'The Haunting of Bly Manor': Meet Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Henry Thomas and rest of the cast of Netflix anthology horror
After the gigantic success that was 'The Haunting of Hill House', Mike Flanagan returns with yet another haunted, murderous, twisted mansion, turning the innovative Netflix horror into a proper anthology. Returning with him to the 'Haunting' saga are some of his 'Hill House' favorites but the story is brand new, although heavily inspired by Henry James' work particularly his 1898 novella 'The Turn of the Screw'.
According to reports, the story of 'The Haunting of Bly Manor' follows Dani Clayton, a young governess hired by a man to look after his niece and nephew at the family country house after they fall into his care following their parents' death. Arriving at the Bly estate, Dani soon begins to see apparitions that proceed to haunt the premises. Wondering who plays Dani? And the rest of the spooky entities in the story? Read on to find out!
Victoria Pedretti
The 'You' Season 2 and 'Haunting of Hill House' actress returns as Flanagan's muse once again. As Dani Clayton, Pedretti already presents her A-game from what the teaser suggests and if we didn't know better, her backstory of moving from America to leave her old life behind is very easy to construe as an aftermath of her tryst with the psychotic Joe Goldberg in 'You'. For those wondering where else you might have seen Pedretti outside of Netflix's twisted horror, the young actress also had a small cameo in Quentin Tarantino’s 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'.
Henry Thomas
Flanagan's other 'Hill House' muse, the Crain family patriarch returns to play a similar role in Bly Manor. As Henry Wingrave, Thomas is the owner of the haunted house and hires Dani as the new governess of his wards, even though he is beyond reluctant to head the property himself. Why is he detaching himself so hard? What skeletons lie in his closet? Before we jump to that, the most curious piece of info that not many might know about Thomas is that he was the unforgettable child protagonist Elliot in the '80s classic 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'. His collaboration with Flanagan runs deep, having appeared both in the first season of the 'Haunting' saga as well as his adaptation of Stephen King's 'Gerald's Game', also on Netflix. Thomas will also star in Flanagan’s next series 'Midnight Mass'.
Oliver Jackson-Cohen
As the third 'Hill House' muse of Flanagan's, Jackson-Cohen hits into the story of Bly Manor as the property's former employee and a business associate of the owner. He was caught stealing and ever since, has gone missing, but Dani keeps spotting him on the property from the very day she arrives. Jackson-Cohen's penchant for the genre is exhibited by his recent feature as Adrian Griffin in 'The Invisible Man'. He has also appeared on TV series like 'Lark Rise to Candleford', 'Mr Selfridge', 'Dracula', and 'Emerald City'.
T’Nia Miller
Well-liked by the children and her fellow employees, Miller's Hannah Grose is the very dependable groundskeeper of Bly Manor. Miller is best known for her works in Russell T Davies’ 2019 series 'Years and Years', and before that, 'Witless', and for her recurring role in the Netflix noir thriller 'Marcella'. Her other very popular appearances include some stellar British shows like 'Doctor Who', 'The Bill', 'Holby City', 'Death in Paradise' and 'Silent Witness'. Miller also had a short recurring part in the second season of Netflix's coming-of-age series 'Sex Education'.
Rahul Kohli
Kohla plays the role of Owen, the local chef of Bly Manor. His is a story of abandoning his dreams and taking up a local job to care for a parent. Kohli, who is also set to work with Flanagan on 'Midnight Mass', is most popularly known for playing Dr Ravi Chakrabarti in The CW series 'iZombie' and for his recurring voice role on 'Harley Quinn', along with a few episodes of 'Supergirl'.
Benjamin Evan Ainsworth
The young actor plays Miles Wingrave, the 10-year-old orphan living in the manor and one of the kids Dani is in charge of. His recent expulsion from school remains a mystery to Dani but nobody else seems to care enough about that. Ainsworth will be marking his first major role with the portrayal of Miles.
Amelie Smith
A big fan of the phrase “perfectly splendid,” Flora Wingrave is Miles' sister and grows quite fond of Dani even though she adored their previous nanny. Smith might be a familiar voice to many after she began lending her voice to the popular children’s character Peppa Pig starting this year.
Amelia Eve
Jamie, another groundskeeper at Bly, is being played by Eve. Jamie loves nurturing plants and all things horticultural, maintaining a skeptical stance about the strange occurring around the property. This is Eve's first major role on the screen.
Tahirah Sharif
Rebecca Jessel, the former nanny at Bly, whose employment at the manor ended on a tragic note, is being played by Sharif who appeared as Mellisa in the two sequels of the Netflix Christmas film 'A Christmas Prince', titled 'A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding' and 'A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby'.
'The Haunting of Bly Manor' premieres with all its episodes this October 9, only on Netflix.