'Nomadland' Full Cast List: Meet Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Bob Wells and rest of the actors from the nomads in the Western indie film
"A woman embarks on a journey through the American West after losing everything during the recession." With a plot as gripping as the 2020 film Nomadland's, the only thing that makes it better is the cast is bringing some of Hollywood's finest to a group of real-life nomads.
The Chloe Zhao directed film is based on the 2017 non-fiction book 'Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century' by Jessica Bruder, and originally enjoyed a one-week-only streaming release on December 4, 2020, and a release at select IMAX theater in the United States on January 29, 2021.
Now scheduled to release both in theatres and digitally only on Hulu this February, here's who the film sees play out the narrative wonderfully.
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Frances McDormand
'Nomadland' once again paints the Academy Award-winning McDormand in a leading light so unconventional, that these offbeat roles are becoming the norm for the esteemed actress. Also producing the film, McDormand essays the life of a woman who adapts to living like a nomad in the great American West. This standout role comes after she starred and won the Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar for her work in 'Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri'. Also the winner of another Academy Award, McDormand has two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, to make her one of the few performers to have achieved the 'Triple Crown of Acting'. McDormand plays the role of Fern, who loses her job after the US Gypsum plant in Empire, Nevada shut down in 2011 and resorts to life as a nomad in the American west.
David Strathairn
An Independent Spirit Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Volpi Cup, an Academy Award nomination, a BAFTA Award, a Critics' Choice Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and four SAG Awards — these are only the accolades Strathairn has to his name. He is most popularly known for playing the role of CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen in The Bourne series, and more recently as Klaes Ashford from Amazon Prime's five-season space drama 'The Expanse'. Strathairn plays the role of David in the upcoming drama on Hulu, a character Fern meets at one of the desert nomads communities and sparks a special bond with.
Linda May
A 2017 New York Times article about the original book that the film on Hulu is based on, describes May as "a 64-year-old former cocktail waitress, trucker and insurance executive who has taken to the open road with a tiny lemon-colored trailer, which she calls the Squeeze Inn. ('Yeah, there’s room, squeeze in' is the joke.) Terrible puns for vehicles abound; it’s a tradition among the 'workampers', as they call themselves. [...] May is a resourceful and hard worker — and incorrigibly cheerful (she actually wears glasses with rose-colored frames). Nothing brings her down, not running low on food, not getting locked out of the Squeeze Inn." May, along with the other real-life nomads in the film, plays a fictionalized role of herself, called Linda who is a friend and coworker of Fern who first invites her into the community of nomads.
Swankie
Fern's life into the nomad culture sees her first brutal awakening at the virtue and wisdom of Swankie's seasoned stint in that life. When Fern blows a tire, Swankie who lives in a local van, gives her a ride to get a spare, but not without chastising her first for not being prepared for this. Also credited as Swankie, she is one of the real-life nomads starring in the film. Her work has also pleased critics enough for Variety to declare "the brilliant Swankie tackles her role like a veteran in what one could argue is the film’s most effective element."
Bob Wells
When Linda first invites Fern to a winter gathering in the desert, a man called Bob is said to be the organizer of the heartfelt event where people who've embraced the nomad life after the recession can find a supportive community. The Vandweller is a highly esteemed member of the community, and also happens to be a YouTuber and an author He is noted for being an inspiration to thousands of people who embrace a minimalistic and nomadic lifestyle centered on vandwelling. Wells founded the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, an annual gathering of Vandwellers in Quartzsite, Arizona, and Homes on Wheels Alliance, a charity organization dedicated to the promotion of vandwelling.
Also starring Derek Endres as himself, 'Nomadland' premiers on Friday, February 19, only on Hulu.