Civil War features quite a few actors who have worked with director Alex Garland on previous projects. After beginning his career as a novelist and screenwriter, Garland made his directorial debut with the 2014 sci-fi movie Ex Machina, which he followed with the Jeff VanderMeer adaptation Annihilation in 2018 and original movies, Men and Civil War in 2022 and 2024 respectively. He ALSO created, wrote, and directed the 2020 FX miniseries Devs, which ran for one season comprising eight episodes. Although Garland has a growing filmography, he does not tend to work with the same lead actors multiple times, however.
After Garland cast Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander in Ex Machina, Natalie Portman in Annihilation, and Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear in Men, the director tapped Kirsten Dunst to be at the center of Civil War. While he usually collaborates with new actors for his headliners, he has made a habit of featuring of recruiting the same actors in supporting roles, such as Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina and Annihilation. With this, the ensemble of Civil War similarly features many familiar faces, particularly those from the Devs cast.
6 Cailee Spaeny
First Collaboration: Devs, Episode 1 (2020)
Close
2024 breakout star Cailee Spaeny first collaborated with Alex Garland on Devs, in which she was cast as sound wave specialist Lyndon, a character she played across all eight episodes of the miniseries. Before her work on Devs, she had played supporting characters in the prominent box office disappointments Bad Times at the El Royale and Pacific Rim: Uprising, though she had also held a small role in the Oscar-winning Adam McKay movie Vice in 2018.
Related 15 Best Civil War Movies Of All Time, Ranked
The American Civil War as a decisive moment in United States history that has inspired the production of countless incredible war movies.
1
In between Devs and Civil War, however, Spaeny starts to get noticed in Hollywood. In addition to a five-episode stint in the celebrated HBO crime drama Mare of Easttown, she played the title role in Sofia Coppola’s 2023 Priscilla Presley biopic Priscilla. When it came time to reunite with Garland, she was tasked with an even bigger role — playing wet-behind-the-ears photographer Jessie, who accompanies journalists Lee Smith (Dunst) and Joel (Wagner Moura) on their dangerous journey across a war-torn America.
Civil War was the first box office splash for Spaeny in 2024, earning $122.5 million against its $50 million budget, which made it the most expensive movie ever produced by A24. However, it was not the last Spaeny hit of the year. She went on to star in the blockbuster sci-fi horror sequel Alien: Romulus as the lead character Rain Carradine. That movie has so far grossed $342.5 million worldwide against its $80 million budget, becoming the eleventh highest-grossing movie of the year at the time of writing.
5 Nick Offerman
First Collaboration: Devs, Episode 1 (2020)
Close
Nick Offerman was another main cast member of Devs, having played Amaya CEO Forest on all eight episodes of the miniseries. However, the star was a better-known quantity before taking on the role. He made a name for himself as a comic actor, particularly for his performance as Ron Swanson as a series regular on all seven seasons of the NBC mockumentary sitcom Parks and Recreation. Devs was part of a turn toward more dramatic television roles that now also includes his Emmy-winning turn on The Last of Us.
Other recent roles have skewed more dramatic for Offerman, however. He played Dave the Plumber in 2023’s Origin, which was directed by Ava DuVernay, and starred in five episodes of Hulu’s biographical miniseries Pam & Tommy as Uncle Miltie. While he has also held comic roles in the meantime in projects including A League of Their Own, The Resort, Party Down, and Dicks: The Musical, Civil War continues this turn toward more dramatic characters overall.
His
Civil War
role takes his authoritative presence from
Devs
and adds even more layers, seeing him portray the besieged president of a divided nation.
His Civil War role takes his authoritative presence from Devs and adds even more layers, seeing him portray the besieged president of a divided nation. So far, Offerman is not set to reunite with Garland on any upcoming projects. However, he will be holding roles in projects that exist in a wide variety of genres, including Mission: Impossible 8, The Smurfs Movie, the Dennis Quaid thriller Sovereign, and the teen epilepsy drama Under the Lights.
4 Karl Glusman
First Collaboration: Devs, Episode 1 (2020)
Close
Karl Glusman also worked with Alex Garland on Devs, playing Sergei, the boyfriend of Sonoya Mizuno’s lead character Lily Chan. Glusman appeared in four episodes of the miniseries, spanning from the premiere through the finale. Before taking on that role, his star had been rising as he had been taking on more and more prominent projects since his onscreen career began in 2008.
This included appearing in Gaspar Noé’s Love, Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall, Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon, and Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals as well as starring opposite Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup in Netflix’s Gypsy. After Devs, he starred opposite Tom Hanks in Greyhound, Maika Monroe in Watcher, and Austin Butler and Tom Hardy in The Bikeriders before returning to the Alex Garland fold in Civil War. For the director’s 2024 outing, Glusman played an unnamed spotter who was fighting in the titular war.
Related “What Kind Of American Are You?”: Jesse Plemons’ Civil War Scene Explained
Jesse Plemons question to the protagonists in A24’s Civil War highlights the danger and spreading divide they must contend with throughout the film.
