The acclaimed Apple TV+ original series For All Mankind has returned for season 4, continuing its alternative history of the Space Race progressing into the 21st century. For All Mankind is anchored by an incredible ensemble cast, with many actors playing their characters across decades of their lives.
The fourth season opens in 2003, with tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union resurfacing in the midst of shared difficulties mining asteroids and establishing a permanent base on Mars. Adding to the intrigue is the presence of the spaceflight corporation, Helios Aerospace, bringing blue-collar workers to mine resources from the shared base on Mars. Though quite a few major characters passed away throughout the first three seasons, the remaining familiar faces are joined by new characters in Season 4. Here are all major characters in For All Mankind Season 4 and who plays them.
Joel Kinnaman Plays Ed Baldwin
Joel Kinnaman has been a prominent presence in For All Mankind as Ed Baldwin since the very beginning. Ed was an astronaut in the Apollo Program during the series’ inciting incident of the Soviet Union landing on the Moon before the United States. By the start of Season 4, Ed’s age is beginning to catch up with him as he leads the Helios Corporation, discovering how poor conditions are for the blue-collar workers on Mars.
Hailing from Sweden, Kinnaman first connected with American audiences with the American remake of the crime procedural series The Killing in 2011. In the midst of The Killing’s four-season run, Kinnaman starred as the eponymous cyborg in the 2014 remake of RoboCop, his biggest movie role at that time. Kinnaman has since appeared in a number of television series and films, including as DC Comics character Rick Flag in 2016’s Suicide Squad and its 2021 sequel The Suicide Squad.
Wrenn Schmidt Plays Margo Madison
If Ed is a constant presence in outer space, the most significant character on the ground of the space program is Margo Madison, played by Wrenn Schmidt. A NASA engineer mentored by Wernher Von Braun, Margo rises through the ranks to become the head of NASA at the start of Season 3. After giving classified information to the Soviets to help save lives in space, Margo fakes her death and takes refuge in Moscow where she lives in relative exile at the start of Season 4.
Wrenn Schmidt has appeared in a growing number of television and film projects, with recurring roles in Boardwalk Empire, The Americans, and Person of Interest. Schmidt’s film projects include the 2011 comedy Our Idiot Brother and the 2015 biopic I Saw the Light opposite Tom Hiddleston. Schmidt’s largest role on the silver screen to date is in Jordan Peele’s 2022 horror movie Nope.
Krys Marshall Plays Danielle Poole
One of the first female astronauts introduced in For All Mankind is Danielle Poole, played by Krys Marshall. Throughout her extensive career, Dani serves as an astronaut on the Moon and Mars while enduring numerous personal tragedies along the way. At the start of Season 4, Danielle is coaxed out of retirement to serve as NASA’s new mission commander on Mars, which leads her to butting heads with Ed once again.
Outside of For All Mankind, Marshall is primarily known for her other television work, including appearances on Criminal Minds, NCIS, Supergirl, and This Is Us. Marshall is also the creator, host, and executive producer of For All Mankind: The Official Podcast, serving as a companion project to the television series. Among Marshall’s more surprising work is providing additional voicework for the 2020 video game Marvel’s Avengers, which marked her first major foray into the medium.
Cynthy Wu Plays Kelly Baldwin
After losing their son in a tragic accident during Season 1, Ed and Karen Baldwin adopt a baby girl from Vietnam, Hanh Nguyen, renaming her Kelly and raising her together. Kelly appears as an adult starting in Season 2, played by Cynthy Wu, who becomes an accomplished scientist and astronaut herself. After giving birth to a son from a brief relationship with an ill-fated cosmonaut on Mars, Kelly decides to join Helios Aerospace and returns to Mars with her son.
For All Mankind is Wu’s biggest role to date, with the actor having appeared in a number of other television projects. Previously, Wu had a recurring role on the Netflix mockumentary series American Vandal and YouTube Premium series Weird City. More recently, Wu has appeared in the acclaimed Netflix miniseries Beef and Grey’s Anatomy spinoff series Station 19.
Coral Peña Plays Aleida Rosales
Among the smartest figures in the prolonged Space Race is Aleida Rosales, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who quickly becomes one of NASA’s most important engineers. Played by Coral Peña starting in Season 2, Aleida is mentored closely by Margo before exposing her to the authorities for sharing information with the Soviet Union. Dissatisfied with the direction of NASA in Season 4, Aleida resigns and joins Kelly Baldwin to embark on a biology research project with Helios Aerospace.
Peña has been working steadily on-screen since her debut in a small part in an episode of Blue Bloods in 2015. Peña was a series regular on 24: Legacy and had a recurring role on The Enemy Within, while her biggest film project is an appearance in The Post, directed by Steven Spielberg. Since 2020, Peña has narrated Antiques Roadshow for PBS, inviting audiences to the world of antique vendors nationwide.
Edi Gathegi Plays Dev Ayesa
With heightened international interest in spaceflight and interplanetary colonization, it’s only natural that private entities would become major players in the continuing Space Race. The most divisive figure in this industry is Dev Ayesa, a mogul who was ousted from leadership of Helios Aerospace at the end of Season 3, only to maneuver himself back in charge at the start of Season 4. Played by Edi Gathegi, more of Dev’s tragic backstory is revealed as he decides to head to Mars personally, more driven than ever.
Gathegi has steadily worked on-screen since 2006, notably appearing as the ill-fated mutant hero Darwin in 2011’s X-Men: First Class. More substantially, Gathegi played the vampire Laurent in the Twilight films and appeared in the acclaimed 2021 western The Harder They Fall. On television, Gathegi has had recurring roles on House and The Blacklist, the latter of which leading to him starring in the spinoff series The Blacklist: Redemption.
Toby Kebbell Plays Miles Dale
As bases on the Moon and Mars uncover plenty of precious resources, including elaborate asteroid capture programs, blue-collar workers are brought by Helios to mine these valuable substances. Among the new faces transported to Mars by Helios is Miles Dale, a former oil rig worker who is desperate to provide for his estranged family back on Earth. Played by Toby Kebbell, Miles forcibly takes over the Mars colony’s black market operation when he grows frustrated by Helios’ rampant exploitation of its off-world workers.
Kebbell has appeared in some major movie blockbusters and celebrated television series in the past 20 years. On the big screen, Kebbell played Doctor Doom in 2011’s Fantastic Four reboot, the villainous Koba in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and both played a human soldier and performed motion capture for King Kong in Kong: Skull Island. On television, Kebbell appeared in Black Mirror and starred in the recently concluded Apple TV+ original series Servant.
Daniel Stern Plays Eli Hobson
In the aftermath of a domestic terrorist attack on NASA and the apparent death of Margo at the end of Season 3, the agency gains a new director in Eli Hobson as it rebuilds. Like Robert McNamara in the Kennedy Administration, Hobson originally comes from the automotive industry before being brought in to work for the federal government. Hobson quickly finds the world of negotiating with foreign figures and running interplanetary operations far more complex than he anticipated.
Daniel Stern has been acting professionally for well over 40 years, including his memorable appearances in Rookie of the Year and both City Slickers films. Stern’s most iconic role to date is as bumbling burglar Harry in the first two Home Alone movies, paired with Joe Pesci as they squared off against Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McAllister. Stern has appeared prolifically on television, most notably as the narrator of The Wonder Years.
Published: Dec 25, 2023 04:34 pm