest illustrated tales in the history of the medium, and attempts at "Sandman" movies going as far back as the early 1990s, the story had yet to graduate beyond the printed page. 

That changed in July 2020, when the first season of a "Sandman" audio series became the best-selling Audible original in history. In January 2021, we got another piece of "Sandman" news: A live-action Netflix show based on the series, which had been announced in 2019 (with Gaiman himself as a writer and executive producer) actually had a cast. By May, we had learned the names of almost 20 actors who had signed on for the show, and the names in question seem very promising seem very promising. Now, it's time to take a closer look at who will be finally bringing "The Sandman" to life — with fingers crossed that such optimism doesn't once again jinx this star-crossed franchise.

If you've never heard of Tom Sturridge, you've definitely never heard of Vivienne Acheampong, who is getting her first major role as Lucienne, a gender-swapped version of Lucien, chief librarian of Dream's kingdom and his trusted advisor. 

Acheampong is a British actor who has a few credits in shows like "Famalam" and "The One," and she jumped across the pond with a small role in 2020's "The Witches," but "Sandman" should give her the chance to truly shine. Kyo Ra, meanwhile, has no previous acting credits whatsoever, and is making her official debut in the role of Rose Walker, a young human woman who, alongside Dream, is a central protagonist in the series' second story arc. 

Acheampong and Ra aren't the only BIPOC actors taking on the roles of white (or white-presenting) comic book characters in "The Sandman," but it's admirable that, in addition to updating his story to feature more people of color, Gaiman is also using the adaptation to elevate up-and-coming Black performers.

Alongside Dream and Death, we also know who will be playing two other members of the seven-person family collectively known as the Endless. Desire and Despair, appropriately, are twins in the series, and taking on those respective roles are Mason Alexander Park and Donna Preston. 

Park has very little television or film experience, but they have recently become a centerpiece of the theatrical scene, starring in critically acclaimed performances of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," "I Am My Own Wife," and "Cabaret." Park's casting is also significant in that they are non-binary, an identity shared by Desire.

Preston, meanwhile, is something of a modern jack-of-all-trades, working in a wide variety of media. In addition to her acting work (mostly in shorts), she's been credited as a writer and producer, done voice work for video games like "The Apotheosis Project" and "Tales," and she hosts her own podcast entitled "Dating the Dildo with Donna Preston."

Speaking of legends, if Gwendoline Christie isn't careful, she's going to have die-hards from every fandom in existence lining up to worship at her feet. After all, her filmography reads like a genre superfan's bucket list: She was Brienne of Tarth in "Game of Thrones," she was Captain Phasma in "Star Wars," she has appeared in two Terry Gilliam films, one "Hunger Games" movie, and even a British TV series created by longtime "Doctor Who" showrunner Russell T. Davies ("Wizards vs. Aliens"). 

As if that alone wouldn't earn her an epic autograph line at Comic-Con, now she's set to play Lucifer in "Sandman," an iconic comic book version of the character from Christian folklore — and one that provided the source material for the "Lucifer" TV show, loosely drawn from a "Sandman" spin-off comic of the same name.

Unlike "Lucifer" front man Tom Ellis, Christie actually has prior experience playing the role, as she portrayed Lucifer in a 2010 production of "Dr. Faustus" during her early theater career. Perhaps coincidentally, Christie recently returned to theater for 2019's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," portraying Queen Titania — another character who appears in the "Sandman" comics.

The character of Ethel Cripps plays an important role in the original "Sandman" comics, but also an extremely small one — her entire existence in the comic book medium is limited to two issues. The fact that two separate actresses will play her in two separate phases of life suggests some faithfulness to the source material, but Gaiman has admitted that her role will be expanded in "The Sandman," describing the grown-up Ethel as "a woman of a hundred identities and a thousand lies."

Fittingly, Joely Richardson and Niamh Walsh, who respectively play the older and younger versions of Ethel, have careers that somewhat mirror each other. Richardson has been performing since the 1980s and has a resume that includes "Event Horizon," "The Patriot," and "Red Sparrow," while Walsh's career only dates back to 2012. However, both are best known for their roles in medical dramas — Richardson played Julia McNamara in "Nip/Tuck," while Walsh had a regular role in the BBC One program "Holby City."

One of the more interesting side characters with origins in "The Sandman" is Johanna Constantine, 18^th century occult explorer and ancestor of John Constantine, the morally ambiguous magician of "Swamp Thing" and "Hellblazer" fame (and who was played by Keanu Reeves in the 2005 "Constantine" film). The character of Johanna even briefly got her own comic book title, a spin-off miniseries called "Hellblazer: Lady Constantine." 

Like Ethel Cripps, her role has also been expanded for the Netflix series, as Gaiman has revealed that Johanna will appear in both the 18^th century and the present day. Fortunately, the actress hired to play her, Jenna Coleman, has some experience with this kind of thing, considering she's best known as Clara Oswald, companion of both the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors in the long-running series "Doctor Who." 

Other relevant Coleman roles include her brief double date with Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes in "Captain America: The First Avenger," her turn as Queen Victoria in "Victoria," and her performance in the BBC One mystery series "The Cry."

In the "Sandman" comics, Unity Kincaid is a woman who has spent the majority of her life asleep, before the events of the story cause her to dramatically wake up. In a way, this feels like a fitting metaphor for Sandra James-Young, who doesn't even have a Wikipedia page despite the fact that she's been acting since the 1990s. 

Like Unity, James-Young has been here for decades, but she's remained under the radar — guest starring on a wide variety of British television shows while only occasionally find a home in programs like "Trial and Retribution," "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet," and "Coronation Street." These days, she's best known for playing Fiona Payne on the soap opera "EastEnders," though she has a few credits that American fans might recognize, such as appearing in an episode of "His Dark Materials" and doing some voice work for "Dragon Age: Inquisition." Hopefully, like the character she's playing, "The Sandman" will give her the chance to wake up from her long slumber.

Stephen Fry is one of England's most famous and well-respected actors, full stop. From his comedy origins alongside Hugh Laurie, Fry has risen to become a titan of both sound and screen. Film, television, theater, radio, video games – you name it, Fry has probably done it. 

He's written and directed his own film, produced several books (both fiction and non-fiction), and lent his incredible voice to a host of audiobook productions, most notably the "Harry Potter" series and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (while also voicing the eponymous Hitchhiker's Guide in the 2005 film adaptation). It's difficult to imagine a better choice to play Gilbert, a kindly, protective mountain of a man who is much more than what he seems.

Despite his lengthy career, this will only be Fry's second appearance in a comic book adaptation. He played Gordon Deitrich, a closeted gay television broadcaster living under a hostile and oppressive political regime, in 2006's "V for Vendetta," a performance made all the more poignant by Fry's own homosexuality. Originally published in England, the "V for Vendetta" comic book was later folded into DC's Vertigo imprint for mature readers, alongside flagship Vertigo publication "The Sandman." He might dabble in all sorts of media, but when it comes to comics, Fry clearly has a type.