Even though she is not the first person to assume the role of Scott Lang’s daughter, Cassie, I still believe Kathryn Newton’s debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as part of the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania cast, is a means for celebration. Her first foray into superhero movies is a really long time coming, as far as I am concerned, since she has already been proving herself to be one of the most talented actors of her generation time and time again for more than a decade. See what I mean for yourself by taking a look at this exploration of some of her most notable career highlights so far.
Alex - Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)
Just a year after making her feature film debut with Bad Teacher, Newton landed her first leading role in a movie, which was also served as the first step toward reaching her current status as one of the top horror Scream Queens of her time. The then-15-year-old actor is as charming as she is compelling in the Christopher Landon-penned fourth of installment of the Paranormal Activity movies as Alex — a teen suddenly plagued by unexplainable circumstances after a new family moves into her neighborhood.
Millie - Freaky (2020)
Newton would reunite with Landon (as both co-writer and director this time) for this fun, old school teen slasher comedy (and one of Blumhouse’s best movies yet) which also takes inspiration from Mary Rodgers’ seminal novel, Freaky Friday, in more ways than just the eponymous title. Freaky boasts one of the actor’s more complex and layered performances as of late, tasking her with playing both the young, innocent hero, Millie, and the vicious, homicidal antagonist, The Butcher, after magically switching bodies with the killer (Vince Vaughn).
Claire Novak - Supernatural (2014-2018)
Newton’s second major contribution to the horror genre was also one of her first major roles on a TV show and saw her give one of the most emotionally gripping portrayals of her career at the time. She joined the cast of Supernatural in the recurring role of Claire Novak, who became a hunter of paranormal activity herself after her father, Jimmy, became a human vessel for the brothers’ angelic ally, Castiel (Misha Collins), and — as she mentions in an EW interview — almost reprised the role on a spin-off called Wayward Sisters before the idea was scrapped.
Allie Pressman - The Society (2019)
Soon after her tenure as Claire on Supernatural ended, Newton returned to small-screen horror, but that of a whole different kind of tone, in creator Christopher Keyser’s short-lived Netflix TV show, The Society. She is heartbreaking as Allie Pressman — one of several teens who are suddenly forced to establish and maintain a community of their own when every other member of their small town mysteriously vanishes and a violent power struggle among the young survivors begins to emerge.
Julie - Blockers (2018)
A year before co-starring on The Society, Newton also shared the screen with co-star Gideon Adlon in a movie about unsupervised teens, but of a far more grounded and light-hearted variety, called Blockers. Newton is as charming as ever in this surprisingly funny and endearing coming-of-age comedy as one of three young women whose parents (Leslie Mann, John Cena, and Ike Barinholtz) discover that they have plans to lose their sexual innocence on prom night and set out to prevent their daughters from doing the deed.
Darlene Bell - Lady Bird (2017)
One of Newton’s first major departures from the horror genre into more grounded coming-of-age stories came when writer and director Greta Gerwig cast her as bespectacled Immaculate Heart of Mary student Darlene Bell in the Academy Award-nominated A24-produced sleeper hit, Lady Bird. Her otherwise brief appearances, opposite Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan in “the titular role” and Beanie Feldstein as Julie, still left an impact on the thought-provoking dramedy and, especially, on the trajectory of her career.
Angela - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Lady Bird was not the only acclaimed 2017 dramedy (that also happened to star Lucas Hedges) featuring a brief appearance by Newton, but her sole scene in writer and director Martin McDonagh’s bold and brutal satire, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is of much greater importance. She is unforgettably fierce as Angela — the sister of Hedges’ character, Robbie, and daughter of Oscar winner Frances McDormand’s Mildred — in a flashback to the angry last conversation she had with her mother before she was found raped and murdered.
Ivy Burns - Ben Is Back (2018)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri would not be the last time that Newton played Lucas Hedges’ sister in a powerful, acclaimed drama about crime and its fracturing effect on a family, with the release of writer and director Peter Hedges’ Ben is Back the following year. Oscar nominee Hedges plays the title role of a recovering teenage addict, Oscar winner Julia Roberts plays his mother, Holly, who struggles with how his troubled past continues to haunt him, and Newton gives an Oscar worthy performance as Ivy, who has her own challenges with the situation.
Abigail Carlson - Big Little Lies (2017-2019)
Newton would also share the screen with (and hold her own wonderfully) opposite multiple Oscar darlings when she was cast on HBO’s Big Little Lies — developer David E. Kelley’s adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s scandalous novel — as Abigail Carlson. Her scenes with Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon as her mother, Madeline McKenzie — such as when a clash over Madeline’s expectations of Abigail concludes with an admission of her past infidelity — easily qualify as some of the Emmy-winning series’ most powerful moments, thanks in part to Newton’s ever-believable approach to depicting modern teen angst.
Now, the world is seeing Newton take on her most ambitious challenge as an actor yet by starring in one of the most visually bizarre new Marvel movies, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. However, considering what challenges she has tackled in the past in the roles above, navigating the Quantum Realm as Cassie Lang should be a breeze.
