While Jenna Ortega and Mia Goth are currently Hollywood’s reigning horror movie scream queens, Hunter Schafer gives them a run for their money with 2024’sCuckoo. Produced and distributed by Neon, the company behind the most recentBest Picture winnerAnora,Cuckootells the story of Gretchen (Schafer), a teenager who goes to live with her father in the German Alps, where she learns a shocking family secret. Critics largely enjoyedCuckoo, awarding it a 78% onRotten Tomatoes, with most of the praise going to the cast.
I, for one, am not surprised atCuckoo’s positive reception, as I was excited for the film’s release ever since its 2023 cast announcement in whichDeadlineshared that Dan Stevens and Jessica Henwick were joining Schafer. Every actor is at the top of their game in this movie, and it’s the best workHunter Schafer has done sinceEuphoria. ThoughCuckoo’s ending definitely leaves the door open for a sequel, in the meantime, I’m happy to check out the other movies and TV shows in the cast’s filmography.
Hunter Schafer As Gretchen
Born On June 07, 2025
Actor:Originally from Trenton, New Jersey, Hunter Schafer attended the North Carolina School of Arts and began modeling at the age of 17.She made her acting debut playing Jules Vaughn in the acclaimed HBO seriesEuphoria—a character who, like Schafer, is transgender.In 2023,Schafer expanded her filmographyas the stylist and underground rebel Tigris Snow inThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.Some of her upcoming projects include the filmsMother MaryandPalette,along withBlade Runner2099,the sequel series toBlade Runner 2049, andEuphoriaseason 3.
The Hunter Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)
Tigris
Character:Recently grieving the death of her mother,teenager Gretchen moves with her father, stepmother, and half-sister to a resort in the Bavarian Alps. The difficult transition is exacerbated by the mysterious appearance of a strange hooded woman, who seems to be less than human. Her father’s business associate, Herr König, gives Gretchen the creeps, and she later discovers that her suspicions of him are horrifyingly correct.
Dan Stevens As Herr König
Born On August 11, 2025
Actor:English actorDan Stevens is best known for his role as Matthew Crawley in the British period drama series,Downton Abbey.After leavingStevens leftDownton Abbeyfor personal and professional reasons, the actor continued his career in America, appearing in movies likeThe Fifth Estate(2013) andThe Guest(2016).
Stevens went on to land the role of the Beast in the 2017 live-action remake of Disney’sBeauty and the Beast,and played David Haller in the psychedelic superhero sci-fi seriesLegion,based on the Marvel Comics character. Along with providing the voice of Korvo in the adult animated comedySolar Opposites,Stevens has several upcoming movie and TV projects in the works.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Zero Day (2025)
Evan Green
Character: Herr König is overseeing the building of a new hotel in the Bavarian resort town, but it’s clear from the start that something is not right with this sinister character. It turns out that König is one of a team of scientists that are experimenting with a strange entity — a humanoid creature that has a similar biology to a cuckoo bird. König has been inseminating human hosts so that the creature’s young will be raised and developed by humans, creating a terrifying breed of monsters.
Marton Csokas As Luis
Born On July 07, 2025
Actor:Born in Invercargill, Aotearoa, New Zealand, Marton Csokas has been in the acting game for decades. He got his start in New Zealand television and film, including appearing in popular fantasy shows likeHercules: The Legendary JourneysandXena: Warrior Princess.He is best known for playing Celeborn in Peter Jackson’sTheLord of the Rings,althoughmany audiences may recognize him from the action thrillerxXx,when he played the Russian crime boss, Yorgi.
Csokas has since been in several successful films and TV shows, including Tim Burton’sAlice in Wonderland,The Equalizer, andInto the Badlands. According to his IMDb page, he is due to play Hungarian classical composer Franz Liszt in the upcoming period dramaWagner in Venice.
Movie/TV Titles
Role
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
xXx (2002)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Into the Badlands (2015-2017)
Quinn
Character:After Luis and his wife are hired by Herr König to build a new hotel,he moves his family to a small town in the Bavarian Alps. Tensions are thick between Luis and his daughter, Gretchen, as the younger daughter, Alma, who has mutism, takes up most of his attention. When Gretchen voices her suspicions about König and the goings-on at the resort, Luis doesn’t believe her, thinking that her paranoia is simply a manifestation of mourning her mother’s death.
Jessica Henwick As Beth
Born On May 28, 2025
Actor:Born in Surrey, England, British actor Jessica Henwick’s first acting job was an uncredited role inSt. Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold.Since then,Henwick has gone on to appear in some big franchises, includingGame of Thrones,where she played Nymeria Sand. She also starred in the Netflix Marvel showThe Iron Fistas Colleen Wing, and played X-wing pilot Jess Testor inStar Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.She is slated to appear in an episode of theupcoming third season ofSilo,as well as the comedy thriller movieHuntingtonalongside Glen Powell and Ed Harris.
Game of Thrones (2015-2017)
Glass Onion (2022)
Peg
Character: Beth is the wife of Luis and the mother of Alma, who accompanies her family to start a new life in the Bavarian Alps. She has trouble connecting to her stepdaughter, Gretchen, and has no idea that she is actually instrumental to Herr König’s horrifying plot.
Jan Bluthardt As Henry
Born In 1978
Actor:Jan Bluthardt is a German actor who has an extensive background in theater, having attended the acclaimed German arts and drama school, Schauspielhaus Bochum.He has acted on stage in several productions and is a member of theBasel Theateractor ensemble.His first film was the horror thrillerLuz,which was also written and directed byCuckoo’sTilman Singer.
Cuckoo (2024)
Henry
Character:Bluthardt plays Henry inCuckoo,the only one who believes Gretchen about the strange happenings at the resort and helps her search for the truth. Henry believes his wife was killed by the same hooded woman that Gretchen encountered,and swears to get revenge on the people responsible.
Supporting Cast And Characters In Cuckoo
Mila Lieu as Alma: Alma is Gretchen’s younger half-sister. She cannot speak, and begins to have what seems like seizures and strange episodes when she and her family move into Herr König’s resort. Lieu played Tang in the BBC seriesDodgerand starred in the 2025 horror-comedyBad Things.
Greta Fernández as Trixie:Trixieworks at the resort reception desk with Gretchen. The Spanish actor has been active since 2006, with credits that include the TV seriesLa Riera,the 2019 movieA Thief’s Daughter,and a starring role in 2024’s Spanish indie dramaLos Bárbaros.
Proschat Madani as Dr. Bonomo:Dr. Bonomo isthe neighbor of Gretchen’s family who warmly welcomes their arrivalbut is not who he says he is. Proschat Madani is an Iranian actor from the seriesWalking on SunshineandMorden im Norden,and was in an episode ofFoundation.
Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey as Ed:While working at the resort’s reception desk,Gretchen meets one of the guests, a woman named Ed, and the two strike up a romance. Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey was in the moviePirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tidesas the mermaid, Syrena. She also played the Mage in Guy Ritchie’sKing Arthur: Legend of the Sword.
Kalin Morrow as Hooded Woman:Kalin Morrow playsthe terrifying cuckoo entity, which appears as a hooded woman with dark sunglasses and red pinpoints for her eyes. Morrow has been in a few uncredited roles in episodes ofHow I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls,andMen at Work.Cuckoois Morrow’s first feature film.
