Vampires are clearly never going to die. I mean that both in the sense that these creatures of the night are ageless (as long as they drink enough blood, avoid garlic, and don’t get stabbed) and that stories about this classic staple from some of the best horror movies will likely continue to get made until the end of time. Luckily, we have films like the new horror-comedy Day Shift to keep things fresh and interesting along the way.
From first-time director J.J. Perry — a stunt performer and coordinator for films like the John Wick franchise — this new Netflix original movie stars Jamie Foxx as a desperate family man using his pool cleaning business as a front for hunting vampires lurking in the San Fernando Valley. Before you check out this new “gun-fu” style take on the subgenre pioneered by Bram Stoker and Anne Rice, let’s meet the hunters and the hunted of the Day Shift cast — starting with our Academy Award-winning lead.
Jamie Foxx (Bud Jablonski)
Making his horror debut as vampire hunter Bud Jablonski in Day Shift is Jamie Foxx, who has done almost everything else under the sun since his stand-up career led to a break-out spot on the In Living Color cast. He played a football player in Any Given Sunday, took on Tom Cruise in Collateral, sought revenge in the brutal western Django Unchained, played a psychopath in Baby Driver, and played Spider-Man villain Electro in two Marvel superhero movies (so far).
The Grammy-winner has also presented his musical talent in movies like the music biopic Ray (which earned him a Best Actor Oscar), the cinematic adaptation of Broadway hit Dreamgirls, and as the lead of Pixar’s Soul cast more recently. Day Shift is only his latest Netflix collaboration — following Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! and Project Power — and won’t be his last in 2022 with upcoming sci-fi comedy They Cloned Tyrone.
Dave Franco (Seth)
As Bud’s vampire hunting partner, Seth, we have Dave Franco — certainly no stranger to horror having starred in the 2011’s Fright Night remake, as well as writing and directing The Rental, to name just a few. The multi-hyphenate is even more well-averse in comedy, having starred in modern classics like Superbad, 21 Jump Street and its sequel, Neighbors and its sequel, The LEGO Movie, and AppleTV+’s The Afterparty cast most recently.
Franco has also done plenty of drama, such as biopics Milk and The Disaster Artist, Oscar-winners like If Beale Street Could Talk, mind-bending thrillers like the Now You See Me movies, and action films like 6 Underground. The Michael Bay-helmed 2019 flick was also Franco’s most recent Netflix collaboration preceding Day Shift and following a guest spot on Bojack Horseman, the 2018 drama 6 Balloons, and a recurring role on Easy.
Snoop Dogg (Big John Elliott)
Fellow vampire hunter Big John Elliott is played by Snoop Dogg, who is also no stranger to horror (he played the title role of 2001’s Bones), comedy (he made his feature film debut in stoner classic Half Baked), and horror-comedies (he starred in and executive produced Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror in 2006, to name just one example). Another notable example of his spookier career highlights is voicing Cousin It in the recent animated reboots of The Addams Family.
What really got the hip-hop legend noticed for his acting chops, however, was his role in Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day, which led to more major roles in movies like Starsky & Hutch, Dreamworks’ animated hit Turbo, or his other most recent Netflix original movie, Dolemite is My Name. Snoop also plays himself in many movies and TV shows — like in Pitch Perfect 2, for instance. Among his other roles, he voiced a sentient joint in Machine Gun Kelly’s Good Mourning.
Karla Souza (Audrey)
As vampiric real estate mogul Audrey in Day Shift, we have Karla Souza, who made her acting debut in 1993’s skiing drama Aspen Extreme years before starring in movies and TV shows based in her native Mexico. She broke out into the American mainstream with a regular role on How to Get Away with Murder as Laurel Castillo.
She would follow that hit drama by starring on Amazon Prime’s Spanish-language drama series El Presidente and the ABC comedy Home Economics. Souza also has a horror credit to her name — the 2019 remake of Jacob’s Ladder opposite Michael Ealy. She also previously starred in a Netflix original movie called The Sleepover in 2020.
Meagan Good (Jocelyn Jablonski)
Playing Bud’s wife, Jocelyn, is one of the most underrated actors of her generation, Meagan Good, who debuted in iconic the 1995 comedy Friday two years before making her horror debut in the classic Black Horror movie, Eve’s Bayou. The following year she joined the cast of the hit Nickelodeon series, Cousin Skeeter, which might be her most iconic TV credit, if not FOX’s Minority Report series or Amazon Prime’s Harlem. She also appeared in the 2017 TV comedy series, White Famous, which starred Jay Pharoah and was produced by Jamie Foxx.
