The Hunting Wives cast and character guide: Who plays whom in the Netflix mystery drama?

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Brittany Snow (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

The Hunting Wives dropped on Netflix on July 21, 2025, and brings with it eight episodes packed with small-town secrets, elite drama, and a murder that flips everything upside down.

Based on May Cobb’s 2021 novel, The Hunting Wives follows Sophie O’Neil, a former East Coast city girl who moves to East Texas with her husband and son, hoping for a slower pace. What she finds instead is a tightly controlled social hierarchy run by a group of rich, bored, and dangerously connected women known as the Hunting Wives.

At the center of The Hunting Wives is Margo Banks, a seductive socialite who pulls Sophie into a world of late-night gun club meetups, secret relationships, and slowly escalating chaos. The series doesn’t waste time painting a picture of perfect suburbia; it shows the cracks right away. Behind every barbecue and Bible study is someone lying, watching, or planning their next move.

Created by Rebecca Cutter, the show was filmed in North Carolina but was designed to evoke the feel of East Texas. With a cast that includes Malin Åkerman, Brittany Snow, and Dermot Mulroney, The Hunting Wives focuses on control, jealousy, and the quiet way power changes hands in private. Now let’s break down who plays who.


Meet the Characters of The Hunting Wives

1) Malin Åkerman as Margo Banks

Malin Åkerman (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Environmental Media Association)
Malin Åkerman (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Environmental Media Association)

Margo runs the show, both in the town and inside the Hunting Wives circle. She’s married to Jed Banks, who owns a massive oil business, but that doesn’t stop her from doing what she wants.

Margo’s charm isn’t just surface-level. She knows how to read people, push their buttons, and keep them close while still maintaining her authority. Åkerman brings a sharp edge to Margo, showing just how calculated her moves are, even when they look casual.


2) Brittany Snow as Sophie O’Neil

Brittany Snow Source: Getty
Brittany Snow Source: Getty

Sophie is the outsider. She moves from the East Coast with her husband Graham to start a quieter life in Texas. However, things spiral out of control when she meets Margo and her circle. Sophie doesn’t just get pulled into their world; she runs toward it. Brittany Snow plays her with just the right mix of curiosity and denial, showing how easy it is to lose track of your values when you want to belong.


3) Dermot Mulroney as Jed Banks

Dermot Mulroney (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Dermot Mulroney (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Jed is Margo’s husband and a generational oil tycoon. He looks polished and acts entitled. He’s not faithful, not even close. His interactions with Sophie hint at deeper manipulation, including an unsettling moment in the trailer where he flirts and makes it clear he doesn’t care about boundaries. Mulroney plays him with the calm arrogance of someone who’s always gotten away with everything.


4) Evan Jonigkeit as Graham O’Neil

Evan Jonigkeit (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival)
Evan Jonigkeit (Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival)

Graham means well. He moved his family, thinking it would be a good reset. He works under Jed and misses all the red flags in their new social circle. Jonigkeit makes Graham likable but naive, a guy who doesn’t realize his wife is slipping away because he trusts the surface too much.


5) Chrissy Metz as Starr Jackson

Chrissy Metz (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)
Chrissy Metz (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)

Starr isn’t in the circle. She’s a single mom, a churchgoer, and someone who doesn’t belong in the world Margo controls. Her daughter, Abby, dates Jill’s son, Brad, which should help her socially, but it doesn’t. Metz portrays Starr as proud and isolated, someone doing her best while being overlooked by women with more money and louder voices.


6) Jaime Ray Newman as Callie Baskin

Jaime Ray Newman (Photo by Kristy Sparow/Getty Images)
Jaime Ray Newman (Photo by Kristy Sparow/Getty Images)

Callie is second to Margo but only barely. She’s married to the local sheriff and holds status, but she’s secretly in love with Margo and deeply threatened by Sophie. Newman plays her with visible jealousy, always watching, always calculating. Callie’s loyalty masks a growing desperation.


7) Katie Lowes as Jill Thompson

Katie Lowes (Photo by Jason Bollenbacher/Getty Images for SXSW)
Katie Lowes (Photo by Jason Bollenbacher/Getty Images for SXSW)

Jill is the preacher’s wife and mother of Brad. Her marriage is loveless, and she’s obsessed with her son’s future. She overcompensates by clinging to appearances and hiding her mess. Lowes makes Jill both stern and fragile, someone cracking under pressure while trying to pretend nothing’s wrong.


8) George Ferrier as Brad Thompson

The Hunting Wives (Image via Netflix)
The Hunting Wives (Image via Netflix)

Brad is the popular athlete with a secret. He’s dating Abby but isn’t faithful. His relationship with his mother borders on emotional overdependence. Ferrier plays Brad with charm that’s skin-deep and behavior that raises questions about what he’s hiding, and from whom.


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Edited by Yesha Srivastava