From the actor who played Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to the actor who played Jason Bourne, the cast of Christopher Nolan's sci-fi opus Interstellar is full of high-profile acting talent playing rich, thought-provoking characters. The film is set in the not-too-distant future in which the Moon landing has been debunked and Earth’s natural resources have been drained to the point that it’s uninhabitable. Interstellar charts a space mission to find a new planet for the human race to live on, and the film's hugely talented actors brought the story’s complex themes and speculation to life.
Nolan’s movies, like Stanley Kubrick’s, are often considered cold and unemotional as they focus more on themes and ideas than human connection. But Nolan's space movie, Interstellar, is a rare example of a story from the director that’s just as invested in the humanity of its characters as its big thematic concepts. It’s about a father traveling across the cosmos and venturing into a black hole just to connect with his daughter. The cast of Interstellar contains both actors who were already big stars, like Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, and actors who became famous in the years that followed, like Timothée Chalamet.
Matthew McConaughey As Joseph Cooper
Interstellar’s lead protagonist, Joseph Cooper, a widowed NASA pilot who became a farmer when the U.S. government shut down the agency, is played by Matthew McConaughey. Just as one Interstellar actor played Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., McConaughey also played a real-life activist, Ron Woodroof, in Dallas Buyers Club, a role that earned him an Academy Award. McConaughey got his start with a scene-stealing supporting role in Dazed and Confused and went on to star in such hit movies as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and The Wolf of Wall Street, as well as the first season of HBO’s anthology crime drama True Detective.
Anne Hathaway As Dr. Amelia Brand
Dr. Amelia Brand, the devoted NASA scientist and astronaut who joins Cooper’s intergalactic mission to find humanity a new home, is played by Anne Hathaway. Hathaway is the most prominent Interstellar actor who had worked with Nolan before, as she previously played Catwoman opposite Christian Bale’s Batman in The Dark Knight Rises. She has also starred in such hit movies as The Princess Diaries, Brokeback Mountain, and The Devil Wears Prada. Hathaway won an Academy Award for her turn as Fantine in the movie adaptation of Les Misérables, which still holds up today, and received an Oscar nomination for her performance in Rachel Getting Married.
Mackenzie Foy / Jessica Chastain / Ellen Burstyn As Murphy “Murph” Cooper
Cooper’s daughter, Murphy, is played by Mackenzie Foy as a precocious child, Jessica Chastain as an adult who grew up to become a NASA scientist, and Ellen Burstyn as an elderly woman. Foy previously played Renesmee Cullen in The Twilight Saga. Chastain won an Oscar for her turn in The Eyes of Tammy Faye and also appeared in The Help, Zero Dark Thirty, and It Chapter Two. Burstyn, the star of The Exorcist and The Last Picture Show, is one of the few actors to receive the “Triple Crown of Acting.”
Michael Caine As Professor John Brand
Hathaway isn’t the only Interstellar actor who had worked with Nolan before. The director cast frequent collaborator Michael Caine in the role of NASA’s Professor John Brand, Amelia’s father and Cooper’s former mentor who masterminds the Endurance mission. Caine also played Alfred Pennyworth in Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and appeared in The Prestige, Inception, and Tenet. Caine has won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules. He is also known for his lead roles in Zulu, The Italian Job, and Get Carter.
John Lithgow As Donald
Cooper’s cantankerous father-in-law, Donald, is played by John Lithgow. Lithgow is known for his appearances in such classic movies as Footloose, Harry and the Hendersons, Terms of Endearment, and The World According to Garp. The latter two earned Lithgow Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He also voiced Lord Farquaad in Shrek and played Dick Solomon in the sci-fi sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, for which he won three Emmy Awards. Lithgow received further Emmys for playing serial killer Arthur Mitchell in Dexter and Winston Churchill in The Crown.
Matt Damon As Mann
The astronaut who deceives the Endurance crew before attempting to hijack their ship, Mann, is played by Matt Damon. Damon is the only Interstellar actor whose role was kept a secret because Nolan didn't want to mislead audiences into thinking the A-list actor had a large role (via Inquirer). Damon launched his own career with his Oscar-winning script for Good Will Hunting, co-written with his friend Ben Affleck. After playing Will, Damon went on to star in Saving Private Ryan, The Departed, The Martian, Ford v Ferrari, the Ocean’s trilogy, and the Bourne franchise.
David Oyelowo As The School Principal
The principal of Murph’s school is played by David Oyelowo. In the same year that he appeared in Interstellar, Oyelowo played Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, a historical drama centered on the 1965 voting rights march to Montgomery. The Interstellar actor has appeared in such films as Lincoln, Red Tails, See How They Run, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He also played the role of Danny Hunter in the BBC One spy drama series Spooks. In 2016, Oyelowo was awarded the OBE for his services to drama.
Interstellar Supporting Cast & Characters
Casey Affleck / Timothée Chalamet as Tom Cooper: Cooper’s son, Tom, is played by Timothée Chalamet as a kid and Casey Affleck as an adult. Chalamet went on to star in such acclaimed films as Dune, Lady Bird, and Call Me by Your Name, while Affleck won an Academy Award for his performance in Manchester by the Sea.
Wes Bentley as Doyle: Doyle, one of Cooper and Amelia’s colleagues on the Endurance mission, is played by Wes Bentley. Bentley got his breakout with the role of plastic-bag-filming Ricky Fitts in American Beauty and went on to appear in The Hunger Games, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and Yellowstone.
Topher Grace as Getty: Getty, Murph’s co-worker and romantic interest, is played by Topher Grace. Grace is best known for playing Eric Forman in That ‘70s Show and That ‘90s Show, Eddie Brock, aka Venom, in Spider-Man 3, and KKK leader David Duke in BlacKkKlansman.
Bill Irwin as TARS: The Endurance’s resident dry-humored robot, TARS, is voiced and puppeteered by Bill Irwin. Irwin also did the puppetry for CASE, but the voice was provided by Josh Stewart. Irwin and Stewart are rare examples of unseen Interstellar actors. Irwin also played Cary Loudermilk in the X-Men series Legion and won a Tony Award for his role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on Broadway.
David Gyasi as Romilly: Romilly, a member of the Endurance crew who dies in an explosion in Interstellar, is played by David Gyasi. Gyasi is best known for his TV roles as Achilles in BBC’s Troy: Fall of a City and Agreus in the Amazon series Carnival Row.