East Of Eden Cast: Where You’ve Seen The Stars Before

As the nights get darker, Netflix has delivered a glossy, big-budget classic book adaptation to help keep us warm on those chilly winter evenings

Based on John Steinbeck’s iconic novel of the same name, East Of Eden is a classic tale of multigenerational trauma, family rivalry and the battle between good and evil.

Set in the early 20th century, this adaptation follows Florence Pugh’s Cathy Ames as she ignites a rift between two brothers that will unfold over two generations.

East Of Eden’s sprawling cast features a mix of well-known faces, exciting up-and-coming names, and, of course, a nepo baby or two.

Here’s our guide to where you have seen the cast of East Of Eden before, and the projects you might recognise them from…

Oscar-nominated star Florence Pugh has been making waves in film and TV since her screen debut in 2014’s The Falling, which co-starred fellow Brit Maisie Williams.

Florence then hit the A-list when she played real-life wrestler Paige in the dramedy Fighting With My Family, followed by a leading performance in the chilling folk horror Midsommar and her Oscar-nominated turn as Amy March in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women.

Florence also played Princess Irulan in Dune: Part Two, a role she will return to in the third instalment later this year.

Girls fans will recognise Christopher Abbott for playing Marnie’s on/off boyfriend Charlie in the Lena Dunham comedy.

His film roles have included playing the real-life test pilot David Scott in the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man, host body Colin in the horror Possessor and Bella’s abusive ex-husband in the Oscar-winning Poor Things.

More recently, he portrayed the villainous The Foreigner in Sony’s superhero flop Kraven The Hunter, as well as appearing in Leigh Whannell’s reimagining of the Wolf Man and starring opposite Amanda Seyfried in the musical The Testament Of Ann Lee.

No stranger to classic literature adaptations, Christopher was Golden Globe-nominated for his leading role as John Yossarian in the 2019 adaptation of Catch-22. In 2023, he played defence lawyer Stan in the Apple TV+ Tom Holland-led drama, The Crowded Room.

He also recently made headlines after becoming a father with his partner Aubrey Plaza.

You may know Mike Faist for playing Zendaya’s on-screen husband, Art, in the tennis drama Challengers.

A Tony-nominated musical theatre actor, Mike first found international fame when he was cast as Riff in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story.

His other on-screen credits also include starring in Prime’s teen drama Panic, and appearing with Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy in The Bikeriders.

The original Broadway cast member of Dear Evan Hansen returned to his stage roots in 2023 when he appeared alongside Lucas Hedges in the well-received stage adaptation of Brokeback Mountain in the West End.

Irish actor Ciarán Hinds has had a varied acting career spanning decades and genres across film and TV.

On the big screen, he has appeared in projects ranging from the provocative The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover to the Jane Austen period drama Persuasion and the Gary Oldman-led Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

His other movie credits include playing the bootlegger Finn McGovern in Sam Mendes’ Road To Perdition, Helen Mirren’s husband in Calendar Girls and Aberforth Dumbledore in the final movie in the Harry Potter series.

More recently, he earned his first Oscar nomination for playing Grandpa in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast.

Ciarán’s television roles, meanwhile, have included portraying Julius Caesar in Rome, DCI James Langton in the Lynda La Plante crime drama Above Suspicion, King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder in Game Of Thrones and patriarch Tom Sheridan in the ITV comedy-drama The Dry.

Hoon Lee is probably best known for playing Job in the Anthony Starr-led TV show Banshee.

Outside of that, Hoon has appeared in the police procedural show Bosch, MCU’s Iron Fist series and currently stars in Apple TV+ drama Your Friends & Neighbors with Jon Hamm.

He’s also voiced Splinter in the 2010s animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV shows and video games, and The White Rabbit in the Netflix anime Devil May Cry.

Tracy Letts, who plays Cyrus Trask in East Of Eden, is as prolific an actor as he is a playwright.

You may recognise Tracy for playing the main character’s dad in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, before teaming up with Greta once again to play Mr. Dashwood in her adaptation of Little Women, sharing the screen with his future East Of Eden co-star Florence Pugh.

He has also played Henry Ford II in the Oscar-nominated Ford vs. Ferrari, had a minor role as writer Don Wilson in the Ben Affleck thriller Deep Water and appeared as General Anthony Brady in the Netflix war thriller House Of Dynamite.

On TV, Tracy is best known for playing Director Andrew Lockhart in Homeland, portraying the real-life coach Jack McKinney in Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty and co-starring with Ethan Hawke in the crime comedy The Lowdown.

Martha Plimpton has been a mainstay of film and TV since playing Stef in The Goonies back in 1985.

For the last three decades, Martha has had a prolific career on television. She had a multi-episode arc in ER as a pregnant woman struggling with drug addiction, played the ruthless lawyer Patti in The Good Wife and took on a leading role in the sitcom Raising Hope.

More recently, Martha has starred in the film Mass with Jason Isaacs and Ann Dowd, had a role in the Leo Woodall-led Apple TV+ thriller Prime Target and played FBI Bureau Chief Kathleen McGinty in last year’s Mark Ruffalo drama Task.

Up-and-coming Australian actor Joseph Zada plays the older Cal Trask in East Of Eden.

Before that, he was most well-known for his role as the temperamental Johnny Sinclair Dennis in the Amazon Prime teen drama We Were Liars.

Later this year, Joseph will take on his biggest role to date, when he takes on the role of a young Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games prequel Sunrise On The Reaping.

Joe Anders, who plays Aron Trask in East Of Eden, made his film debut in 2019, appearing in his dad Sam Mendes’ epic war film, 1917.

He then made a small appearance alongside his famous mum, Kate Winslet, in the biopic Lee.

Following this, Joe appeared with his mum and sister, fellow actor Mia Threapleton, in Channel 4’s I Am Ruth, before starring opposite Amy Adams and Javier Bardem in Apple TV+’s Cape Fear and taking the lead in the teen rom-com Bonus Track.

As a teenager, he wrote the script for the film Goodbye June while on a screenwriting course, which was last year turned into a Netflix original movie, in what became his mum’s directorial debut.

Jonah Wren Phillips, who plays a younger version of Joe Anders’ character in East Of Eden, will be a recognisable face to horror fans thanks to his chilling performance in Bring Her Back as Oliver.

The child actor has also appeared in Australian dramas Human Error and The Airport Chaplain.

Vaughan Reilly, who appears in East Of Eden as a young Cathy in flashback scenes, is best known for playing Maude Ivory in The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes.

She made her acting debut at the age of just nine, appearing with Natasha Lyonne in Russian Doll.

Vaughan also played Nicole Kidman’s on-screen daughter in the erotic thriller Babygirl, had a recurring role in Long Bright River as Kacey and portrayed a minor character in Law & Order: SVU.

All seven episodes of East Of Eden are now streaming on Netflix.