When British dystopian sci-fi television series Black Mirror started out, cast members were largely unknowns—but as it entered its later seasons, it increasingly began to cast more famous actors. The show, created by Charlie Brooker, who runs operations with Annabel Jones, tells often frightening or eery stories about the consequences of new technologies in modern society. Each episode stands alone—and most are set in an alternative present or in the future—but there are some theories that they all occur in a shared universe.
Black Mirror premiered with Series 1 in 2011 and put out a second in 2013 and a special in 2014, all commissioned by Channel 4 in the UK. The show garnered more popularity in 2015, when it was added to Netflix. Seasons three and four came out in 2016 and 2017, respectively, a special interactive film—Bandersnatch—came out in 2018, and the fifth season was released in 2019.
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Series 1 comprised three hour-long episodes, with mostly unknown British actors cast in the main roles. “The National Anthem” starred Rory Kinnear and Linsday Duncan; “Fifteen Million Merits” starred Daniel Kaluuya, who went on to gain celebrity status from his roles in Get Out and Black Panther, and Jessica Brown Findlay, partly known before from Downton Abbey; “The Entire History Of You” starred Toby Kebbell and Jodie Whittaker, and the latter went on to star in Doctor Who.
Why Black Mirror Has So Many Famous Actors In Later Seasons
Series 2 of Black Mirror also cast mostly unknown actors, with the exception being Domhnall Gleeson in the episode “Be Right Back”. Another exception came in the special between series 2 and 3, “White Christmas,” which starred Jon Hamm of Mad Men fame and featured other lesser-known actors including Natalia Tena (Tonks in the Harry Potter franchise) and Oona Chaplin (Talisa Maegyr in Game Of Thrones). Series 3, meanwhile, began relying on more famous actors in key roles; Bryce Dallas Howard starred in the hit episode “Nosedive”, and Game of Thrones’ Jerome Flynn co-starred in “Shut Up and Dance”.
Once series 4 came around, more celebrities abounded. Jesse Plemons of Friday Night Lights and Breaking Bad and Cristin Milioti of How I Met Your Mother starred in the episode “USS Callister”, and Rosemarie DeWitt of United States of Tara and Rachel Getting Married starred in the hit episode “Arkangel”. It was the most recent series—number 5—that filled nearly every episode with famous actors. Anthony Mackie starred in “Striking Vipers”, Miley Cyrus and Madison Davenport starred in “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too”, and Topher Grace starred in “Smithereens”. They were the most high-profile celebrities cast in the show. Bandersnatch—which came between series 4 and 5—cast Will Poulter, who gained fame as a young actor in The Chronicles of Narnia and The Maze Runner franchises, as the video game designer Colin.
The heightened popularity of Black Mirror in 2016 and 2017 may be what prompted the creators to cast more and more famous actors in later episodes. The show began on British TV, and was largely unknown in the United States until it was added to Netflix. When Americans began to build up a following behind the dystopian show, more and more mainstream celebrities were added to the cast. This was a big shift from the early years of the show; in the beginning, it was more common for lesser-known actors to be cast. In many cases, appearing on the show acted as a catalyst for their careers.
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