TV & Movies
From Adam Brody to Bo Burnham.
The entire premise of Promising Young Woman (premiering in theaters on Christmas Day) revolves around Cassie (Carey Mulligan) taking revenge on ostensibly "nice guys" who take advantage of vulnerable women. And in a stroke of creative genius, filmmaker Emerald Fennell filled the cast with recognizably "nice guys." The kinds of actors who have long played safe, crushable, supporting men.
As Bustle previously reported in a feature interview with the cast of the film, "The 'nice guy' contingent is formed of beloved television heartthrobs like [Max] Greenfield, [Adam] Brody, and GLOW’s Chris Lowell; perennial Hollywood good guy Bo Burnham; and Superbad’s Christopher Mintz-Plasse. In essence, they’re the kind of 'woke' men that we were taught it was safe to crush on; only as they begin to cross lines around consent, Fennell shows that they're not so harmless after all."
It's a fun departure to see for a lot of these actors, and should make for an interesting watch, given how many recognizable names are in the cast of Promising Young Woman.
Carey Mulligan as Cassie
Carey Mulligan of An Education fame stars as Cassie, a med school dropout with a penchant for revenge.
Adam Brody as Jerry
The first of the men featured in the Promising Young Woman trailer, Brody plays Jerry, an ostensibly "nice guy" who approaches Cassie, asking if she's okay, and offers to get her out of the bar... into his home, where they keep drinking. You may recognize Brody from his role in The O.C., where he played Seth Cohen, or as Nikolai in 2009's Jennifer's Body.
Sam Richardson as Paul
Paul's present at the bar where Jerry attempts to pick up Cassie. Richardson is another actor who's traditionally played friendly men on screen, such as Veep's Richard Splett. He's also voiced Doctor Champ, BoJack's rehab counselor in BoJack Horseman.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Neil
A bit more awkward than the other men featured in the trailer, Neil fits in more with the "nerdy nice guy" stereotype, tiny, weird noses kisses and all. Mintz-Plasse is, as many of the men on this list are, mostly known for his roles where he plays a typically nice or nerdy character. He's voiced Fishlegs in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, played Clark in CBS' The Great Indoors, and, yes, played Fogell/"McLovin" in Superbad.
Max Greenfield as Joe
Greenfield is perhaps most well-known for his role as Schmidt in the FOX sitcom The New Girl. He was also Deputy Leo D'Amato in Veronica Mars, Gabriel in American Horror Story, and Nick Pepper on Ugly Betty.
Alison Brie as Madison
In the trailer, Cassie turns to Madison to talk about what happened at their med school, but is met with the defense she wasn't "the only one who didn't believe it." Brie's arguably most well known for her role as Annie in Community. She's also Ruth Wilder in GLOW, and most recently played Sloane in Happiest Season (2020).
Bo Burnham as Ryan
Ryan is an old admirer of Cassie's from back when they were in med school together. His appearance on the scene could prove to be a bit of a complication in Cassie's plan for revenge. Burnham, a comedian, has appeared in The Big Sick (2017) and has starred in numerous comedy specials. He's also the writer and director behind the Golden Globe-nominated Eighth Grade (2018).
Laverne Cox as Gail
Gail runs the coffee shop where Cassie works, and is probably one of the only people Cassie can call a friend (according to the New York Post review of Promising Young Woman). Cox's breakout role was as Sophia Burset in Orange is the New Black, and since then, she's starred in a variety of titles, including CBS' Doubt, The Mindy Project, and Bad Hair (2020).
