There are more iconic, influential, and, perhaps, even more beloved found footage thrillers (namely The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity). However, as far as I am concerned, it was the mysterious monster movie Cloverfield that really jump-started the subgenre back into the mainstream.
Released in January 2008 - following a killer marketing campaign - the thrilling creature feature from producer J.J. Abrams and director Matt Reeves follows a group of twenty-somethings struggling to survive a strange creature’s attack on New York City. More than a decade later, a direct sequel (which 10 Cloverfield Lane and Netlfix’s The Cloverfield Pardox do not exactly count as) is apparently in the works. Without giving too much away, I would not expect to see many of the original Cloverfield cast members appear, but if you are curious where you could spot them next, read on.
Michael Stahl-David (Rob Hawkins)
Leading the Cloverfield cast as Rob Hawkins - whose surprise going-away party before moving to Japan for business occurred on the night of the Cloverfield monster’s attack - is Michael Stahl-David, who would go on to to play Bobby Kennedy in 2016’s LBJ alongside Woody Harrelson and star in Netflix original TV shows like Chambers and Narcos. He more recently had a recurring role on the Fox drama Almost Family, and will next star on the CBS medical drama Good Sam.
Odette Annable (Beth McIntyre)
As Rob’s best friend and (partially) unrequited love interest, Beth, we have Odette Annable (née Yustman), who had previously debuted alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop and almost immediately took advantage of her growing Scream Queen reputation by leading The Unborn a year after Cloverfield. Following her recurring role on Supergirl, Annable joined Fox’s Fantasy Island reboot cast in 2021 and, soon after, was promoted as a series regular for Walker Season 2 on The CW.
Mike Vogel (Jason "Hawk" Hawkins)
Coincidentally, Mike Vogel appeared in Blumhouse’s feature-length Fantasy Island reboot in 2020 and was previously known for thrillers like the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, comedies like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and his recurring role on the Fox sitcom Grounded for Life before joining the Cloverfield cast as Rob’s brother, Jason. His most recent return to horror was on American Horror Story Season 10 as John F. Kennedy and he will reprise his starring role on Netflix’s Sex/Life cast when Season 2 premieres in 2022.
Jessica Lucas (Lily Ford)
Yet another one of the Scream Queens from the Cloverfield cast is Jessica Lucas, who later starred in 2013’s Evil Dead remake and multiple notable TV series, including Gotham and The CW’s reboots of both 90210 and Melrose Place. After leading the procedural drama The Murders in her native Canada, Lucas most recently joined The Resident cast and, while there is no word on her chances of appearing in the Cloverfield sequel, she has one of the better chances since we never actually saw the fate of her character: Jason Hawkins’ girlfriend, Lily Ford.
T.J. Miller (Hudson "Hud" Platt)
The man behind the shaky camera capturing the action of Cloverfield is “Hud,” played by T.J. Miller making his acting debut years before joining the Silicon Valley cast and playing Weasel in Deadpool made him something of a household name. The comedian did another well-received creature feature called Underwater and a comedy opposite Drew Barrymore called The Stand-In in 2020, though a number of controversies surrounding his personal life may have slowed down his acting career in recent years. It doesn't look like he has any movies or TV shows lined up for the future, but he continues to do stand-up comedy.
Lizzy Caplan (Marlena Diamond)
Playing Hud’s crush, Marlena, in Cloverfield is Lizzy Caplan, who is likely known even better for previously playing Janis Ian on the Mean Girls cast in 2004 or her Emmy-nominated turn as Virginia Johnson on Showtime's Masters of Sex from 2013 to 2016. The Castle Rock star (she played Misery’s Annie Wilkes in Season 2) is playing another classic movie villain in Paramount+’s series remake of Fatal Attraction, is leading the upcoming horror movie Cobweb, and will star opposite Jesse Eisenberg in the FX miniseries Fleishmann is in Trouble.
Margot Farley (Jenn)
As Jenn, one of the most prominently seen guests at Rob’s going-away party, we have Margot Farley, who had previously appeared in the 2004 film Spartan and the CBS drama The Unit in a recurring role. She would reunite with Cloverfield producer J.J. Abrams for a brief role in the first of his Star Trek movies and played a cop on an episode of ABC’s Revenge starring Emily VanCamp, but has not appeared in much since the 2016 movie Catfish Blues.
Theo Rossi (Antonio)
Jenn’s boyfriend, Antonio, is played by Theo Rossi, who joined the Sons of Anarchy cast as “Juice” not long after Cloverfield came out and later appeared on the Marvel series Luke Cage as “Shades.” In 2021, he had two notable roles in Netflix originals (Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead and the Kevin Hart-led dramatic series True Story) and, in 2022, he stars opposite Bruce Willis in the action film Vendetta and in the coming-of-age drama Dear Zoe with Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink.
Billy Brown (Staff Sgt. Pryce)
In a brief (but memorably gruesome) Cloverfield scene, our main characters meet Staff Sgt. Pryce - played by fellow Sons of Anarchy vet Billy Brown, who also had a small role in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 2009’s Star Trek, and a brief stint on the Dexter cast as Det. Mike Anderson. The voice actor (known for the likes of Adventure Time and Marine recruitment ads) more recently wrapped up his stint as a series regular on the How to Get Away with Murder cast in 2020.
Ben Feldman (Travis)
Making another brief (but memorably awkward) appearance as Travis (Beth’s date to Rob’s going-away party) is Ben Feldman, who is one of the more recognizable Cloverfield cast members today for another brief but memorable horror movie appearance in 2009’s Friday the 13th and a more prominent role in fellow found footage favorite As Above So Below in 2014. The former Superstore cast member is now lending his voice to Disney+’s Monsters at Work cast as main protagonist Tylor Tuskmon.
Travis is another character who, given his absence for a latter chunk of the first film, could potentially show up in the Cloverfield sequel, which could be a cool idea given Ben Feldman’s notoriety these days. What I would to see in the follow-up, honestly, is a proper and respectable tribute to these characters, whom I came to really love to a heartbreaking degree. I could also say the same about the movie itself.