The role, while minor, fleshed out the world around the main characters and emphasized the life-or-death stakes of the conflict at the center of the story. After Civil War, Karl Glusman is set to appear in two motion pictures, neither of which features Alex Garland’s involvement. The first is Eenie Meanie, which stars Samara Weaving and follows an ex-getaway driver. The second is the thriller Pretty Thing, which stars Alicia Silverstone and follows an older woman with a younger male stalker.
3 Jin Ha
First Collaboration: Devs, Episode 1 (2020)
Jin Ha was another series regular on Devs, playing Lily’s ex-boyfriend Jamie, a cybersecurity expert, in all eight episodes of the Alex Garland miniseries. Although the actor had a robust stage career beforehand, Devs was one of his first major onscreen acting performances after a series of short films, a live recording of Jesus Christ Superstar in concert, and a supporting role in the Steve Coogan film Hot Air, which also starred Neve Campbell and Bones and All‘s Taylor Russell.
Since the end of Devs, Jin Ha has gone on to star in the popular Apple TV+ series Pachinko, which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and a BAFTA. Afterward, he returned to Alex Garland’s orbit to play a supporting role as an unnamed sniper in Civil War. Unlike Nick Offerman’s role in the movie, which was quite close to his Devs role, Ha’s character allowed him to spread his wings and show off his range as an actor, exploring other sides of his personality onscreen.
So far, the actor has no further collaborations with Alex Garland set for the near future. However, he is currently starring in the ongoing Pachinko season 2 (reprising his original role as Solomon Baek) and Only Murders in the Building season 4 (as new character Marshall P. Pope), cementing his status as a television star to watch.
2 Stephen McKinley Henderson
First Collaboration: Devs, Episode 1 (2020)
Close
As with the majority of the returning Garland performers in Civil War, Stephen McKinley Henderson first worked with the filmmaker on Devs. Henderson was likewise part of the main cast, portraying Amaya employee Stewart in all eight episodes. Like Offerman, he had a robust career beforehand, which included multi-episode runs on prominent television titles such as New Amsterdam, Law & Order, and The Newsroom, as well as movie roles in Manchester by the Sea, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, Lady Bird, The True Adventures of Wolfboy, and more.
Related America’s Sides In Civil War Explained: Who Is “Good” & “Bad”
A24’s Civil War establishes two clear sides of the ongoing conflict, one that fights to uphold the Constitution & another that aims to end democracy.
1
His most prominent post-Devs role by far was playing the House Atreides Master of Assassins Thufir Hawat in 2021’s Dune: Part One, which became the twelfth highest-grossing movie of the year and won six Oscars. However, he prepared for his return to Garland’s universe by taking on a supporting role as a therapist in the A24 movie Beau is Afraid in 2023. In Civil War, Garland harnessed Henderson’s screen presence by casting him as Lee’s journalism mentor Sammy, who works for The New York Times.
While he has not appeared onscreen since Civil War and is not currently set for any further collaborations with Garland, Henderson has a variety of projects coming out soon, including the psychosexual Kate Mara drama The Dutchman, Netflix’s Colman Domingo thriller The Madness, and the historical drama Death by Lightning.
1 Sonoya Mizuno
First Collaboration: Ex Machina (2014)
Close
Like every returning Alex Garland cast member in Civil War, Mizuno was a major player in Devs. In fact, she played the lead role on the show, portraying software engineer Lily Chan in all eight episodes opposite the rest of the ensemble cast. However, in addition to her role in the miniseries, Mizuno is the only actor to appear in all four Alex Garland movies.
Mizuno is the only actor to appear in all four Alex Garland movies.
Her first collaboration with Garland came when she took on the role of Nathan Bateman’s house staff member Kyoko in Ex Machina. She was the fourth-billed character behind those of Gleeson, Vikander, and Isaac. Mizuno followed that with a minor role in Annihilation as a med student named Katie, though she also provided the motion capture performance for the iconic Humanoid entity that appears in the third act of the movie.
|
Civil War Key Facts Breakdown |
|
|
Budget |
$50 million |
|
Box Office |
$122 million |
|
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score |
81% |
|
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
70% |
In Men, which has an even smaller cast than the pared-down Ex Machina, she does not appear onscreen, but she does provide the voice of a police operator. Finally, in Civil War, she appears as British reporter Anya, who is shadowing the Western Forces. While she is likewise not currently set to appear in any upcoming Alex Garland works, it seems highly likely that he will continue to feature her — even in a minor capacity, in future projects, continuing his habit of consistently casting her across his film and television work.
Your Rating
10 stars9 stars8 stars7 stars6 star5 stars4 stars3 stars2 stars1 star Rate Now 0/10 Leave a Review
Your comment has not been saved
7/10 7/10 Civil War R
Civil War is a 2024 action thriller from writer and director Alex Garland. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson, Civil War takes place in the near future and shows the United States entering a new Civil War after California and Texas attempt to separate from the country.
Director Alex Garland Release Date April 26, 2024 Cast Kirsten Dunst , Wagner Moura , Stephen McKinley Henderson , Cailee Spaeny , Jesse Plemons , Nick Offerman Runtime 109 Minutes