Jay Kelly is a movie star in crisis. When his daughter hits the road on a European vacation, Jay chases after her, heading for the ultimate destination of an Italian film festival tribute. Along the way, he grapples with his own successes, failures, and regrets. 

“This is a story of him having to come to terms with other parts of his life besides the part that he’s been very successful at,” Clooney says. “He’s been very unsuccessful at a lot of other things.” 

Baumbach wrote the role with Clooney specifically in mind. “We all have a relationship with George Clooney as an actor and movie star from over the years,” he says. “When I ultimately sent the script to him, it was the rare thing where, within 24 hours, I got the text back: ‘I’m in.’ ”

Clooney played Dr. Doug Ross on ER, a breakout role that led to him landing film parts in Out of Sight, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy, and more. 

He’s gone on to become one of the defining movie stars of the 21st century, winning an Academy Award for his turn in Syriana and nabbing several more for his performances in Michael Clayton, Up in the Air, and The Descendants. Clooney’s work as a director has also won him accolades from the Academy; he was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for his journalism drama Good Night, and Good Luck, and for Best Adapted Screenplay for his political thriller The Ides of March.

Other roles include Fantastic Mr. Fox, Gravity, Burn After Reading, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Thin Red Line, Hail, Caesar!, Ticket to Paradise, The Monuments Men, and Intolerable Cruelty.

Ron is Jay’s lifelong agent, who finds himself sucked into his friend’s midlife crisis against his will. Ron is a force of unceasing generosity in Jay’s life — even when it’s inconvenient for him and his family.

Sandler drew on his own experiences in Hollywood to play the man behind the movie star. “I was excited about playing someone who cared about another person as much as Ron cared about Jay Kelly,” he says. “I’ve met many Rons in my last 40 years of working. I’ve met a lot of nice people along the way who have helped me, thought of me, and put stuff aside in their lives to make sure that mine was going smoothly when I needed them.”

Baumbach and Sandler last collaborated on 2017’s The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), and the pair leaped at the opportunity to reteam. “[Co-writer Emily Mortimer] and I were thinking that it should be Adam from the beginning,” he says. “Adam has such a genuine heart and has such a close-knit group of people who have been with him for his whole career in so many roles, which speaks to his loyalty and generosity. So, I knew he could identify with the caretaking side of Ron.”

Sandler was part of the breakout 1990s cast of Saturday Night Live; he and Clooney first crossed paths when the then-ER star hosted in 1995. After leaving SNL, Sandler starred in a series of hit comedies including Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy, The Wedding Singer, and Big Daddy. 

Sandler is also no stranger to dramatic roles. His performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s bewitching Punch-Drunk Love landed a Golden Globe nomination, and his turn as Howard Ratner in the Safdie Brothers’ live-wire Uncut Gems won overwhelming critical acclaim. In 2023, Sandler was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his turn in basketball drama Hustle; later that year, he also received the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Other roles include Happy Gilmore 2, Hubie Halloween, 50 First Dates, Grown Ups, Hotel Transylvania, Click, Just Go With It, Bedtime Stories, Anger Management, Funny People, Spanglish, and Mr. Deeds.

Liz is Jay’s publicist, another long-term professional partner who finds herself struggling to balance her affection for Jay with her increasing exasperation with his antics. 

Dern sings the praises of casting directors Nina Gold and Douglas Aibel’s work on Jay Kelly. “We showed up and we were like, ‘Wait, isn’t that the actor we loved from this film or that show or that comedy special?’ It was shocking,” Dern says. “They just made every moment so honest and so real, so that when we got into not only the dialogue, but just the charm of people’s reactions to a movie star, everybody reacted so personally and so differently. There is no frame of the movie that doesn’t feel full.”

Shooting the film itself may have been a joy, but being a part of Jay Kelly’s life can exact a heavy cost. “We see how Ron and Liz and everyone who surrounds Jay in his orbit has to sort of drop what they’re doing and go with him,” Baumbach tells Netflix. “Everyone in the movie, to some degree or another, is tasked with the simple and complex question of how do we want to spend our lives?”

Dern first rose to prominence appearing in films including Mask and David Lynch’s Blue Velvet; she would go on to collaborate with Lynch throughout his career, from Wild at Heart to Inland Empire. She’s also starred on hit television series including Big Little Lies and Enlightened and in blockbuster films including Jurassic Park and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. 

Dern was nominated for an Academy Award for Lead Actress for her title performance in Rambling Rose; her mother Diane Ladd was nominated for the same film, in an Academy first. Dern landed two subsequent nominations in the Supporting Actress category for Wild and Baumbach’s own Marriage Story, winning for the latter. She’s also been nominated for nine Primetime Emmy Awards, winning in 2017 for Big Little Lies. 

Other roles include Little Women, The Master, The Fault in Our Stars, Twin Peaks: The Return, October Sky, Certain Women, The Tale, Citizen Ruth, Recount, Palm Royale, and the upcoming Is This Thing On?

Timothy is an old friend of Jay’s who floats back into his life at a turning point. Their trip down memory lane isn’t entirely pleasant — and soon Jay is off in Europe, reevaluating his priorities.

Clooney and Crudup share one crucial scene, which required plenty of preparation. “Our rehearsals had been generous and creative, but when we were actually ready to start rolling, I just said to George, ‘I don’t know which way this is going to go, but I’m going to do the best I can,’ ” Crudup says. “When you have the ability to work with people who don’t have an expectation, but are just going to set the table for you in a collaborative way, it’s rare and pretty spectacular.”

Clooney has nothing but glowing things to say about working with Crudup. “Billy Crudup and I have been friends. I’ve been watching him,” he says. “He’s so good in everything. I remember seeing him on Broadway, and he’s just a very special, gifted actor.”

