Below Cast Netflix: Meet the Actors and Characters in Netflix’s Coastal Thriller

Below cast Netflix searches are drawing attention to Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis, and Charlie Heaton, who lead Netflix’s supernatural thriller Below. Released on October 8, 2026, the limited series takes viewers to Snook’s Arm, a fictional fishing community in Newfoundland, Canada. Its story combines an unexplained sea creature, family struggles, and a town fighting to protect its homes and traditions. The supporting cast includes Ruby Stokes, Rohan Campbell, Willow Kean, Kaleb Horn, Natasha Henstridge, David Wenham, Alexander Karim, Marthe Bernard, Shawn Doyle, and Frank Moore.

Created by Jesse McKeown, the six-episode production builds suspense around a coastal community facing threats from the ocean and pressures from people who want to reshape its future. The characters bring different perspectives to the mystery, from scientific investigation to local politics and complicated family relationships.

What Is Netflix’s Below About?

Below centers on Calvin Penney, a fisherman whose life has been marked by personal tragedy. Josh Hartnett plays Calvin, a devoted father who believes that a childhood experience left him cursed. He continues to struggle with his past while trying to protect his children and maintain his place in Snook’s Arm.

The community faces a difficult decision about a proposed buyout that could force residents to leave their homes. The economic pressure already threatens the town’s identity when an unexplained presence in the surrounding waters creates a more immediate danger.

Calvin becomes involved in uncovering the truth behind the strange events. His investigation connects him with marine biologists and other residents who have their own reasons for wanting answers.

The series blends creature-based horror with community drama. Rather than relying entirely on frightening encounters, it explores the consequences of fear, economic uncertainty, and the choices people make when their home faces an uncertain future.

Below Cast Netflix: Main Actors and Their Roles

The ensemble combines internationally recognized performers with actors who bring experience in Canadian productions. Each character contributes to the relationships and conflicts that drive the story.

The main cast reflects the different interests competing within Snook’s Arm. Some residents want to preserve their community, while others pursue scientific answers or become involved in decisions about the town’s future.

Josh Hartnett as Calvin Penney

Josh Hartnett plays Calvin Penney, the central character in Below. Calvin makes his living as a fisherman in a struggling Newfoundland community. His relationship with the ocean shapes his daily life, but it also connects him to a tragedy that continues to affect him.

As a father, Calvin wants to give his children a better future. However, his difficult experiences and complicated personal history make that goal challenging. He must confront family problems while trying to understand the danger threatening the town.

Hartnett is known for films such as Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, and Oppenheimer. He also starred in the television series Penny Dreadful. His role in Below places him at the center of a story that moves between family drama, dark humor, and supernatural suspense.

Calvin’s determination gives the series its emotional foundation. He does not approach the crisis as a scientist or an outside investigator. He responds as someone whose livelihood, family, and sense of belonging depend on the community’s survival.

That personal connection makes his decisions central to the story. Every discovery carries consequences for the people he knows and the place he calls home.

Mackenzie Davis as Dr. Fonda Howander

Mackenzie Davis portrays Dr. Fonda Howander, a marine biologist drawn into the investigation surrounding Snook’s Arm.

Fonda brings scientific knowledge to a situation that initially appears difficult to explain. While Calvin understands the local waters through experience, she approaches the mystery through observation and research.

Her work adds a scientific dimension to the story’s supernatural elements. The investigation raises questions about the creature’s behavior and the environmental conditions surrounding its appearance.

Davis has appeared in Halt and Catch Fire, The Martian, and Station Eleven. Her performances often place her characters in complicated circumstances that require intelligence and resilience.

In Below, Fonda must balance her professional curiosity with the risks associated with studying an unknown threat. Her work also places her among residents who have different ideas about what should happen next.

The character helps connect the creature mystery to the series’ broader environmental themes. Her investigation is important to understanding what is happening beneath the water and why the town has become involved.

Charlie Heaton as Wade Penney

Charlie Heaton plays Wade Penney, Calvin’s oldest son. Wade remains in Snook’s Arm, where he has developed a reputation as a mischievous and unpredictable local figure.

