Summary
- Director Mike Flanagan reunites with 15 actors from his previous projects for his upcoming Stephen King adaptation, The Life of Chuck.
- The film will be the third Stephen King adaptation for Flanagan, following Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game.
- Among the returning actors are Tom Hiddleston and Chiwetel Ejiofor, along with several other familiar faces from Flanagan’s previous works.
Director Mike Flanagan has just unveiled the cast of his upcoming Stephen King adaptation of The Life of Chuck, which will be reuniting 15 actors from his previous productions. Mike Flanagan became very popular after his Netflix adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, reinvigorating the horror genre by focusing on making the characters the center point. Throughout his filmography, Mike Flanagan is also known for often casting the same actors, and he will be doing that again as he returns to the king of horror, Stephen King, making The Life of Chuck his third Stephen King adaptation.
Mike Flanagan just revealed the cast for The Life of Chuck, which will include Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mia Sara, Benjamin Pajak, Taylor Gordon, Matthew Lillard, Antonio Raul Corbo, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, and David Dastmalchian. The upcoming film will join Flanagan’s previous Stephen King adaptations, The Shining‘s sequel, Doctor Sleep, and Gerald’s Game, and is based on King’s 2020 novella If It Bleeds collection of four short stories. It will follow Charles “Chuck” Krantz and the audience will get to stay with him from his adult years to his childhood in a haunted house, but shown in reverse chronological order. While details of the characters have not been revealed, the cast, similar to The Fall of the House of Usher cast, will include numerous returning actors from his previous projects.
15 Kate Siegel
Oculus, Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald’s Game, The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher
Kate Siegel is one of the actresses that often return to Mike Flanagan’s projects and within good reason since the two are married. The actress has been part of most of Flanagan’s recent Netflix limited series, except for The Midnight Club, where she only had a small cameo. She starred as older Theodora Crain in The Haunting of Hill, Viola in The Haunting of Bly Manor, Erin Green in Midnight Mass, and Camille L’Espanaye in The Fall of the House of Usher, one of the Usher children. She co-wrote and starred in Hush, and appeared in Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald’s Game, and Oculus. The Life of Chuck will be her ninth appearance in his productions, but there is no information on who she will be playing.
14 Samantha Sloyan
Hush, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, The Fall of the House of Usher
Samantha Sloyan is also reuniting with Flanagan and the rest of his star-studded cast. She has previously starred in one movie, Hush, and four TV series, The Haunting of Hill House, where she played Leigh Crain, religious zealot Bev Keane in Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club as Shasta, the suspicious neighbor, and, most recently, one of the Usher children, Tamerlane “Tammy” Usher. The Life of Chuck will be her sixth project with Mike Flanagan and will reunite with eight other House of Usher alums.
13 Carl Lumbly
Doctor Sleep, The Fall of the House of Usher
M.A.N.T.I.S and Alias’ Carl Lumbly made his debut in Flanagan’s universe in The Shining‘s sequel, Doctor Sleep. There, the respected actor took the role of mentor Dick Hallorann. The collaboration continued with Flanagan’s most recent project, The Fall of the House of Usher, where Lumbly played prosecutor C. Auguste “Auggie” Dupin, who appears in all eight episodes of the limited series. Those two collaborations were only the beginning as they will reunite on the set of the upcoming The Life of Chuck.
12 Rahul Kohli
The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, The Fall of the House of Usher
A veteran and fan-favorite in the Mike Flanagan universe, Rahul Kohli has been a part of the director’s limited series. His first appearance was in The Haunting of Bly Manor as Chef Owen. Next, he starred in Midnight Mass as Sheriff Hassan and also played one of the story characters, Vincent Beggs, in The Midnight Club. His most recent role was as one of the Usher kids, Napoleon, in The Fall of the House of Usher. The Life of Chuck will be his first movie in collaboration with Flanagan.
11 Matt Biedel
Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, The Fall of the House of Usher
Another familiar face from Mike Flanagan’s previous shows is Matt Biedel, who appeared in the director’s most recent limited series. He starred as Sturge, the second antagonist in Midnight Mass, Ilonka’s devoted foster father, Tim, in The Midnight Club, and fitness influencer William “Bill-T” Wilson in The Fall of the House of Usher, where he was not an Usher, but married to one — Tamerlane Usher. The Life of Chuck will be the fourth project with Flanagan and the first movie they work on together.
