Everyone sees a little of themselves in Laura. That’s one reason Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie books have endured for generations. Laura is the bright, honest, authority-questioning young hero of our adventure. “She really inspires me,” says Halsey. “She’s very sure of herself. She’s very confident. And I think that benefits her throughout her entire story.”

In Season 1, Laura is a disruptor and an American icon. Forget your modern ideas of childhood — the stakes are high for children living in the 19th century. Mixed in with small pleasures and petty disputes with her older sister are true feats of survival and bravery. Laura is observant, tender, strong-willed, and hot-tempered. She resists the bounds of ladylike behavior. Instead, she likes to run barefoot and feel the sun on her face. She loves fiercely and is utterly devoted to her dog, Jack. She rubs some adults the wrong way — too many hard questions, too much personality, too much energy — but to the people who matter, she’s a bright light. She absorbs every detail she sees around her, collecting them for stories she will someday share with the world.

At 10 years old, Halsey carries a remarkable understanding of the world. Sonnenshine says you can see it in her eyes and in the way she interacts with people. “There’s a boldness about her, a forthrightness, a natural curiosity that comes across in her performance and in her personality that really captures who Laura was,” says the showrunner. Halsey thought it was a “slim chance” she’d ultimately land the role. She was with her parents and sister when she received the call that she got the part. “I cried!”

Lessons in Chemistry, Days of Our Lives

Charles Ingalls is Laura’s ruggedly handsome and charming father. The original girl dad, “Pa” is a farmer and trapper, a carpenter, and an artist. He’s an optimist, always glass half-full. But he’s also a wanderer, forever in search of greener pastures. A poet, a musician, and a skilled storyteller, Charles won his wife’s heart by carrying her three miles through the snow to a winter dance.

Bracey was a newcomer to the Little House world when he auditioned. The Australian actor’s ability to put everyone at ease, much like Charles, impressed Sonnenshine. When Bracey first read the scripts, he was drawn to Pa’s kindness and determination to build a good life for his family. “On the other side of that,” Bracey says, “someone’s strengths often can be their weaknesses, so he can look at life sometimes with rose-colored glasses and have a certain naivete.” Bracey is also thrilled to play what he calls “expensive dress-up” alongside Fitzgerald. “That’s really what a marriage is as well,” he says. “There’s that comradeship, trust, and knowing that you’re going to be there for them and they’re going to be there for you.”

Playing Charles taught Bracey one important lesson: He probably wouldn’t fare so well on the prairie alone. “I don’t think anyone survives by themselves,” he says. “That’s what we learn in this show: It takes many, many people.”

Elvis, Hacksaw Ridge, Little Fires Everywhere

Caroline is Laura’s quiet, patient, and practical mother — with a core of steel. “Ma” didn’t marry Charles out of convenience — they fell deeply in love. It was a great romance — and it still is. Caroline has a playful, romantic side, but at the end of the day, she’s the one who keeps this family on track. “Women were the backbone of the American West,” Sonnenshine says. “It wasn’t actually guys riding around with guns; it was women who supported their husbands and created families. Families were the reason that everything took hold.”

Caroline and Charles have a marriage of equals — something rare in the 19th century. Though her trust in Charles is sometimes tested, the strength of their love endures. Caroline gave up her teaching career to have a family, but her yearning for independence never went away. Fitzgerald believes Caroline quietly longs to push beyond tradition and discover new parts of herself. “It’s why she loves Charles so much, because he’s sort of this fearless vagabond who’s willing to be like, ‘Let’s just go here,’” Fitzgerald tells Tudum. “Ultimately, what she wants to do is go on an adventure.”

Fitzgerald found playing Caroline “a little bit daunting” for a couple reasons. “It’s my biggest role ever,” she explains. “Also, I’ve never had a love interest.” But Bracey quickly made Fitzgerald feel at home on set. “He just immediately came with such a big heart and [was] such a safe place,” she says. Fitzgerald doesn’t think she’d last too long on the prairie herself, at least not without sunscreen. “I don’t know that it would be very tenable!”

Crime 101, Palm Royale

Mary is Laura’s older sister and polar opposite. Quiet and studious, she’s a rule follower who’s always angling to be the good daughter. She wants to be the obedient one, the ladylike one, the prettier one. Other parents love Mary. Unlike her sister, she’s uncomfortable in the natural world: The sun is too hot, the snow is too cold. She loves pretty ribbons, reading poetry, and long afternoons sewing. In other words, Laura and Mary are oil and water. Best friends and mortal enemies, they love each other deeply and argue intensely. But in the end, they always have each other’s backs — there’s no choice but to protect each other in this wild new landscape. 

“We wanted a nurturing Mary, not just a scolding Mary,” says Sonnenshine. An older sister in real life, Hughes brought that same nurturing spirit to set. Between takes, she even taught Fitzgerald how to crochet and knit. 