His behavior provides some lighter moments, but his storyline also introduces disturbing elements. Wade experiences strange dreams that connect him to the series’ more mysterious side.

Those experiences complicate his relationship with the events unfolding around him. The danger affecting the town is no longer simply something happening offshore. It becomes part of Wade’s personal experience.

Heaton is widely recognized for playing Jonathan Byers in Stranger Things. His role in Below gives him a different kind of character, one whose eccentric personality contrasts with the serious challenges facing his family.

Wade’s relationship with Calvin adds another layer to the family drama. Their differences reflect the difficulty of maintaining close relationships when people carry different memories, expectations, and fears.

Rohan Campbell as Jay Penney

Rohan Campbell portrays Jay Penney, Calvin’s youngest son. Jay has spent time away from Snook’s Arm and appears to have found opportunities beyond the fishing community.

His return for the town’s Come Home Year celebration initially offers a chance to reconnect with family. However, a threatening text message raises concerns about his personal circumstances and financial situation.

Jay’s storyline explores the complicated relationship between leaving home and returning to it. Distance can offer new opportunities, but it does not automatically resolve problems that follow someone into adulthood.

Campbell has appeared in Halloween Ends and The Hardy Boys. His character adds another perspective to the Penney family’s struggles.

Jay’s experiences also highlight the economic challenges facing small communities. His life outside Snook’s Arm contrasts with the limited opportunities available to many residents who remain there.

Ruby Stokes as Mary Penney

Ruby Stokes plays Mary Penney, Calvin’s daughter, who returns to Snook’s Arm after spending three years away.

Mary’s return brings her back into a family facing considerable pressure. She also introduces her boyfriend, Noah, to her relatives, creating another personal storyline within the wider crisis.

Her character represents the pull of home. Leaving a community can change a person’s perspective, but returning often means confronting relationships and unresolved issues that have remained in place.

Stokes is known for Lockwood & Co., The Burning Girls, and The Jetty. In Below, she helps connect the family’s younger generation with the traditions and difficulties that shape life in Snook’s Arm.

Mary’s presence also strengthens the family dimension of the story. The threat affecting the town does not exist separately from the characters’ personal lives. Instead, it complicates their efforts to reconnect and understand one another.

Kaleb Horn as Noah

Kaleb Horn portrays Noah, Mary’s boyfriend. He travels from Montreal to meet her family in Newfoundland.

Noah enters a community with traditions and relationships that predate his arrival. His position as an outsider gives him a different perspective on the town’s atmosphere and the problems confronting its residents.

What begins as a visit with his girlfriend becomes more complicated as the mysterious events develop. Noah must navigate unfamiliar social dynamics while trying to understand the danger surrounding the community.

Horn’s credits include Chucky and Dream Scenario. His role in Below adds a new relationship to the Penney family’s story.

Noah’s character also helps emphasize the difference between an outsider’s expectations and the reality of life in an isolated fishing town. The community’s problems affect newcomers as well as longtime residents.

Willow Kean as Ruth Penney

Willow Kean plays Ruth Penney, Calvin’s sister and the harbormaster of Snook’s Arm.

Her work places her close to the harbor and the local fishing industry. As strange events begin to threaten the community, Ruth’s responsibilities bring her into contact with developments that could affect residents’ safety and livelihoods.

Her family connection to Calvin adds personal stakes to her role. Ruth must navigate the needs of the community while dealing with a crisis that directly affects people she knows.

Kean has appeared in The King Tide and SurrealEstate. Her character helps establish the practical realities of life in a coastal town.

Ruth’s position also highlights how closely connected the residents are to the ocean. The harbor is not simply a setting for the story. It is essential to the community’s economy, relationships, and future.

Natasha Henstridge as Jan Hickey

Natasha Henstridge portrays Jan Hickey, an amateur potter who also serves as Snook’s Arm’s resettlement liaison.

Jan’s official responsibilities put her in the middle of the debate over the proposed buyout. Residents must decide whether financial compensation justifies leaving the community they have called home.