10 Sauriyan Sapkota
The Midnight Club, The Fall of the House of Usher
Sauriyan Sapkota first started acting in 2022, as he appeared in Flanagan’s The Midnight Club. There, Sapkota played Amesh, one of the members of the Midnight Club, who had glioblastoma. His next project with Flanagan was The Fall of the House of Usher, where he played the youngest Usher child, Prospero “Perry” Usher. His upcoming collaboration with Mike Flanagan on The Life of Chuck will also be his third acting credit overall.
9 Michael Trucco
Hush, Gerald’s Game, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, The Fall of the House of Usher
Another veteran in Mike Flanagan’s movies is Michael Trucco, who appeared in his last three streaming shows. Trucco was Wade Scarborough, the mayor of Crockett Island in Midnight Mass and one of the characters from the stories in The Midnight Club. His most recent acting credit was Rufus “Gris” Griswold, the boss of young Roderick Usher who appeared in the 1979-set flashbacks in The Fall of the House of Usher. Trucco also starred in two Flanagan movies, Hush and Gerald’s Game.
8 Molly C. Quinn
Doctor Sleep, The Fall of the House of Usher
Molly C. Quinn made her debut in Mike Flanagan’s universe in the 2019 movie Doctor Sleep. She played the ghost of Mrs. Grady. Most recently, Quinn appeared in The Fall of the House of Usher, with a small role, playing one of Perry’s friends named Jenny. Molly C. Quinn will reunite with the rest of the House of Usher and Doctor Sleep casts in the upcoming King adaptation.
7 Annalise Basso
Oculus, Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil
Annalise Basso will make her third appearance in a Mike Flanagan project with the upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Prior to that, she appeared in two of the horror director’s movies, Oculus and Ouija: Origin of Evil. So far, she hasn’t joined any of his limited series but, given his upcoming Amazon Studios deal, there wouldn’t be a surprise to see them collaborate again in the near future.
6 Violet McGraw
Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House
Violet McGraw made her debut in the Mike Flanagan universe in the critically acclaimed The Haunting of Hill House. There, McGraw played the younger version of Eleanor “Nell” Crain. Not long after, she also appeared in the 2019 horror film, Doctor Sleep, where she played Violet, alongside Hill House‘s Henry Thomas. King’s The Life of Chuck adaptation will mark their third collaboration.
5 Saidah Arrika Ekulona
The Haunting of Hill House
Saidah Arrika Ekulona does not have an extended history with Mike Flanagan, but with the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s novella, that is about to change. Saidah Arrika Ekulona starred in one episode of The Haunting of Hill House, where she played Mrs. Walker, a woman who meets up with Steven Crain, to tell him about her experience with ghosts.
4 Heather Langenkamp
The Midnight Club
Horror veteran Heather Langenkamp, the star of A Nightmare on Elm Street, joined Mike Flanagan for his series The Midnight Club, making her return to the horror genre. Langenkamp played Dr. Georgina Stanton, the founder of Brightcliffe Hospice and the head doctor who had plenty of secrets to hide. The Life of Chuck will be her second time collaborating with Flanagan.
3 Karen Gillan
Oculus
Before her role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Nebula in The Guardians of the Galaxy, Karen Gillan collaborated with Mike Flanagan on Oculus in 2013. The actress played Kaylie, one of the two siblings the horror follows, who are sure that the murders Tim was accused of happened because of a supernatural entity. Although Gillan hasn’t reunited with Flanagan for a decade, that will change as she is now a part of the cast of The Life of Chuck.
2 Jacob Tremblay
Doctor Sleep
Similar to Heather Langenkamp and Karen Gillan, Room actor Jacob Tremblay also has only one other Mike Flanagan project under his belt. The actor starred in 2019’s Doctor Sleep as Bradley Trevor aka “baseball boy,” a victim of the True Knot. Tremblay will be reuniting with Carl Lumbly, Molly C. Quinn, and Violet McGraw in Flanagan’s next King adaptation. Besides these two, he starred in other horror films like 2016’s Shut In and Before I Wake, and the 2018 science fiction The Predator.
1 Mark Hamill
The Fall of the House of Usher
Star Wars‘ Luke Skywalker, aka Mark Hamill, is the last recurring actor from the Flanagan universe to return for The Life of Chuck. Hamill’s role in Mike Flanagan’s upcoming Stephen King adaptation will be the second time the actor works with the respected director, following his role as lawyer Arthur Pym in The Fall of the House of Usher, which Hamill took because his wife pushed him to do it. Despite having a dark role, playing a lawyer who would do anything his job asked him to do, Pym proved to be one of the most interesting characters.
