The American Revolution cast and character guide: Here's who brought the latest documentary miniseries to life

The American Revolution came out on November 16, 2025, on PBS.

It played for six nights in a row, from November 16 to November 21. Each episode was two hours long, from 8 PM to 10 PM ET. You can also watch the whole series on PBS.org or on the PBS App.

The series was made by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David P. Schmidt. It was written by Geoffrey C. Ward, who has worked with Burns for many years.

The American Revolution takes a deep look at how the United States was formed. It does not tell the story like a simple hero adventure. Instead, it shows that the Revolution was violent and very complicated. It also explains how it changed the whole world.

The series shows the stories of many different people. It includes regular soldiers, Loyalists, Native Americans, enslaved people, free Black Americans, everyday families, and allies from Europe. All of them saw the war in different ways.

The American Revolution explains that the Revolution was not only a fight for freedom. It was also a civil war between people living in the same colonies. And it was part of a global conflict that spread far beyond America.

It also talks about the contradictions of the time, like how people talked about freedom, but slavery still existed.

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Who voices whom in The American Revolution?

Here’s a look at the actors who brought The American Revolution to life:

Peter Coyote is the narrator. He speaks throughout the whole series. The documentary has almost 200 voices of real people from history. Many famous actors read these voices.

Here are some important actors and the people they speak for in The American Revolution:

Josh Brolin is the voice of George Washington, the main leader.

Kenneth Branagh voices British General Thomas Gage, Richard Howe, Samuel Graves, Samuel Johnson, American General Charles Lee, and Friedrich Adolf Riedesel.

Claire Danes voices Abigail Adams, showing her life and worries.

Jeff Daniels voices Thomas Jefferson, a major Founding Father.

Morgan Freeman voices James Forten, who helps show the story of free Black Americans during the war.

Amanda Gorman voices Phillis Wheatley, a famous Black poet whose voice is often left out of history books.

Michael Keaton voices Benedict Arnold, the American who became a traitor.

Meryl Streep also voices several different people.

Adam Arkin lends his voice for James Parker, Private Ashbel Green, Andrew Hunter, Enoch Anderson, Timothy Dwight, and Robert Morris.

Tony Beck voices Ludwig von Closen.

Leon Dische Becker voices Johann Friedrich von Bardeleben and Johann Conrad Doehla.

Jeremiah Bitsui voices Twethorechte and the Stockbridge Petitioners.

Corbin Bleu voices John Joseph Henry, Daniel McCurtin, Nathaniel Bacheller, and Isaac Jefferson.

Bill Camp voices Capt. Jabez Fitch.

Tantoo Cardinal voices Mary Jemison and a delegation of Cherokee women.

Josh Charles voices Joseph Warren, John Peters, and David Ramsey.

Hugh Dancy voices Hugh Percy, General John Burgoyne, Banastre Tarleton, and Comte de Vergennes.

Keith David voices Theodore Roneyn.

Hope Davis voices Elizabeth Drinker.

Marcus Davis-Orrom voices John Barker and William Bamford.

Bruce Davison voices John P. Becker, Charles Inglis, and Samuel Webb.

Alden Ehrenreich voices Joseph Plumb Martin.

Craig Ferguson voices John Murray, John Paul Jones, John Purrier, Martin Hunter, and William Harcourt.

Christian Friedel voices Johann Ewald and Friedrich von Münchausen.

Paul Giamatti voices John Adams.

Domhnall Gleeson voices Loftus Cliffe, Roger Lamb, John MacPherson, John Bowater, and William Barton.

Michael Greyeyes voices Joseph Brant and Uhhaunauwaunmut (Shawnee).

Jonathan Groff voices Erkuries Beatty.

Charlotte Hacke voices Friederike Riedesel, Hannah Davis, Lucy Knox, and Martha Reeves.

Ethan Hawke voices General Anthony Wayne and John Andrews.

Maya Hawke voices Betsy Ambler.

Lucas Hedges voices Ebenezer Fletcher, John Laurens, and Garrett Watts.

Josh Hutcherson voices James Potter Collins, Thomas Mellen, and Jabez Campfield.

LaTanya Richardson Jackson voices Elizabeth Freeman and Judith Jackson.

Samuel L. Jackson voices Caesar Sarter, Lemuel Haynes, and Boston King.

Gene Jones voices Landon Carter, Thomas Nelson, Moses Kirkland, and Thomas Young.

Joe Keery voices John Greenwood.

Joel Kinnaman voices Rev. Samuel Seabury, Nils Collin, and Thomas Hutchinson.

Tracy Letts voices Elbridge Gerry.

Damian Lewis voices King George III, Nicholas Cresswell, Major John André, and Bartholomew James.

Laura Linney voices Sarah Logan Fisher, Sarah Morris Mifflin, Eliza Wilkinson, and Eliza Lucas Pickney.

Josh Lucas voices George Rogers Clark, John Glover, and Drury Mathias.

Michael Mando voices Marquis de Lafayette.

Carolyn McCormick voices Hannah Griffiths, Hannah Winthrop, and Esther Reed.

Lindsay Mendez voices Catharine Macaulay and Mary M. Campbell.

Tobias Menzies voices Edmund Burke, Ambrose Serle, Lord Cornwallis, and William Pitt.

Joe Morton voices Elisha Bostwick and Elias Dayton.

Edward Norton voices Benjamin Rush, Philip Vickers Fithian, and Philip Schuyler.

David Oyelowo voices Olaudah Equiano and Sam.

Mandy Patinkin voices Benjamin Franklin.

Wendell Pierce voices William Read.

Jon Proudstar voices Canassatego, Chainbreaker, Old Smoke, and a Shawnee delegate.

Matthew Rhys voices Thomas Paine.

Liev Schreiber voices Samuel Adams, Nathaniel Greene, and Lewis Beebe.

Chaske Spencer voices Tsiyu Gansini and Shingas.

Dan Stevens voices General William Howe and Comte de Rochambeau.

Yul Vázquez voices Henry Knox and José de Gálvez.

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Also Read: The American Revolution: Release date news, streaming details and more about the upcoming PBS docuseries