Who is in the cast of Daybreak on Netflix?

Colin Ford—Josh Wheeler

Leading the cast is Colin Ford as ordinary-high-school-student-turned-apocalypse-warrior Josh Wheeler, our protagonist who often breaks the fourth wall to explain exactly what is going on in this post-bomb world.

Ford has been working in TV and film since 2002, when at age 4 he appeared in Reese Witherspoon film Sweet Home Alabama. Since then, he has starred in We Bought a Zoo, Under the Dome and Captain Marvel, and plays the younger version of Sam Winchester in The CW’s Supernatural.

Speaking to LRM, Ford said of his role in Daybreak: “I love that Josh has two contrasting personalities. You first meet Josh in the pre-apocalypse, he’s a pretty average kid. He has his own insecurities to the school with Glendale High. He didn’t have a good amount of friends. In the post-apocalyptic world, he’s able to flip the script a little bit. He’s strong, confident and a bit more athletic even.”

Sophie Simnett—Sam Dean

Josh’s love interest is Sam, whom he spends the apocalypse searching for and whom we see in the show’s many flashbacks to life before the bomb. She is played by Sophie Simnett, a 22-year-old English actor best known from Disney’s The Lodge.

In an interview with Euphoria Magazine, she said of her character: “I play Sam Dean, who is fondly known as The Queen of Glendale as she is very well-liked at school, not because she is necessarily the typical “popular girl” but because she is smart, funny and caring. She acts as a warm light in the corner of a room that the kids at the school can’t help but be drawn towards. […] She drew Josh out of his shell before the apocalypse and we see their very charming coming-of-age love story told through his flashbacks.”

Angelica—Alyvia Alyn Lind

Angelica is a young pyromaniac and cartel queen in the making, who provides some much-needed firepower to Josh’s gang as they fight to survive against the evil jocks. The character, who is very much in the vein of Kick-Ass’ Hit Girl, is brought to life by 13-year-old Alyvia Alyn Lind, best known for playing a young Dolly Parton in Coat of Many Colours and its follow-up, Christmas of Many Colours.

Wesley Fists—Austin Crute

Completing Josh’s mini-posse is Wesley Fists, the pacifistic lover of Samurai movies played by Booksmart’s Austin Crute. He has also had roles in Atlanta and Orange is the New Black.

He said of his character to Pop Culturalist: “Wesley is a football-star-bully-turned-pacifist samurai. Pre-apocalypse, he was running with the jocks. Post-apocalypse, the jocks have turned into a dictatorship. Different tribes are coming to them making sacrifices, and they run things. He used to run with them, but he’s denounced that whole lifestyle. He’s really trying to find out who he is without football stardom and without people gassing him up.”

Eli Cardashyan—Gregory Kasyan

Eli Cardashyan is a survivor of the apocalypse who has colonized the gym, which provides crucial protection for Josh and the gang early on in the Netflix season. He is portrayed by Gregory Kasyan of Bosch, who told Pop Culturalist: “He knows the ins and outs of the mall. He starts messing with everyone, but he also has a super vulnerable side, and you’ll see that towards the end of the season. Later in the season, we’ll go a lot deeper into who Eli is. You’ll see a side of him that no one else does.”

Turbo—Cody Kearsley

Leading the murderous gang is Turbo, a high school version of a Mad Max villain played by Riverdale star Cody Kearsley. The actor said of his Daybreak character in a profile by Entertainment Focus: “He’s still living in the high school. He’s still with all of his jocks. He’s still trying to protect everyone but he’s definitely one of those hyper-masculine bullies.”

Ms. Crumble—Krysta Rodriguez

The bomb has turned nearly all adults into zombie-like creatures called “ghoulies,” except for Ms. Crumble. However, she has had her brain warped by the radiation, giving her a taste for blood and a disturbingly retractable jaw. Playing the character is Krysta Rodriguez, former star of Smash.

Principal Burr—Matthew Broderick

Returning to high school for Daybreak is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Election’s Matthew Broderick playing Burr, the pre-apocalypse principal of Josh’s high school.

Mona Lisa—Jeanté Godlock

Turbo’s right-hand woman is Mona Lisa, so-called because she never smiles. Jeanté Godlock appears in the Netflix show after playing Simone Biles in Lifetime’s The Simone Biles Story.

Daybreak is streaming now on Netflix.