A few of Good’s other notable film credits include Rian Johnson’s 2005 Neo-noir thriller Brick, dance flicks Stomp the Yard and You Got Served, both Think Like a Man movies, and Shazam! as Darla’s Superhero counterpart — whom she will reprise on the Shazam! Fury of the Gods cast in 2022. Her other previous horror credits include One Missed Call and Saw V in 2008, 2009’s The Unborn, The Intruder in 2019, and the cinematic adaptation of video game Monster Hunter from 2020.
Steve Howey And Scott Adkins (The Nazarian Brothers)
As sibling vampire hunting duo The Nazarian Brothers, we have Steve Howey and Scott Adkins — the latter of whom has an impressive reputation as an action star for his appearances in one of the Jason Bourne movies (The Bourne Ultimatum, namely), a few of the Expendables movies, and the Oscar-winning Zero Dark Thirty, to name a few. Adkins is also part of the MCU, having played one of Kaecilius’ henchman in Doctor Strange in 2016.
Steve Howey is best known from TV comedies like Reba as Van and, especially, from Showtime’s Shameless cast as Kevin Ball, but has dabbled in action (normally on TV shows like Sons of Anarchy and CBS’s SEAL Team) as well as action comedy (with recent movies like 2019’s Stuber and his last Netflix original project, Game Over, Man!, from the year before). He is also a horror-comedy veteran, having played the title role of 2009’s Stan Helsing, opposite Kenan Thompson and Leslie Nielsen.
Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Heather)
Bud’s neighbor, Heather, is played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo — who made her debut in an action-packed Netflix original movie (2016’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny) and later starred on the platform’s short-lived coming-of-age fantasy series The Society in 2019. In between then, she starred in 2017’s hit musical The Greatest Showman and the fact-based political thriller Hotel Mumbai the following year.
Also in 2019, Natasha Liu Bordizzo was the female lead in the romantic-comedy Crazy About You and appeared alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Samara Weaving in Guns Akimbo a year before starring in Quibi’s Most Dangerous Game opposite Liam Hemsworth. In 2021, she collaborated with Netflix again to lend her voice to the animated film Wish Dragon and appeared in Amazon Prime’s The Voyeurs with Sydney Sweeney and Justice Smith and, in 2023, look out for her on Disney+’s upcoming Star Wars TV show Ahsoka as Sabine Wren.
Zion Broadnax (Paige Jablonski)
As Bud and Jocelyn’s daughter, Paige, we have Zion Broadnax — who has already acquired a lengthy resume in her few years in the business. After debuting in the 15-minute crime thriller Deducoria in 2018, she made her feature-length debut the same year in the holiday fantasy comedy Holly Day.
In between other short films, Broadnax would appear on the fire department-set Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Station 19, did an episode of Disney Channel’s Sydney to the Max, and was in the pilot for Abbott Elementary. She is currently lending her voice to the Paramount+’s upcoming animated series, Transformers: Earthspark.
Eric Lange (Ralph Seeger)
As a beureaucratic vampire hunter’s union leader named Ralph Seeger, we have Eric Lange, who also encountered vampires early in his career with a guest spot on Angel. While he also appeared in several episodes of Lost, the TV credit he is best known for, however, might be as passionate performing arts teacher Mr. Sikowitz on Nickelodeon’s Victorious, if not Lyle Mitchell on Escape from Dannemora, Detective Holcomb on HBO’s Perry Mason, or Bill Stechner on the Narcos cast.
The Wind River actor’s other Netflix original credits include Unbelievable and Brand New Cherry Flavor, which is only the most recent horror-centric credit of his career after appearing in Antebellum and the underrated mind-bender The Empty Man in 2020. Lange also has a horror-comedy under his belt with 2016’s Fear Inc., with Abigail Breslin.
Peter Stormare (Troy)
Playing the role of Troy — a pawn-broker with connections to the vampire-hunting business — is Peter Stormare, who last worked with J.J. Perry on John Wick: Chapter 2. That 2017 sequel also saw one of a few times he worked with Keanu Reeves (i.e Constantine and Swedish Dicks) and the umpteenth time he played a villainous sort of character (a list that deserves its own article).
Perhaps the Swedish actor is best known for the times he has starred in Coen Brothers movies (such as Fargo or The Big Lebowski), in Michael Bay movies (like Armageddon and Bad Boys II), or Steven Spielberg movies (i.e. The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Minority Report). Stormare’s seemingly endless resume also contains a few vampiric roles, such as Bram Stoker’s famous character in the animated The Batman vs. Dracula and Godbrand on Netflix’s Castlevania.
If you were not already sold on the idea of a John Wick-style vampire movie, perhaps the Day Shift cast is enough to convince you not to sleep on this new horror-comedy on Netflix.
