The Body Cast Guide: Who Plays Who in Netflix’s Catholic School Thriller

You finished episode one, you recognized that face from somewhere, and now you’re here. Fair. The Body is packed with actors you’ve half-seen before: a High School Musical alum, a doctor from The Pitt, a former NFL star in a priest’s collar, and a reality TV favorite trying something completely new.

The show comes from Quinn Shephard, the writer-director behind Hulu’s Emmy-nominated Under the Bridge. This time she’s telling the story of a Catholic high school dance team whose Halloween initiation goes horribly wrong. Soon the girls are having visions, the town is losing its mind, and everyone wants to know what happened to Grace.

Here’s every major cast member, who they play, and where you’ve seen them before.

What is The Body about?

Netflix’s official logline keeps it short: after a dance-team initiation goes wrong, a group of badly behaved Catholic school girls start having prophetic visions that set off mass hysteria in their town. The initiation happens on Halloween night, which tells you everything about the vibe.

Shephard calls the show “gritty camp” and a love letter to ’90s and Y2K teen movies. Think Carrie, Jennifer’s Body and Heavenly Creatures, plus a healthy dose of Mean Girls energy. If you want the real-world history behind the hysteria plot, we dug into it in Is The Body based on a true story?

The Body cast: main characters

Kristina Bogic as Anya Butler

Anya is one of the two captains of the Lions, the school’s dance team, and she’s at the center of the chaos. Bogic is a relatively fresh face. Before The Body, she appeared in Playing Gracie Darling and Howl. A lead role in a Netflix ensemble like this is her biggest break so far, so expect a lot of people searching her name this week.

Sara Boustany as Elise Zakaria

Elise is Anya’s co-captain on the dance team, and their dynamic drives much of the show. Boustany’s earlier credits include Hello Beautiful and a part in Hulu’s cult-favorite cringe comedy PEN15.

Geena Meszaros as Lisbeth Anderson

Lisbeth shares the Anderson surname with Leo and Catherine, so expect family drama on top of the supernatural kind. Meszaros has appeared in Netflix’s The Order and Mae Martin’s Wayward, so if her face feels familiar from your Netflix queue, that’s why.

Sofia Wylie as Grace Franklin

Grace is the character the whole show orbits. The trailer’s big question is “What happened to Grace?”, and it’s the mystery driving the season. Wylie is best known as Gina in Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and starred in The Map That Leads to You. This is a much darker role than her Disney fans are used to.

Jackson Kelly as Leo Anderson

Leo is another Anderson and one of the few main boys in a story dominated by the dance team. Kelly is having a big year: he’s also part of the cast of HBO Max’s acclaimed medical drama The Pitt, and he appeared in Peacock’s horror series Teacup.

Shirley Chen as Maddie Delaney

Chen broke out in Sean Wang’s coming-of-age film Dìdi and starred in the body-horror satire Slanted. Teen stories that get uncomfortable are clearly her lane.

Nnamdi Asomugha as Father Franklin

Yes, that Nnamdi Asomugha. He was a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback for the Oakland Raiders before switching to acting and producing. He wrote, directed and starred in the thriller The Knife and appears in The Savant. Here he plays the parish priest, Father Franklin, and the Franklin surname connects him to Grace’s family.

Louisa Krause as Catherine Anderson

Catherine is one of the adults pulled into the hysteria, and the third Anderson in the main cast. Krause is a familiar character actress, with roles in Billions, King Kelly and The Dive.

Gabby Windey as Coach Miller

This is the casting that got the internet talking. Gabby Windey first became famous on The Bachelor and co-led The Bachelorette, then won The Traitors. The Body is her first scripted acting role. She plays Coach Miller, who runs the dance team, which puts her right in the middle of the initiation that kicks everything off.

Reality stars crossing into prestige TV don’t always land, so this is the role a lot of viewers will be judging closely. We’ll have a full breakdown of her performance soon.

The Body recurring cast

The supporting cast is big. Here’s who else shows up and where you might know them from:

• Ashley Madekwe as Theresa Franklin (The Umbrella Academy, Dr. Death)
• Motell Gyn Foster as Michael Franklin (Clickbait, La Cocina)
• Marcel Ruiz as Tyler Santos (One Day at a Time)
• Orlando Norman as Steven Maxwell (The Map That Leads to You)
• Kyra Pierce as Bailey Bradley and Phallon Pierce as Brit Bradley (Chicago Fire)
• Cale Ambrozic as Benji (Finding Her Edge, Hotel Cocaine)
• Anna Tierney as Melanie (Three Pines)
• Chloe Longname as Eden
• Sarah Abbott as Olivia
• Emily Roman as Claire (The Next Step)
• Michela Luci as Amy (Dino Dana)
• Bella Neuspiel as Katie
• Julia Lowe as Blair
• Christine Solomon as Salma

Fun detail: Kyra and Phallon Pierce, who previously shared the screen on Chicago Fire, play the Bradley sisters here.

Who made The Body?

Quinn Shephard created the show, runs it, and directed the premiere episode. She has called it her most personal project yet. It was the first TV script she ever wrote, back in her early 20s, and she has said it draws on growing up queer and repressed.

Riley Keough executive produces through her company Felix Culpa. Keough starred in and produced Shephard’s Under the Bridge, so this is a reunion for the two of them.

FAQ

Watch the official trailer on YouTube.