Here's Where Else You've Seen The Cast Of Big Sky

In "Big Sky," Canadian actor Katheryn Winnick plays the co-lead character, Jenny Hoyt. She and Cassie Dewell form the central investigation team for the series. Jenny Hoyt is also in many ways the main character around whom much of the story revolves, so she could possibly get top billing. As Hoyt, Winnick manages to pull off tough and vulnerable, beautiful yet fierce. Of course, she honed these qualities playing Earl Lagertha, arguably the best character in the acclaimed series "Vikings." 

Winnick has built a reputation for playing strong women, having done it now in two big series. Her career has been growing for over two decades, though. She had cameos on plenty of police procedurals like "Law & Order," "CSI," and their various iterations. She even had a 7-episode run on "Bones." You can see her smaller roles in a few movies with big-name stars, like Liam Neeson vehicle "The Marksman" and "Wander," with Tommy Lee Jones, Heather Graham, and Aaron Eckhart. Unfortunately, most of these flicks have gotten middling reviews and small audiences, and she's still most recognizable from her portrayal of the legendary "Vikings" shield maiden.

John Carroll Lynch has built a career on playing inscrutable, often creepy characters. It makes sense considering his Rick Legarski is arguably the most twisted psychopath in "Big Sky." A calculating madman who justifies sex trafficking as doing his civic duty, Legarski could be called absolute evil on top of the fact that he's a racist, sexist cop. Of course, psycho Rick Legarski has echoes in Lynch's previous performances as Mr. Jingles and Twisty the Clown in "American Horror Story" Seasons 9 and 7, respectively. He also played serial killer John Wayne Gacy (another Killer Clown) in Season 5. He also played an escaped convict in "Carnivàle," the forgotten HBO show about a 1930s-era traveling circus (no clowns, but similar eerie, macabre vibe to "AHS"). Fans of super creepy TV may also recognize him from the SyFy Creepypasta-inspired series "Channel Zero."

Lynch has been around for a long time. Devotees of both the Coen Brothers and of older cinema in general will recognize Lynch from "Fargo," where he played Norm Gunderson, the calm, supportive, stamp-designing husband of protagonist Marge Gunderson. And TV comedy buffs might recognize him as Drew Carey's large brother on "The Drew Carey Show." Maybe he'll return to playing harmless characters one day, but for now, we can't wait to see what psychopath he'll play next. 

When you first see Ronald Pergman, he's getting verbally beaten down by his emotionally abusive mother, to the point that the audience can't help but sympathize with his meekness. That quickly disappears when you realize that Pergman, played by Brian Geraghty, has been kidnapping women and selling them into sex slavery. And Geraghty looks very familiar. He's most easily noticed as the sniveling specialist in "The Hurt Locker" opposite Jeremy Renner. Or the kinda weak soldier from "Jarhead."

Reaching back through his career, you'll remember he's that kid from "We Are Marshall." He's also a later-season detective in "Boardwalk Empire." Geraghty even had an arc on "True Blood," like several other characters here. Geraghty has made a career playing fragile men surrounded by tougher guys he latches on to for strength — men who like to wear an air of false authority. Pergman is no different. When he gives in to his own self-loathing in "Big Sky," the carefully orchestrated sex trade goes awry, showing that men playing tough are often undone by their weakness.

Or they just try and run away, as Pergman does.

Grace's older sister is the beautiful, popular high schooler Danielle Sullivan. Sullivan is played by Natalie Alyn Lind, who's been appearing on TV since her 2006 appearance in "One Tree Hill." Most likely, though, you'd recognize her as Lauren Strucker on "The Gifted" from 2017-2019, or as Ashley Rose Pruitt in "Tell Me a Story," where she appeared for 10 episodes. The last role you'd recognize her from before "Big Sky" is her turn as Dana on "The Goldbergs," Adam Goldberg's ex-girlfriend who left and then came back to help him prevent their significant others from going on a date. 

In "Big Sky," Danielle Sullivan is coincidentally also the girlfriend of Jenny Hoyt's son, which gives her kidnapping even more of a personal drive for Jenny and the detectives. It was part of the reason Cody Hoyt was so interested in the kidnapping that he personally went after the girls, leading to his death and adding more urgency to the manhunt. So in some ways, her popularity led to her freedom. I guess the message is that it's good to be the most beautiful girl in school.

Kyle Schmid plays Margaret's middle son, John Wayne Kleinsasser, who thinks he should inherit his father's vast estate because he's been eternally loyal. This is obviously a bone of contention with his siblings, especially since he's not the eldest. Schmid, who got his start as a child actor, is all grown up now and has been in shows ranging from "Lost Girl" to "Being Human." As some fans have pointed out, he is a good-looking man who often gets cast in strong, masculine roles.

His role in "The Cheetah Girls" is the dreamboat Derek, Galleria Garibaldi's love interest. Longtime Disney Channel fans also will likely recognize him as the cute young co-lead in the network's original movie about bowling and high school, "Alley Cats Strike." Schmid also played a main character in the series "Six" about SEAL Team 6. Outside of television, he's also had small appearances in movies ranging from "A History of Violence" to "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." 

The pater familias of the Kleinsasser family, Horst Kleinsasser (Ted Levine), is a mob boss recovering from a stroke. After his brush with death, he's wondering to whom he'll turn his ranch and his shady empire. 

While many of these actors have worked together, or at least shared credits on similar shows, Levine's most iconic role was opposite Brooke Smith in "Silence of the Lambs." In the iconic film, Levine played serial killer Jame Gumb, aka Buffalo Bill, who famously threatened Smith's character with the hose again. And we all remember the notorious tucking scene.  

Levine's filmography is full of hit movies with big-name actors and directors ("Shutter Island," "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," and "Heat" come to mind). But possibly his longest-running credit, one from which you would likely recognize him, was playing the police captain in "Monk."

No matter where he is, Ted Levine plays a man of authority who has a lot more going on behind his eyes than he lets on. And often in that "more" lurk bad, or at least questionable, intentions.

Scarlet Leyendecker unfortunately ends up dating Ronald Pergman while he's in hiding after having fled his crimes. Scarlet is played by Anja Savcic, an actor who has been in many films and TV series, though usually in small roles. 

Leyendecker is in "Big Sky" now, but she also currently plays a main character in another show, one that's very different from the twisted drama that is "Big Sky." "Loudermilk" is somewhat of a sleeper hit comedy on Amazon, with a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. Anja Savcic plays an enfant terrible whose life goes off the rails following her father's death. Sam Loudermilk becomes her counselor. Their catty back-and-forth as they seek recovery is one of the greatest components of the show. You can also catch her on the CW's supernatural twist on the classic "Nancy Drew" detective series.  

With two popular shows currently streaming, Savcic has a name and face that likely soon almost everybody will be able to recognize.