That decision carries emotional as well as economic consequences. For many residents, the town represents family history, familiar traditions, and a way of life that cannot easily be replaced.

Henstridge has appeared in productions including Charmed. Her role in Below connects the town’s political conflict with the personal relationships that shape its residents’ decisions.

Jan’s character also demonstrates why the community’s future remains uncertain even before the creature becomes the central threat. The residents already face pressure from outside interests, and the crisis makes those divisions more difficult to manage.

David Wenham as Steve Bruner

David Wenham plays Steve Bruner, the commander of the research vessel RSV Sir John Franklin.

Bruner arrives with an official mission connected to conservation and climate awareness. However, questions surrounding the vessel’s equipment create uncertainty about the full purpose of the operation.

His presence introduces another source of tension. Scientific research could help explain the mysterious events, but the interests of outside organizations may not always align with the needs of local residents.

Wenham is familiar to American audiences through The Lord of the Rings films and Elvis. In Below, his character adds an institutional perspective to a story otherwise centered on family and community.

Bruner’s role reinforces the conflict between outside intervention and local independence. As the situation develops, residents must decide which people and organizations they can trust.

Alexander Karim as Dr. Hugo Sayed

Alexander Karim portrays Dr. Hugo Sayed, a marine biologist whose interest in the underwater creature drives his investigation.

Sayed wants to understand the unusual specimen. His scientific curiosity, however, can place him at odds with people who prioritize immediate safety.

His character introduces questions about the responsibilities that accompany discovery. Studying an unfamiliar creature may offer important answers, but the investigation also carries risks when the subject behaves unpredictably.

Sayed’s role complements Fonda’s scientific storyline. Both characters contribute to the effort to understand the mystery, although their motivations and decisions help create tension within the wider investigation.

The character also adds depth to the show’s environmental concerns. The creature is not merely a frightening presence. It is an unknown part of the marine environment that raises questions about human understanding and intervention.

Marthe Bernard as the Old Hag

Marthe Bernard plays the Old Hag, a mysterious figure associated with Wade’s dreams.

The character introduces a folkloric element that makes the series more unsettling. Her presence connects the story’s physical threat to the fears and beliefs of the local community.

The Old Hag’s significance also raises questions about how residents interpret unusual experiences. In an isolated town, local stories and longstanding beliefs can shape how people respond to events they cannot easily explain.

Bernard’s role adds another dimension to the supernatural atmosphere. Her character stands apart from the scientists and local officials, whose approaches depend on observation, authority, or practical experience.

The Old Hag contributes to the series’ blend of maritime mystery and folklore without removing the central focus on the Penney family and the community’s struggle.

Shawn Doyle as Walton Budgell

Shawn Doyle portrays Walton Budgell, a longtime friend of Calvin.

Their shared history connects Walton to Calvin’s past and to the relationships that shape life in Snook’s Arm. His presence reinforces the close-knit nature of the community, where friendships often span many years.

Walton’s connection to Calvin adds context to the main character’s struggles. Their relationship exists within a town where personal memories and current problems frequently overlap.

Doyle’s television credits include Big Love. His role in Below contributes to the network of local relationships surrounding the Penney family.

Walton also represents the importance of familiar relationships during a crisis. When a community faces uncertainty, longstanding friendships can become a source of support, conflict, or difficult decisions.

Frank Moore as Jim Crocker

Frank Moore plays Jim Crocker, a member of the powerful Crocker family.

The Crockers’ influence over local affairs makes them important to the conflict surrounding the town’s future. Their involvement in the buyout places economic pressure at the center of the story.

For Snook’s Arm residents, accepting an offer to leave home would involve more than weighing financial compensation. It would mean giving up familiar surroundings, community ties, and a traditional way of life.

Jim’s character connects the human conflict with the larger struggle over local independence. The creature may create the most immediate danger, but economic power also threatens the residents’ ability to determine their future.

His role reinforces the series’ central tension: protecting a community requires confronting both visible threats and the forces that can gradually dismantle a way of life.

