‘Rebel Ridge’ Netflix Cast And Characters Guide

Director Jeremy Saulnier’s gritty action thriller Rebel Ridge brilliantly balances the intensity of its grounded spectacle with an intimate, emotionally charged undertone, and part of the credit for this perfect assimilation goes to the compelling performance by the cast and memorable characterization. Not only the lead roles played by veteran actors who are ever reliable in their craft, but even the minor characters played by relatively new performers with minimal screen time made a lasting impact in the movie despite having mostly conventional parts, which goes on to prove not only the deftness of script but also proper casting as well. 

Aaron Pierre Plays Terry Richmond

British stage actor Aaron Pierre takes on the lead role in Rebel Ridge as former Marine martial arts instructor Terry Richmond, who arrives in the small town of Shelby Springs to post his cousin Mike’s bail money but unwittingly gets entangled in the filthy, corrupt system plaguing the town instead. Viewers who have come across Clement Virgo’s Brother or Syfy’s canceled series Krypton are familiar with Aaron Pierre’s talent, and having a proper lead role for the first time, the actor has successfully utilized the opportunity by giving an intense, composed performance. The role of Terry Richmond in the movie demanded the presence of an imposing, one-man army lead, but at the same time, the character had to be imbued with enough nuances that could convey much to the audience about him without depending upon exposition. Aaron Pierre did a fantastic job in both these aspects, and Rebel Ridge could be the actor’s big break. 

AnnaSophia Robb Plays Summer McBride 

Rising to fame thanks to a string of successful roles as a child actor in movies like Bridge to Terabithia, Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,  AnnaSophia Robb is a familiar face. Taking on the role of Summer McBride, a court clerk with a troubling past, the actor delivers an emphatic, poignant performance, which elevates the character’s importance in the narrative as a result. In a sense, Summer McBride turns out to be a secret protagonist of Rebel Ridge, and aside from characterization, the convincing portrayal on the actor’s part really made the difference. 

Don Johnson Plays Police Chief Sandy Burnne

At this point, veteran actor Don Johnson must have played a dozen roles that involve portraying a crooked law enforcement chief, like the character of Sandy Burnne, the head of the Shelby Springs Police Force—but despite being typecast, he manages to bring something new to the roles every single time. Playing bad guy has become sort of second nature to the prolific thespian, to a point that his mere screen presence highlights the character’s evil potential. The scenes shared between Terry Richmond and Sandy Burnne hint at a latent power struggle, and the strength of the veteran actor is noticeable in it. 

Emory Cohen Plays Officer Steve Lann

The villainous right-hand man of Sandy Burnne, Officer Steve Lahn, played by actor Emory Cohen, is the quintessential bad guy viewers love to hate. An irredeemable, violent, opportunistic, racist cop who takes pleasure in inflicting pain upon others—the character’s despicable, violent streak is well reflected in the actor’s performance. Emory Cohen sells his act well enough to let viewers practically wait for the inevitable comeuppance of the dirty cop. 

David Denman Plays Officer Evan Marston

Actor David Denman is another familiar face, and in recent years he has landed quite a number of small screen and silver screen roles. Despite having limited screen time, his performance as Officer Evan Marston, a mole in the overall corrupt Shelby Springs police force, remains memorable, especially due to the fact that the introduction of the character as a collaborator of the unlawful police activities. But as viewers learn the reason being maintaining a guise and the true identity and intention of the character, the initial perception takes a 180 turn. 

Zsane Jhe Plays Officer Jessica Sims

Actor, writer, and poet Zsane Jhe might not have a long list of acting credits like the rest of the actors on this list, but her acting definitely makes a solid case for her to get more, bigger opportunities in the future. It can be said that with an overall 10 minutes or less screentime, not a lot of characters are known to have such a well-crafted growth/transformation arc—and once again, as good as the writing is, without the actor’s measured, composed performance, the script couldn’t have found justice. From a blindly trusting accessory to her corrupt colleagues’ and superior’s crimes to having a change of heart due to someone’s misplaced trust in her morality and getting inspired by a courageous, heroic act to finally adhere to her own better judgment, Officer Jessica Sims embodies the ideology that it’s the end that matters the most. There is also an interesting race-oriented angle in her characterization, as Jessica is a black female officer in a force full of racist white cops, and Terry mistakenly considers her as the mole, the secret assistant who had been helping Summer—and this factors in for the final change in Jessica’s character arc. Zsane Jhe needs way fewer dialogues to convincingly portray such a complex, intriguing character, which is proof of her abilities as an actor.