Despite a limited number of seasons and episodes, Black Mirror has, since the beginning, killed it with its casting. The Charlie Brooker-led show has landed some of the biggest stars in the world for episodes and chooses some of the best character actors from both sides of the pond as well. Here are 32 casting examples that prove Black Mirror crushes it.
Daniel Kaluuya
Before Daniel Kaluuya hit the really big time with break-out roles in Get Out and Black Panther, he had a role in just the second episode of Black Mirror, called "Fifteen Million Merits." Kaluuya played a low-level bike rider looking to escape his boring life by performing in a reality TV show. It's a powerful performance and helped set the tone for the series.
Hayley Atwell
Season 2 of Black Mirror started with a bang, with an episode called "Be Right Back" starring Hayley Atwell and Domhnall Gleeson in a real mind-bending episode about a couple with a classic Black Mirror twist.
Jon Hamm
In between Season 1 and Season 2, Black Mirror aired a Christmas special featuring its first big American star, Mad Men's Jon Hamm. It's a super disturbing episode in a ton of ways, not the least of which is just how evil Hamm's character turns out to be.
Bryce Dallas Howard
Season 3 marked a big change for the show when it moved to Netflix. It also started with a band with the episode "Nosedive" starring Bryce Dallas Howard. It felt a first like a different take on the general premise of Black Mirror, being brighter and seemingly more upbeat. But that didn't last long, of course, and Howard's performance made it all work perfectly.
Kelly MacDonald
Kelly Mac Donald isn't often the star of her projects but she is consistently excellent in everything she is in. She does star in one episode of Black Mirror, the Season 3 episode "Hated In The Nation" which is the show's take on a police procedural, with MacDonald playing the main investigator.
Salma Hayek
There are few stars bigger than the great Salma Hayak and her role in the episode "Joan Is Awful" in the Sixth Season is just perfect. She plays a version of herself, playing the character Joan and her no-BS attitude is just pitch-perfect.
Jesse Plemons
The first episode of Season 4, "USS Callister" often ranks among the best episodes of Black Mirror, and a big reason why is the performances of the actors in the episode. There is no character more important than manipulative Captain Robert Daly played wonderfully by Jesse Plemons.
Andrew Scott
Andrew Scott elevates basically everything he is in. Whether it's shows like Sherlock and Fleabag or movies like 1917, he also turns in one of the most memorable performances. Black Mirror is no exception. While the episode he appears in, "Smithereens" isn't well regarded among fans, there's no denying that Scott's performance is excellent and even earned him an Emmy nomination.
Anthony Mackie
Anthony Mackie has never shied away from playing Gay men, with his first breakout role coming as a Gay art student in the film Brother to Brother. His role in Black Mirror wasn't quite as clear cut, as he played a man clearly struggling with his feelings and identity in the Season 5 episode "Striking Vipers."
Kate Mara
The Season 6 episode, "Beyond the Sea," is one of the more messed up episodes of Black Mirror and that's really saying something. Kate Mara stars in the show as a woman trapped in the middle of a love triangle by two astronauts, one her husband, and one her suitor. It's a polarizing episode, like many, but there's no question it's as disturbing as the show can get.
Miley Cyrus
In the final episode of Season 5, Miley Cyrus stars as Ashley O, a pop star not unlike her real-life self. Of all the Black Mirror episodes, it's maybe the least disturbing, but that really makes it underrated, if anything. It still makes the viewer question modern culture and tech, it just doesn't end in tragedy.
Topher Grace
In Smithereens, Topher Grace plays a Jack Dorsey-type tech CEO who leads a social media company. While the episode is often criticized for its simplistic social commentary, by Black Mirror standards, Grace's performance is actually pretty perfect. All the acting performances are great in this uneven performance.
Letitia Wright
Letitia Wright had been building a solid career in the U.K. before 2018 when she exploded on the world stage with her appearance in Black Panther. Prior to becoming a big part of the MCU, however, she starred in the Season 4 finale, "Black Museum." It's a fun episode with an almost greatest hits-type vibe, as it's filled with easter eggs to previous episodes.
Benedict Wong
Benedict Wong has low-key become one of the most popular side characters in the MCU as... well... Wong. The same year he joined the MCU, in 2016's Doctor Strange, he also starred in the Season 3 episode "Hated in the Nation." He has a smaller role in the show compared to some of the other stars (like Kelly MacDonald) but he's great, as he always is in his many roles.
Aaron Paul
Aaron Paul will likely forever be known first and foremost as Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad. There's nothing wrong with that, but Paul has had an impressive career outside of the legendary AMC show as well. One very notable role came in Season 6 of Black Mirror when he appeared alongside Josh Harnett and Kate Mara in "Beyond the Sea." It wasn't Paul's first appearance on the show, however. He had a quick cameo in "USS Callister" during the show's 4th Season.
Zazie Beetz
Zazie Beetz hit the big time as a member of the hit show Atlanta starting in 2016. She later gained an even larger fanbase as Domino in Deadpool 2. In 2023, she got to star in an episode of Black Mirror called "Mazey Day" which broke new ground for the show, dipping into the supernatural for the first time. Though it wasn't the most well-received episode of the series, Beetz put together a great performance as a paparazza.