Why the Ensemble Cast Is Important

The characters in Below approach the crisis from different positions. Their competing priorities create the drama that surrounds the mysterious creature.

Calvin focuses on protecting his family and community. Fonda and Sayed investigate the scientific questions, while Bruner represents the outside research operation. Ruth understands the harbor’s importance, and Jan becomes involved in the debate over resettlement.

The Penney children add personal struggles to the larger conflict. Wade’s dreams introduce a supernatural dimension, Jay’s return brings financial concerns, and Mary’s homecoming reconnects the family.

Together, these characters make Snook’s Arm feel like a community with its own history and internal divisions. Their choices affect more than the immediate investigation. They also shape the town’s chances of remaining together.

Where Was Below Filmed?

The production filmed Below in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The region’s rugged coastline and remote communities provide the setting for the story’s maritime atmosphere.

Creator Jesse McKeown drew inspiration from his experience with Newfoundland. The landscape and local culture helped shape the series’ portrayal of an isolated fishing community.

The production also used Newfoundland’s Ocean Sciences Centre as the location for Fonda’s laboratory. This connection supports the scientific side of the story while grounding the fictional investigation in a real coastal environment.

The location matters because the ocean shapes almost every aspect of life in Snook’s Arm. Residents depend on it for their livelihoods, yet the water also conceals the threat that drives the plot.

When Did Below Arrive on Netflix?

Below premiered on Netflix on October 8, 2026. The production consists of six episodes and carries a TV-MA rating.

Here are the main details:

U.S. viewers can check the Netflix app for the series and its available episodes. The show’s limited-series format distinguishes it from productions designed from the outset to continue across multiple seasons.

Will Below Return for Season 2?

Netflix presents Below as a limited series. That format indicates a self-contained production rather than a traditional ongoing drama.

A second season should not be considered confirmed without an official announcement. Viewers should distinguish between an announced continuation and speculation about future possibilities.

The first season’s story centers on the Penney family, the town of Snook’s Arm, and the mystery beneath the water. Its ensemble gives the series several interconnected character arcs within that central conflict.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the main actor in Below on Netflix?

Josh Hartnett leads the series as Calvin Penney, a Newfoundland fisherman who tries to protect his family and community from a mysterious sea creature.

Who plays the marine biologist in Below?

Mackenzie Davis portrays Dr. Fonda Howander, whose scientific investigation helps uncover the mystery affecting Snook’s Arm.

Is Charlie Heaton in Below?

Yes. Charlie Heaton plays Wade Penney, Calvin’s oldest son, whose unusual experiences contribute to the show’s supernatural atmosphere.

Who plays Calvin Penney’s children?

Charlie Heaton plays Wade, Rohan Campbell plays Jay, and Ruby Stokes plays Mary.

Who plays Mary’s boyfriend in Below?

Kaleb Horn portrays Noah, Mary’s boyfriend, who travels from Montreal to meet her family.

Who plays Ruth Penney?

Willow Kean plays Ruth Penney, Calvin’s sister and the harbormaster of Snook’s Arm.

When did Below premiere?

The series premiered on Netflix on October 8, 2026.

How many episodes does Below have?

The Netflix limited series consists of six episodes.

Is Below based on a true story?

Below is a fictional supernatural thriller. It uses a real Canadian region as its setting, but its central sea-creature mystery is not presented as a documented true event.

What genre is Below?

The series combines thriller, drama, and supernatural horror elements, with additional themes involving family, environmental change, and community survival.

Final Thoughts on Below’s Cast and Characters

The Below cast brings together Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis, Charlie Heaton, and a diverse supporting ensemble for a story about a coastal community confronting danger from the sea and pressure from outside interests. Each character contributes to the series’ mix of family conflict, scientific mystery, and supernatural suspense.

The Newfoundland setting gives the show a distinctive identity, while the interconnected relationships make the threat personal for the residents of Snook’s Arm. For viewers interested in the actors and their roles, the ensemble offers plenty to follow throughout the six-episode story.

Have you watched Below on Netflix yet? Share your favorite character in the comments and keep checking for the latest confirmed updates about the series.