Where have we seen the Vanished cast before? Castings revealed

Vanished is an upcoming series set to prove the days Kaley Cuoco has done being Penny are over. The actress who spent over a decade as TV’s favorite girl-next-door has been pushing herself into darker, more intense roles, and her latest project keeps that streak going.

In the upcoming Prime Video thriller, Vanished, Cuoco plays Alice, a woman whose romantic trip to Paris spirals into a nightmare when her boyfriend goes missing.

However, Cuoco isn’t the only familiar face in the cast. From Sam Claflin’s chilling turn in Peaky Blinders to Matthias Schweighöfer’s scene-stealing roles in Army of the Dead and Oppenheimer, Vanished is packed with actors who know how to keep viewers guessing. So, where have we seen them before?

Kaley Cuoco: Leaving Penny behind

From beloved star of sitcoms to terrifying thrillers, Kaley Cuoco has undergone a radical change. Her serious, multi-layered performance in The Flight Attendant turned heads after more than a decade of playing the carefree, cheerful Penny on The Big Bang Theory.

Playing flight attendant Cassie Bowden, who gets caught up in a web of lies, murder, and her own self-destructive behavior, Cuoco showed that she can handle a captivating and chaotic part. The transformation was irreversible.

Two instances of Cuoco's ongoing exploration of darker storylines are her voice work as Harley Quinn in an animated series for WBD and her portrayal of a twisted version of herself in Based on a True Story, a darkly comedic take on America's obsession with real crime.

Now, she’s back in that murky territory with Vanished, where she plays Alice, a woman whose Parisian getaway takes a sinister turn when her boyfriend goes missing. With Kansas City Star also on the horizon, Cuoco is leaning harder than ever into this new phase of her career, and it’s paying off.

Sam Claflin: From heartthrob to heartbreaker

Any part Sam Claflin plays, whether as a Capitol darling, a broken lover, or a callous politician, is guaranteed to capture the interest of the audience. Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games was his breakout part, which allowed him to display both the idealistic young child and the damaged soul hiding underneath the surface.

Will Traynor, the man whose life was suddenly changed by one incident, gave a quietly terrible performance in the movie Me Before You. Any audience member who witnessed Claflin's performance will always remember the intensity with which he played the role, both vulnerable and bitter.

Claflin, however, allowed his darker side show during Peaky Blinders. Playing Oswald Mosley, he had a magnetic appeal that hid a troubling will to power. The part allowed him to play to his darker side, and he delivered. Claflin’s Mosley was the kind of character who could make your skin crawl with just a smile.

Claflin now plays Tom, Alice's boyfriend whose unexpected disappearance throws her life into a whirl, a morally complicated character in Vanished. Initially, Tom appears to be the ideal companion until Alice begins probing into his history and finds out she may not have known him at all.

Is he a victim? A liar? Both?

Claflin’s gift for playing men who walk the line between hero and villain makes him perfect for a role like Tom. And with his upcoming work in The Nightingale, where he plays another character hiding dark secrets, Claflin is clearly continuing to explore those darker, more dangerous roles.

Matthias Schweighöfer: From heist star to mystery man

Matthias Schweighöfer was already well-known as an actor in Germany long before he became famous internationally thanks to Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead. He was the show-stopper as the eccentric safecracker Ludwig Dieter, with impecable comedic and dramatic flair.

Due to the positive reception of that part, it spawned a prequel with him, Army of Thieves. In both films, Schweighöfer proved he could handle action and comedy while still delivering emotional beats that made Dieter more than just comic relief.

But there is more to Schweighöfer than quirky heist characters. In Oppenheimer, he stepped into a heavier, more grounded role, trading laughs for tense dialogue and dramatic intensity. The shift showed he could hold his own in a cast full of heavyweights and handle darker, more serious material.

Now, in Vanished, Schweighöfer’s character is shrouded in mystery. Is he a friend? A threat? Both? The ambiguity qualifies him well for a narrative in which no one can be trusted. Schweighöfer's capacity to mix appeal with unpredictability enhances the tension by allowing the audience to wonder about his actual motives. Schweighöfer, who has a talent for portraying people who aren't what they appear, might be the one to watch as the narrative develops.

Why the cast of Vanished makes it worth watching

Vanished is set to be more than simply just another thriller with Kaley Cuoco, Sam Claflin, and Matthias Schweighöfer in charge. Each star brings a unique type of intensity to the screen, hence it is a display of people who know how to keep you on edge.

Embracing parts that are darker, more chaotic, and more charged, Cuoco keeps distancing herself from her sitcom roots. Claflin leaves viewers to question whether Tom is a victim or a great manipulator as he embraces his talent for portraying people straddling the border between appealing and hazardous. Schweighöfer, whose character is yet unknown, adds that ideal mix of unpredictability that might either be a friend or a danger.

Set against the haunting background of Paris, Vanished is shaping up to be a thriller where no one is what they appear, and the only certainty is that everyone has something to conceal. Its story is designed to keep you wondering with its interesting cast and plot rich with secrets and turns. With such interesting stars joining the cast, it could be practically impossible to look away.