The eldest child of the Jolnir family, Joan is the charismatic leader of an environmentalist cult that believes healing the world requires human sacrifice. A childhood vision also leads her to think she can communicate with the volcano at the heart of this story.

“Joan was told when she was very young that she was the person that had to save the Earth and it was going to happen in a very specific way,” Taylor-Joy explains. “She spent her entire life preparing for this moment.”

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, The Menu, Last Night in Soho

Mike Tyler is a down-on-his-luck actor who attends the charity gala to rehab his image after a very public scandal. He lands the heroic role of a lifetime when he’s taken hostage by Joan’s group. 

Like Tyler, Evans is a world-famous actor. But that’s where the similarities between the two end. “I was less interested in playing a guy whose profession I can relate to so much as playing a guy that is feeling what I think a lot of people are feeling,” Evans explains. “Mike is at the chapter of your life where you just feel like you don’t recognize yourself anymore and you know it’s time to wake up.”

Materialists, Red One, Marvel’s Captain America and Avengers films

Known as the richest man in the world, Ben Bracken is a tech mogul who organized the charity gala to highlight his revolutionary deep-sea-mining green-energy venture.  

“He found a new way to harvest energy in the world,” Cassel explains. “He says he wants to leave Earth alone but is actually doing something in the ocean, so it’s not totally right. So, of course, there are people against him and his ideas.”

Westworld, Ocean’s Twelve, Black Swan, Elizabeth

Gloria is Ben’s glamorous wife. A singer-turned-producer, she attends the charity gala for some face time with Mike, who she believes will be perfect for the new film she is producing. 

“Gloria is a character that is going to surprise you in a couple of ways,” says Hayek Pinault of the character. “She’s one of those people who are very easy to judge and to assume that you know exactly the type. And then you realize that not everything is what it seems.”

House of Gucci, Eternals, Grown Ups, Frida

Katie is an actress and dancer who performs at the gala under the stage name “Daughter Nature.” By a stroke of misfortune, she becomes one of the hostages selected to be sacrificed. 

“She’s just very unlucky,” Mod says. “She gets dragged into it, but not all is lost.” 

The Stolen Girl, Black Bag, This Is Going to Hurt

Oliver is Mike’s best friend and loyal agent who tries to manage Mike’s spiraling ego throughout the film.

“I was trying to play him as a friend who loves Mike and wants to see him come back and have the success,” says Richardson. “[Mike is] his biggest client, but he’s also seen this guy reach the bottom and he cares about him.”

Hoppers, Poker Face, Detroiters, Veep

Arthur is Joan’s younger brother who becomes fixated on Katie. “He’s the sweet boy,” say Leandoer. “He’s very lost and he really looks up to his older sister.”

The character, Gavras notes, was named after a famous French poet. “We called him Arthur because he’s almost like Arthur Rimbaud, where he’s very poetic and hasn’t seen the outside world,” says Gavras. “Even though he’s carrying an AK-47 and he can be violent, he’s very naive and sensitive. I think Yung Lean has that in him where he’s filled with poetry and tenderness.”

Leandoer, a rapper who performs around the globe as “Yung Lean,” makes his feature film debut with Sacrifice. It’s a fitting role for the musician who has known Gavras for more than a decade and was the first to be cast in the film.

“[We have] a real admiration for each other,” Leandoer says of his friendship with Gavras. 

And working on set with a group of experienced actors has been illuminating. “I learned a lot,” he adds. “It’s written in the stars. This is the role that should be my debut.”

The youngest of the Jolnir family, Louise is unnervingly calm with a childlike demeanor that belies her expert weapons training. She’s also a staunch believer in her family’s cause and will stop at nothing to see it through.

“She’s ruthless and very determined,” says Croot. “She does a lot of bad things, but they come from a good place.”

The Death of Robin Hood, The Serpent Queen, Rabbit Trap

Yes, that really is Charli XCX performing as “Mother Nature” during the charity gala. 

“It’s the meta-ness of using a singer as a singer in a film doing something really corny,” Gavras says of the singer’s memorable cameo. “I think she has very natural talent for acting and for comedy.”

Charli XCX’s appearance in the film is a full-circle moment for fellow musician and co-star Leandoer. “She was my first fan that was an established artist and we would hang out in Stockholm,” Leandoer explains. 

“Me, her, and Romain all came up at the same time and we’ve flirted with the idea of doing something bigger,” he adds. “Then everything happened and [it all] panned out.”

I Want Your Sex, Overcompensating, The Angry Birds Movie

Anna is the charity gala’s elegant hostess who tries to diffuse the situation when Joan’s group stages its hostile takeover. 

Your Friends & Neighbors, Landman, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Breaking

Gunnar is Joan’s estranged father, a Nobel Prize–winning volcanologist. 

“John is obviously a wonderful actor that can carry a character like this, who [feels] very soothing and homey,” says Gavras. “And then he’s going to be the one that tells you even more insane truths that [are] going to make the world shift.”

Opus, Red, The New Pope, Being John Malkovich