Netflix's mystery horror series Archive 81 centers around a relatively small group of characters, featuring a cast composed of talented newcomers and actors easily recognizable from their past small screen roles. The 8-episode TV show is based on the found footage fiction podcast of the same name, which started in 2017 and is currently in its third season. Netflix's Archive 81 season 1 was released on January 14.
Archive 81 follows Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie), a media archivist living in New York, who is employed by businessman Virgil Davenport (Martin Donovan) to restore old VHS tapes damaged in an apartment fire in 1994. The tapes were recorded 20 years earlier by graduate student Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi) as part of a research project on the Visser building and its small community of tenants, which included Samuel Spare (X-Men: Days Of Future Past's Evan Jonigkeit) and Jess Lewis (Ariana Neal). In order to restore the tapes, cataloged in an archive numbered 81, Dan must be relocated to a remote building in the Catskills, where his only contact to the outside is his friend and podcaster Mark Higgins (Matt McGorry).
Although the original podcast on which Archive 81 is based focused on found footage from audio tapes, Netflix's horror TV show swapped them to VHS tapes, choosing to introduce an element of nostalgia, often found in its productions. Archive 81 season 1 already received positive critic reviews for blending the horror and noir genres, and its success relies partially on its cast's strong performances. Here's a guide to Archive 81's cast, the characters they play, and where they've appeared before.
Athie plays Dan, the main character of the Netflix horror franchise, and a film archivist who restores the VHS tapes from recovered archive 81. Dan will have to face his past, as, just like the people inhabiting the Visser building from the recordings, his family died in a fire. Despite only starting his career in 2015, Athie boasts acting roles in critically acclaimed films and TV shows, including The Circle, Netflix's The Get Down, and Facebook Watch's Sorry for Your Loss.
Shihabi plays Melody, a graduate student whose oral history project includes interviewing tenants of the Visser building. The tapes Dan needs to restore are those Melody recorded before the building caught fire in 1994. Shihabi obtained an MFA from NYU and is best known for portraying Hanin Suleiman in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Shihabi also starred in Marvel's Daredevil and also had a main role in Altered Carbon season 2.
Matt McGorry's role in Archive 81 is Mark, Dan's best friend who also has a mystery podcast. Mark is Dan's only outside contact when Dan is in the Catskills to restore the tapes, and he helps Dan when the restoration begins to become overwhelming. McGorry started his career as a personal trainer before becoming an actor, and he is also well known for the social causes he supports and advocates for. He's best known for playing John Bennet in Netflix's Orange Is The New Black and Asher Millstone in ABC's How to Get Away with Murder.
Donovan plays Virgil, the businessman who employs Dan to restore the VHS tapes from archive 81. He insists on Dan conducting his work alone in a secluded location in the Catskills, and his true motives for that are hidden. Donovan's fruitful acting career started in 1985, but more recently, he can be recognized for acting in CW's Legends of Tomorrow, Tenet, and HBO's Big Little Lies.
Evan Jonigkeit as Samuel Spare – Jonigkeit plays Samuel, a tenant of the Visser who is mysterious and secretive and Melody's new neighbor. Jonigkeit played Toad in X-Men: Days of Future Past, and he's more recently starred in Netflix's Frontier.
Julia Chan as Anabelle Cho – Chan plays Anabelle, Melody's best friend and roommate. Chan is best known for her role of Pepper Smith in The CW's Katy Keene and Dr. Maggie Lin in Saving Hope.
Ariana Neal as Jess Lewis – Neal plays Jess, a teenager living in the Visser who runs errands for the building's tenants. Neal's acting credits include different TV shows and films, including an appearance on 2011's Footloose remake.
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