Crudup came up in the world of theater, appearing in stage plays including Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia and William Inge’s Bus Stop, before transitioning to film with performances in The Hi-Lo Country and Jesus’ Son. He played rock star Russell Hammond in Almost Famous, landing a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination as part of the film’s ensemble. 

Crudup has received four Tony Award nominations across his career, for his performances in The Elephant Man, The Pillowman, The Coast of Utopia, and the revival of Arcadia. He won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play for The Coast of Utopia. Crudup has also been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for his performance on The Morning Show, winning two. 

Other roles include Big Fish, Spotlight, Watchmen, Mission: Impossible III, 20th Century Women, Jackie, Too Big to Fail, Hello Tomorrow!, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Public Enemies, and The Good Shepherd.

Jessica is Jay’s eldest daughter, who has a strained relationship with her father that he struggles to reckon with.

“She’s worked with her therapist through whatever the trauma was there and I think she’s tried to be a little less vulnerable,” Keough says. “But she’s very much wanting to connect to him. She wants to find some resolution, which most kids do with their parents, but she’s also butting up against the other thing that happens with your parents, where they do the same thing over and over again.”

Baumbach has nothing but glowing things to say about working with Keough. “Riley has such sensitivity and toughness going simultaneously as Jessica,” he says. “She’s
a wonderful collaborator, a fantastic actor and incredibly compelling.”

Keough has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her lead turn in Daisy Jones and the Six, an Independent Spirit Award for her role in American Honey, and a Golden Globe Award for her performance in The Girlfriend Experience. She recently completed writing her late mother Lisa Marie Presley’s memoir From Here to the Great Unknown. 

Other roles include Zola, Mad Max: Fury Road, The House That Jack Built, Logan Lucky, Under the Silver Lake, It Comes At Night, Magic Mike, The Terminal List, and Under the Bridge. 

Daisy is Jay’s youngest daughter, who heads off on a European vacation of her own — not knowing that her father is on her tail. 

Edwards was cast in the role after an extensive casting search. “Grace brought immediate specificity to the character,” Baumbach says. “Daisy is at an age where she doesn’t want to hang out with her parents anymore. Grace made this immediately understandable. Her rejection of her
Dad is part of her growing up and it’s his challenge to accept this.”

Edwards is a relative newcomer who’s appeared in films including Call Jane and Asteroid City and television series including Schooled, Pearson, and Modern Love.

Jay’s salt-of-the-earth father joins his Italian tribute and promptly steals the spotlight from his movie star son. 

Baumbach considers the character disarmingly crucial to the story he’s telling. “It’s a father and son story, but also an exploration of what it means to be a man,” he says.

And Clooney was thrilled to work with the legendary Keach. “Stacy Keach, my God, he is really exciting,” he says. “If you aren’t aware of how long he’s been doing it and how many credits he has, just look him up on IMDb. He’s really sweet and funny.”

Keach has appeared in films and television series as wide-ranging as Fat City, Brewster McCloud, Doc, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, The New Centurions, Luther, The Long Riders, American History X, The Bourne Legacy, Nebraska, Escape from L.A., Roadgames, Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, The Blacklist, Hemingway, and more. 

Peter Schneider is the man who gave Jay his big break, a legendary filmmaker who’s now reduced to begging Jay to lend his flagging career star power. 

Baumbach had wanted to work with Broadbent for a long time. “It’s a very common human story, the story of your teacher, the person who saw something in you, the person you learned from, whom you’ve superseded in some ways,” says Baumbach of Jay and Peter’s dynamic. 

Broadbent won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Iris. He’s well-known for his collaborations with legendary filmmaker Mike Leigh, starting with Life Is Sweet and continuing through Topsy-Turvy and Another Year. His stage roles include Our Friends in the North, Habeas Corpus, The Pillowman, and A Very Very Very Dark Matter. Other roles include Moulin Rouge!, Hot Fuzz, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Gangs of New York, The Iron Lady, Brazil, Time Bandits, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Cloud Atlas, and Game of Thrones. 

Ben is another of Ron’s clients, who finds himself pushed to the sidelines of the festival tribute when Jay crashes the scene. 

Wilson started his career on the Broadway stage, where he received two Tony Award nominations for his performances in The Full Monty and Oklahoma! He went on to star in films and television series including The Phantom of the Opera, Insidious, Watchmen, Hard Candy, The Conjuring, Young Adult, Morning Glory, Aquaman, A Gifted Man, Girls, Bone Tomahawk, and Prometheus.

Daphne is a face from Jay’s past who haunts him years later.

Hewson’s first major role came in Paolo Sorrentino’s Sean Penn star vehicle This Must Be the Place. She’s gone on to appear in films and television series including the Peabody Award-winning Bad Sisters, The Perfect Couple, Flora & Son, The Luminaries, Behind Her Eyes, The 27 Club, Tesla, The Knick, and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming untitled science fiction film.

Lois is Ron’s wife, who stays behind with their children while he’s whisked away with Jay to Europe.

Gerwig is a filmmaker in her own right who’s teamed with her husband Baumbach to co-write films including his Frances Ha and Mistress America, and her 2023 megahit, Barbie. All three of Gerwig’s directorial efforts — Lady Bird, Little Women, and Barbie — have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Gerwig’s performances as an actor include White Noise, Greenberg, Yeast, Isle of Dogs, Jackie, Wiener-Dog, and 20th Century Women. 

Alba is a film festival assistant who guides Jay to his Italian destination. 

Rohrwacher is an Italian actor who has appeared in films including I Am Love, Hungry Hearts, Days and Clouds, The Wonders, Daughter of Mine, The Ties, Lorna’s Silence, and Out of Season. She is also known for her collaborations with her filmmaker sister Alice Rohrwacher, on films including La Chimera and Happy as Lazzaro.