Eternals has one of the most diverse casts in any modern blockbuster. The film, directed by Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao, follows the titular characters as they reunite to protect Earth from the Deviants. Starring an ensemble of versatile and talented performers, Eternals is one of Marvel’s most ambitious movies ever.
Its cast is an embarrassment of riches, including an Oscar winner, an Oscar nominee, some relative newcomers, and a couple of bonafide stars. All these actors have lengthy resumés filled with intriguing movies, but only one project can be their highest rated on the popular internet site IMDb.
Gemma Chan – Raya And The Last Dragon (7.4)
English actress Gemma Chan plays Sersi, the de facto lead character in Eternals. She is a sympathetic and emotional young woman who can transform inanimate matter with her touch.
Chan began acting in the mid-2000s, playing roles in shows like Doctor Who and Sherlock. She played prominent roles in the box-office hits Crazy Rich Asians and Captain Marvel. Her highest-rated IMDb credit is Raya and the Last Dragon, a 2021 animated movie about a warrior princess who searches for the fabled last dragon. Chan voices Namaari, the rival of the film’s title character.
Richard Madden – 1917 (8.3)
Every Marvel story needs a leading man, and Eternals has Richard Madden. The Scottish actor rose to prominence playing Robb, arguably the worst Stark in Game of Thrones. He plays Ikaris in Eternals, the most powerful team member who can shoot laser beams out of his eyes.
After his character’s infamous death in Thrones, Madden’s star kept rising thanks to movies like Cinderella and Rocketman. However, his highest-rated acting credit in IMDb is Sam Mendes’ World War I epic, 1917. He plays Lieutenant Joseph Blake, the brother of one of the film’s lead characters.
Kumail Nanjiani – The Big Sick (7.5)
The trademark Marvel humor comes to Eternals courtesy of Kumail Nanjiani. The Pakistani-American actor plays Kingo, an Eternal who can shoot energy projectiles from his hands and became a Bollywood star while separated from his fellow team members.
Nanjiani rose to prominence thanks to the comedy Silicon Valley. In 2017, he co-wrote and starred in one of the best Amazon Prime originals, The Big Sick. The film follows an interethnic couple who must deal with their differences after she becomes sick. For co-writing the screenplay with his wife, Emily V. Gordon, Najiani earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Barry Keoghan – Dunkirk (7.8)
The Eternals have all kinds of intriguing characters, like Druig. He is the most aloof member of the team, a young man with the power to control and manipulate other people’s minds.
Barry Keoghan is the very definition of a rising star. The Irish actor had his breakthrough role in Yorgos Lanthimos’ 2017 drama, The Killing of a Sacred Deer. That same year, he appeared in his highest-rated IMDb credit, Christopher Nolan’s World War II drama Dunkirk. He played George Mills, an impulsive teenager who meets a tragic end. Keoghan will next appear in another highly-anticipated comic book movie, Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
Brian Tyree Henry – Joker (8.4)
Phastos, played by Brian Tyree Henry, is the Eternals’ resident genius. He is an inventor who played a prominent role in helping humanity’s technology advance throughout the years and the MCU’s first LGBTQ+ superhero.
Henry received his big break with Donal Glover’s comedy Atlanta, for which he earned an Emmy nomination in 2018. His highest-rated credit in IMDb is the unsettling psychological drama, Joker. The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix and serves as a possible origin story for the iconic comic book character. Henry plays the small role of Carl, a clerk at Arkham State Hospital.
Lauren Ridloff – Sound Of Metal (7.8)
Makkari is one of two roles gender-swapped for Eternals. Tony-nominated actress Lauren Ridloff brings life to this new version of the character. Makkari, the MCU’s first-ever deaf hero, has the power of super speed.
Fans know Ridloff for her role as Connie, one of the best BIPOC characters in The Walking Dead. In 2019, Ridloff appeared in the Amazon Original movie Sound of Metal. She played Diane, a teacher who helps Riz Ahmed’s character learn American Sign Language. The movie is her highest-rated in IMDb.
Kit Harington – How To Train Your Dragon 2 (7.8)
Despite his incredibly short screentime, Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman might be the film’s most promising character in the MCU going forward. The GOT alumn plays Sersi’s love interest, Dane Whitman, who’s destined to become the legendary Black Night.
Harington is best-known for playing Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, but he has several big-screen credits to his name. His best-received movie in IMDb is How to Train Your Dragon 2, where he voices Eret, a dragon trapper who sells captured dragons to the film’s main antagonist, Drago. Harington also returned for the third film in the franchise.
Don Lee – Train To Busan (7.6)
Gilgamesh is one of Eternals‘ bravest characters. He is the physically strongest member of the team, who can concentrate cosmic energy in his mighty fists.
South Korean-American actor Don Lee brings the character to life. Fans know Lee from his breakout performance in 2016’s Train to Busan, a film about the passengers aboard a high-speed train during a zombie apocalypse. He played Yoon Sang-hwa, a tragic hero and one of the film’s most memorable characters. Currently, Lee is one of Sout Korea’s most famous and beloved actors.
Salma Hayek – Traffic (7.6)
Mexican icon Salma Hayek gives life to Ajak, the Eternals’ wise and spiritual leader who can communicate directly with the Celestials. Like Makkari, the MCU gender-swapped Ajak’s role for the movie.
After becoming a bonafide star in her native Mexico, Hayek moved to the USA in the mid-90s. She built a career for herself and even became the first Mexican actress in history to receive an Academy Award nomination in the Lead Actress category for playing Frida Kahlo in the 2002 biopic, Frida. However, her highest-rated credit remains Steven Soderbergh’s 2000 crime-drama Traffic. In the film, which explored the drug trade from multiple perspectives, Hayek played the uncredited role of Rosario.
Angelina Jolie – Changeling (7.7)
Angelina Jolie makes her MCU debut in Eternals playing the fierce warrior Thena. She can create any weapon out of cosmic energy but suffers from a mental health condition known as Mahd Wy’ry.
After rising to prominence with her electric performance as Gia Carangi in 1998’s Gia, Jolie won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress thanks to her role in 1999’s Girl, Interrupted. Jolie then became an action star before returning to heavy drama in Clint Eastwood’s 2008 film, Changeling, one of the best missing-persons movies and her most acclaimed role in IMDb to date. For her role as a mother desperately searching for her son, Jolie earned an Oscar nomination in the Lead Actress category.