Hughes thinks Mary prides herself on being a big sister. “So when she fails at that, she feels a little guilty,” she says. During her and Halsey’s chemistry read, the would-be sisters sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” The Little House books have been in Hughes’s life for as long as she can remember. “I grew up with the books on my bedside table since I was itsy-bitsy, and I would always get my mom to read them to me!”

I, Object, Joe Pickett

Jack is the Ingalls family’s scruffy, loyal dog who follows their wagon across the prairie. He becomes Laura’s constant companion and a witness to the family’s hardest moments and happiest adventures.

In Episode 1, the Ingalls fear they’ve lost him when their wagon gets caught in the treacherous river crossing. “He jumps in to save Pa, just like in the book,” says Sonnenshine. Laura’s persistent hope that Jack will return helps set the rest of the season in motion. “Keeping that hope alive, even when circumstances seem a little hopeless, is such an important part of our family and such an important part of the whole spirit of Little House,” says the creator.

Baby Carrie, short for Caroline, arrives as a Christmas miracle for the family in Episode 6. She’s the first Ingalls child born on the prairie — just as the family is battling fever, hardship, and uncertainty. “It’s the true meaning of Christmas,” says Sonnenshine. “We thought that in this moment where it all seems lost and they’re all alone, this new member of the family makes a surprise appearance when gifts are very scarce.” 

Her arrival brings joy and hope, but also quietly stirs Laura’s anxiety about being replaced as the “little one” —  she worries about having to share Pa’s attention with yet another sister. Sonnenshine took inspiration for Carrie’s arrival from the real-life history of the Ingalls family. “Carrie was born on the prairie, so I felt like, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if Caroline and Charles had not been able to have another child for quite some time, and there’s this desire hanging over them to keep their family growing?’”

John Edwards is a Civil War veteran from Tennessee. He is a gregarious and mysterious man who catches the eye of every single woman in the county (and maybe some of the married ones, too). 

With Edwards, Sonnenshine wanted to portray somebody who has lost a great deal and is struggling to find meaning in his life. He’s in a dark place when he meets the Ingalls family. “He’s surviving, not thriving,” she says. But forging connections with Laura, Mary, Charles, and eventually Caroline “gives him a reason to keep going.”

Christie admires that no matter what Edwards has been through, he’s never lost his good heart. “You’re talking about a man who’s been through a lot of trauma,” he says. “He’s at least looking for some semblance of hope in the world.”

The Watchful Eye, A Royal Montana Christmas

Dr. Tann is a generous and kindhearted man whose charming bedside manner makes him a connector within the community. Dr. Tann was not only a character in the books, but also a real person. After Sims was cast, he learned that the real Dr. Tann lived in Independence and helped save the Ingalls family when they contracted malaria. “I found his tombstone online, and they give him credit for saving the lives of the Ingalls,” says the actor. “Without Dr. Tann, there wouldn’t be any Little House on the Prairie.”

To prepare for the role, Sims read the autobiography of Frederick Douglass. “I know Frederick Douglass was around during that time and the real Dr. Tann might have read it,” says Sims. Because Dr. Tann served as a doctor during the Civil War, Sims wanted to understand the experiences that would have shaped him beyond what was on the page. “I wanted to hone in on what he might have been thinking and what sort of experience he would actually be having, outside of what it says in the character description: that he’s very charismatic and smiles a lot.”

Every time the doctor appears in Season 1, he’s intentionally wearing a suit. Costume designer Mitchell Travers wanted his attire to signal “education, stability, and a bank account.”

New Amsterdam, Grosse Pointe Garden Society

Emily Henderson is a charming woman who’s good with both people and numbers, which helps her run the General Store. Emily kindly takes in Caleb, an orphan boy who wanders into town. 

Caroline learns a great deal from Emily, who runs her family’s store on her own. “She’s an independent woman who’s doing something so different than what Caroline had ever known back home, in terms of a single woman supporting herself, supporting a child,” says Fitzgerald. 

Amid all of that, Emily also becomes part of a different kind of family story as her bond with Dr. Tann begins to take shape. Sims teases that viewers can feel the pair’s romantic tension instantly in the premiere. “They’re smitten with each other when he goes into the store,” he says.

Station 19, The Noel Diary

Jemma is the wife of Eli James. A confident woman with an air of “big city,” she is the town’s busybody.

Caroline finds comfort in the familiarity of someone like Jemma on the prairie. “Jemma, in a way, is symbolic of Caroline’s past,” says Fitzgerald. Their friendship challenges Caroline to consider what kind of life she wants to build in her new home. “She’s caught between, ‘Do I want to impress this person like I would if I was back home, like my mother would, like my sister would?’” offers Fitzgerald. “‘Or do I want to stick to my moral core that I know I’m following and am trying to let lead the way more?’”

Nightbitch, Senior Year, Happiest Season

Lacey is a beautiful and happily widowed outcast who owns a card room and bar on the edge of Independence.

Titans, Transplant

Eli is the husband of Jemma James. He works for the railroad and is very supportive of the newcomers arriving in Independence.