Josh Harnett
Over the last 25 years, Josh Harnett has quietly put together one of the most underrated careers in Hollywood. He's played all kinds of roles, from heartthrobs to nuclear physicists. Of course, he also appeared as part of the star-studded cast of "Under The Sea" in Season 6.
Michael Cera
Michael Cera has never been afraid to play ridiculous versions of himself. Most notably, in This Is The End, but also in the Season 6 episode "Joan is Awful." Everyone in the episode is playing some sort of version of themselves and Cera, as the character Beppe is, of course, over the top in his performance and we're here for it.
Tobias Menzies
As character actors go, they don't get much better than Tobias Menzies. The English actor seems to pop up constantly in "prestige" shows. He was Brutus in HBO's Rome, he was Edmund Tully in Game of Thrones and he won an Emmy for playing Prince Philip in two seasons of The Crown. In the second season of Black Mirror, he played a British politician running for office against an animated bear named Waldo in "The Waldo Moment."
Domhnall Gleeson
Sure, Domhnall Gleeson is part of two of the biggest franchises in film history as a member of the Weasley family in the Harry Potter movies and General Hux in the Star Wars movies, but he's also been one of the best actors around for a couple of decades now. He appeared in the first episode of Season 2, "Be Right Back."
Wyatt Russell
Even though he has two very famous actors as parents, Wyatt Russell originally strived to play professional hockey. When injuries cut his career short, he fell back on acting. Lucky, huh? Still, he's putting together a really nice career, one that includes an appearance in the 2016 episode "Playtest."
Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Whittaker made history when she became the first woman to play The Doctor in three seasons of the modern era of Dr. Who. That wasn't Whittaker's first dabble in science fiction TV, however, as she appeared in the third-ever episode of Black Mirror called "The Entire History of You." She is excellent in the episode, which ranks tops all-time on quite a few rankings.
Jerome Flynn
One of the most disturbing episodes of Black Mirror came in its third season. "Shut Up and Dance" is a complicated episode, as viewers are repulsed by the characters, including, most notably, the one played by Game Of Thrones vet Jerome Flynn. Viewers are also taken aback by what those terrible characters have to do. It's a polarizing episode, but that's part of what makes it so great.
Rory Kinnear
There are two roles that Rory Kinnear is likely most recognized for. One is Bill Tanner in four of the Daniel Craig-era James Bond movies. He's one of the most important characters from the Craig-led Bond films. The second is from the now-legendary premiere episode of Black Mirror called "The National Anthem." His performance as the beleaguered Prime Minister forced to do unspeakable things in the episode is, frankly, legendary.
Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett has been killing on screen for more than 40 years now and though his role in the second episode of Season 1 is small, he's brilliant. He plays a Simon Cowell-type on a dystopian version of Britain's Got Talent and he, like Cowell, steals the show as a judge.
Cherry Jones
Season 3's first episode, "Nosedive" is a fantastic episode, and a big reason why is the acting performances, including from Cherry Jones, who appears in only one scene of the show, but it's the pivotal moment in the show. Jones is one of the more underrated character actresses in Hollywood, but she's probably best known for playing President Allison Taylor on 24 and Holly Maddox in two seasons of The Handmaid's Tale.
Oona Chaplin
Oona Chaplin comes from a family of true film royalty. Her grandfather was the legendary Charlie Chaplin. She's carved out an impressive career as well. She's best known as Talisa Stark, the ill-fated wife of Robb Stark in Game of Thrones, where she was the first death at the infamous Red Wedding. She stars alongside Jon Hamm in the Christmas special of Black Mirror in a smaller role, literally and figuratively, but her performance is sure to freak out everyone who watches.
Jimmi Simpson
It's hard to believe that Always Sunny In Philadelphia first hit the airwaves in 2005, but it did. Jimmi Simpson has been along for most of the ride, as the oddball frenemy to "The Gang" and member of the McPoyle family, Liam McPoyle. He also appeared one of the most star-studded casts of Black Mirror in the "USS Callister."
Annie Murphy
Annie Murphy is most famous for playing Alexis Rose in Schitt's Creek and in 2023 she appeared as a strange version of herself playing "Joan" in "Joan in Awful" alongside Salma Hayek in the sixth season.
Kirsten Dunst
"USS Callister" has one of the more star-studded casts and one of the stars you may not have even seen, Kirsten Dunst. Dunst's cameo in Black Mirror is truly a blink--and-you-miss-moment in the episode. She appears as a fellow office worker in the show and it's so brief most people missed it.
Cristin Milioti
The multi-talented Cristin Milioti started her career on the stage on Broadway where she became a Tony-nominated actress, but made her on-screen breakthrough as "The Mother" in How I Met Your Mother. Since then, she's shined in shows like Fargo, The Resort, and The Mindy Project, as well as starring in "USS Callister" in Black Mirror.
Will Poulter
Will Poulter seems to like showing in prestige TV shows. In addition to starring in the groundbreaking interactive "choose your own adventure" Black Mirror movie called Bandersnatch, he's also shown up in a cameo on The Bear. That's in addition, of course, to his film roles in The Revenant, Midsommar, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3., among many others.
