Stream The Gray Man now on Netflix

The Gray Man is full of secrets: Government secrets, military secrets and just good old-fashioned personal secrets. Even the main character’s identity is a carefully guarded secret. Ryan Gosling’s Gray Man goes by the call sign Sierra Six during his desperate chase through Europe. The one thing that isn’t secret? The film’s A-list cast, which ranges from some familiar superpowered talent to a handful of fresh new stars on the rise. The dossier that will be your guide to this formidable team is straight ahead... just make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Paul Abell/Netflix

Ryan Gosling as Sierra Six

After a nearly four-year hiatus from acting, Gosling returns as the mysterious lead of The Gray Man. After Six is sent to assassinate one of his own teammates, he comes into possession of information that points to widespread corruption within the CIA. Now he’s the one on the run and in danger of being in the crosshairs. It’s a role that shares a taciturn nature with Gosling’s silent mob chauffeur in Drive or his stoic and robotic police officer in Blade Runner 2049. But in the scenes the actor shares with the young actor Julia Butters, there are shades of the quiet, softer side that Gosling revealed in his underrated turn as Neil Armstrong in 2018’s First Man. Six isn’t a particularly funny character, but his back-and-forth with Butters also brings to mind Gosling’s fantastic performance as a befuddled private investigator/single dad in The Nice Guys. Not a bad resume for a guy who started out on The Mickey Mouse Club.

You can follow Gosling on Twitter.

Chris Evans as Lloyd Hansen

Evans is, of course, best known for his role as Captain America, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s square-jawed icon of patriotic decency. It’s a character that Gray Man directors the Russo brothers were intimately familiar with, having directed the latter two installments of the Captain America and Avengers franchises. But between those tentpoles, Evans has carved out a side career playing the total opposite end of the hero spectrum. Characters like trust-fund creep Ransom Drysdale in Knives Out and the hotheaded skater movie star Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World are about as far away from Cap as you can get, and Evans tears into these roles with relish. Psychopathic freelance military operative Lloyd Hansen fits right into that crew. For a (slightly) less demented Evans spy, check out his Netflix flick The Red Sea Diving Resort.

You can follow Evans on Instagram and Twitter.

Ana de Armas as Dani Miranda

If you caught last year’s James Bond farewell No Time to Die, you’ve seen Ana de Armas kick ass. The promise of The Gray Man is this: As CIA operative Dani Miranda, the actor will kick even more ass — and this time she’ll also get to fire a rocket launcher. That’s right, de Armas didn’t fire a rocket launcher in Knives Out or Deep Water or Blade Runner 2049, and she presumably won’t be picking one up in Andrew Dominik’s dreamy Marilyn Monroe film Blonde (out on Netflix later this year). For now, The Gray Man has the exclusive rights to the Ana de Armas-firing-a-rocket launcher franchise. That’s what the movies are all about.

You can follow de Armas on Instagram.

Paul Abell/Netflix

Regé-Jean Page as Denny Carmichael

You probably know Page from his sizzling role in Season 1 of Bridgerton, but his return to Netflix is quite a pivot. His character, Denny Carmichael, is the sinister CIA director who sets the chase for Six into motion. Page snivels and schmoozes his way through the movie, hiring Hansen and pursuing Six with a vengeance. It’s an effective audition for Bond villain status — even if that’s not the 007 role that the Roots star has been heavily rumored for.

You can follow Page on Twitter or Instagram.

Paul Abell/Netflix

Jessica Henwick as Suzanne Brewer

Anyone who caught last year’s meta mind-scrambler The Matrix Resurrections knows Henwick as the plucky resistance fighter Bugs. Here, she’s playing a far different role: Suzanne Brewer, Carmichael’s ruthless CIA deputy. The two clash over how to deal with Six, especially after Carmichael hires Hansen and the operation spirals into bloody chaos. Henwick also appeared on Game of Thrones as Nymeria Sand, and on Netflix’s Marvel TV shows Iron Fist and The Defenders as Colleen Wing. If you need more Henwick in your life, you can also keep an eye out for her brief cameo as an X-wing pilot in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She’ll next be seen later this year in Rian Johnson’s star-studded Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion.

You can follow Henwick on Instagram.

Billy Bob Thornton as Donald Fitzroy

Fitzroy is the operative who recruited Six into the Sierra program before being replaced by Carmichael. He’s one of the only friends the runaway assassin has in the cold world of foreign intelligence. He’s played by Billy Bob Thornton, who’s no stranger to this kind of action-movie authority role (See: Armageddon or Eagle Eye). Of course, Thornton isn’t a one-trick pony; his Oscar-winning screenplay for Sling Blade is a far cry from this kind of work. And he’s as delightfully profane in the Bad Santa movies as he is shockingly understated in the Coen Brothers’ offbeat noir The Man Who Wasn’t There. On top of it all, Thornton has a classic actor’s side hustle — a rock band called the Boxmasters.

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Julia Butters as Claire Fitzroy

While you may have seen Butters on Transparent or in the unforgettable “Tammy Craps” sketch on Tim Robinson’s I Think You Should Leave, chances are you know her best from her commanding turn in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. There, the 13-year-old actor held her own opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. Here, she dominates scenes with Gosling, Thornton and other movie stars with decades on her. Which acclaimed actor is next? Will your precocious reign of terror never end?

You can follow Butters on Twitter or Instagram (although both pages are, obviously, managed by her parents).

Alfre Woodard as Margaret Cahill

As Six flees from Hansen and his cronies, he finds refuge with Alfre Woodard’s Margaret Cahill, a former CIA chief who now has no love for the institution. Woodard is a powerful presence who has been seen in movies ranging from Clemency to Captain America: Civil War. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Cross Creek and has won four, count ’em, four Emmys for her roles on shows like Hill Street Blues and The Practice. On Netflix, you may have caught her on Luke Cage or as a fed-up mother in 2019’s Juanita.

You can follow Woodard on Twitter or Instagram.

Dhanush as Avik San

Hansen doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. When the chips are down, he sends in mercenaries to take out Six. One of these hitmen is Avik, played by Indian superstar Dhanush. Dhanush is a multihyphenate force: You may recognize him from his roles in films like Raanjhanaa, Aadukalam, Vada Chennai or Jagame Thandhiram, but you may also know him as the director of Power Paandi or as the singer behind the record-breaking “Why This Kolaveri Di.” You can call him a lot of things, just don’t call him late for a bloody hospital brawl.

You can follow Dhanush on Twitter or Instagram.

‘The Gray Man’ TrailerIt's Ryan Gosling vs. Chris Evans in the global action spy thriller directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.