Chapelwaite, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Caleb is a skinny, prairie-handsome preteen who has been orphaned and doesn’t say much. Emily, who runs the General Store, takes Caleb in and gives him a job.

SkyMed, Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair

Mitchell is a tenderhearted, mixed-blood Osage man who lives in Kansas with his family. He’s made a life on the prairie — it’s where he became a successful farmer and built the most impressive homestead in the county. “He cares deeply about safety and protection of the land and his people, like a steward,” says Fairbrother.

Because the Osage people in the original book are depicted with what Sonnenshine describes as an “outside looking in” perspective, the creative team crafted a story that would “give us insight into who they were and what they were going through, but not just as ideas; as people.” With the Mitchells, Sonnenshine says she “wanted a family who mirrored the Ingalls — a married couple with a daughter and a really wonderful romantic relationship, but who also have disagreements, just like Caroline and Charles.” Bracey thinks Charles and Mitchell “subconsciously see each other in each other.”

Osage scholar and consultant Robert Warrior advised from the start against an “easy trope” of the series’ Osage family consisting of one white parent and one Native parent. “That’s a well-worn narrative shortcut,” he says. Fairbrother, who grew up with Ojibwe and Cree language systems, notes that he has typically not booked historical roles. “There aren’t very many mixed-blood First Nation roles written in the genre,” he says. “So when I saw that on the initial audition, I was floored.” 

Fairbrother also helped shape Mitchell’s appearance, drawing inspiration from a photograph of an Osage man who was the son of a chief. “His hair was slicked back into a small mohawk, but in the back he had spikes,” he says. The image quickly won over the creative team: “It was like, ‘That’s the one.’”

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Outlander, SkyMed

White Sun is opinionated, beautiful, and has a sharp sense of humor. At times she sees the world through a more cynical lens than her husband, Mitchell, does. When Wapanatâhk, who is Cree, first got the character breakdown of White Sun, she was immediately drawn to the authentic descriptions of the Osage characters and the introduction of the Mitchell family. “I knew the Osage family weren’t included in the original series, and I thought, ‘Oh my god, we’re going to make some type of movement and change,” she says. 

Wapanatâhk was especially attracted to the “Native love” at the heart of Mitchell and White Sun’s relationship. “How they cared for and respected each other, we don’t see enough of that on screen,” she says. 
 

White Sun’s apparel, her traditional Osage skirt, wrap, and ribbons, were all hand-made. On set, Osage cultural consultant Julie O’Keefe would dress Wapanatâhk “the way the [Osage] women dress their children.” “She would come into my trailer all the way up until the end of production just to make sure she wrapped me correctly and authentically,” she says. “It’s such a loving experience, to feel that ‘auntie’ kind of energy.”

Peter Pan and Wendy, Riverdale

Good Eagle is the daughter of Mitchell and White Sun. She is wildly imaginative and is known in her family as a storyteller.

Sonnenshine and the writers created the character specifically for the series. Like Laura, Good Eagle is unconventional, a bit of a tomboy, and sometimes struggles to fit neatly into the expectations of family life. “We wanted real insight into what was happening. We wanted it to be deeply humanist and emotional while still retaining the basics of the plot.” Halsey agrees that, despite their different backgrounds, Laura and Good Eagle have a lot in common. “They both love the outdoors and physical activities, and they like doing crafts,” she says. “Good Eagle has taught Laura a lot, including how to read. They both appreciate each other.”

Travers says that Good Eagle’s costumes represent how she exists between two worlds: traditional Osage culture and the influences of her friendship with the Ingalls girls. “We wanted to show her wearing traditional clothes, but also adopting things from her friends, like a modern friendship bracelet,” says the costume designer.

Echo

Little Puma is White Sun’s younger brother. He is good-hearted but bullheaded, and is trying to find his place in the world. He loves his big sister — but also loves getting under her skin.

People of the West, You Can Take It With You

Paw‑ne‑no‑pa‑she, also called Governor Joe, is a respected Osage leader who arrives in Episode 7 as one of the seven Osage chieftains in town to discuss the land deal. Edwards tells Charles he’s the “smartest man” in the lodge. Calm and deeply rooted in his responsibility to his people, he initially refuses to sign away Osage land, forcing the settlers and government agents to confront what they are asking of him. Only when Mitchell steps in and promises to advocate for the Osage’s dignity in the negotiations does Governor Joe reconsider, making him a crucial moral and political force in the story.

O’Keefe, the Osage cultural consultant, credits Redcorn with helping to develop the Osage language program in the 1980s. “He’s the cream of the crop,” she says. “He worked with every single actor and actress — Meegwun, Alyssa, Wren — teaching Osage.” Wapanatâhk considered working with “Talee,” as he is called, a breeze — “it felt like it, anyway. It felt really similar to my own language, Cree. We talked about that quite a bit; both of our languages are melodic and detailed.”

Killers of the Flower Moon