Babylon cast: Every character featured in the period drama and the actors behind them

Damien Chazelle's cult classic, Babylon, is now streaming on Netflix. The period drama starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt arrived on the streaming platform on December 7, 2025, offering more streaming options across different countries. The movie is also available via Paramount+ where it has been streaming since 2023, a year after its original release in 2022. 

The epic film by Damien Chazelle is a tale of ambition and outrageous excess of multiple dreamers in 1920s Hollywood. It's a three-hour-plus Hollywood epic painting a picture of the 1920s Tinseltown when the silent film era is ending and talking pictures are taking over. 

Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt star in the film as two of the characters representing that era - a young starlet and a silent film superstar. There are also plenty of supporting characters and well-known actors appearing in the movie in cameo-only roles. 

Who plays whom in Babylon?

Margot Robbie as Nellie LaRoy

Barbie star Margot Robbie plays aspiring actress Nelli LaRoy in Babylon. She becomes a big star in the tail end of the silent film era but her star power fades after sound is introduced and she gets involved with some questionable people in Hollywood. 

Robbie is famous for starring in Barbie, Bombshell, I, Tonya, Birds of Prey, and The Wolf of Wall Street. She received Oscar nominations for the first three. 

Brad Pitt as Jack Conrad

Hollywood star Brad Pitt stars in Babylon as the famous silent-movie actor Jack Conrad. But he struggles keeping his star power once talking pictures takes over and failing to get the same big roles in movies puts him into a deep depression. 

Pitt has an extensive filmography that includes Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood and 12 Years a Slave. He won two Oscars for those. He also starred in Fight Club, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Moneyball. 

Diego Calva as Manny Torres

Mexican actor Diego Calva stars as film assistant Manny Torres in Babylon. He formerly worked under a mega film producer before becoming Jack's assistant in the movie and eventually becoming a producer. 

Calva starred in Netflix's Bird Box: Barcelona, Narcos Mexico, City of Dreams, The Secret of the River, Midnight Family, and Prison Cell 211.

Jovan Adepo as Sidney Palmer

Primetime Emmy-nominated Jovan Adepo stars in the epic film as jazz trumpet player Sidney Palmer. He becomes famous in Hollywood with the advent of sound in movies, but fame compromises his musical artistry. 

Adepo is known for movies Fences, Overlord, To Catch a Killer, and Mother! He also starred in TV shows The Leftover, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Sorry for Your Loss, and IT: Welcome to Derry. 

Jean Smart as Elinor St. John

Hollywood star Jean Smart plays tossing columnist Elinor St. John in Babylon. She uses her pen to build new stars like Nellie and tear down actors - she's the reason Jack lost on some of his major acting roles. 

Smart won Primetime Emmys for Hacks four times, Samantha Who?, and Frasier two times. She also starred in 24, Mare of Easttown, and Watchmen.

Li Jun Li as Lady Fay Zhu

Shanghai-born actor Li Jun Li stars in Babylon as singer Lady Fay Zhu. She writes intertitles for silent films and good friend of Jack. She experiences how cutthroat Hollywood can be and how utterly disposable she is in the system when no one tries to save her after Jack's fall. 

Li starred in the TV shows Wu Assassins, Quantico, The Exorcist, Chicago P.D., and Minority Report. She also played Grace Chow in Sinners.

Supporting cast and characters in Babylon

• Lukas Hass as Jack's producer friend George Munn
• Tobey Maguire as mob boss James McKay
• Katherine Waterston as Jack's third wife, theater actress Estelle Conrad
• Olivia Hamilton as film director Ruth Adler
• Max Minghella as studio executive Irving Thalberg
• Samara Weaving as film actress Constance Moore
• Olivia Wilde as Jack's first wife Ina Conrad
• Rory Scovel as The Count
• Jeff Garlin as studio executive Don Wallach
• Spike Jonze as German director Otto
• P.J. Byrne as assistant director Max
• Eric Roberts as Nellie's father Robert Roy

Babylon is also available for rent or purchase in HD and 4K through all major digital storefronts like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango at Home, and more.