One reason Netflix’s Below feels rooted in a real Newfoundland fishing town is that its world was not built by the lead actors alone. Local performers, regional cast members, and people who know the province helped give the series its distinctive community feel—from the way residents speak to the small habits that make a fictional outport seem lived-in.
The six-part thriller stars Josh Hartnett as fisherman Calvin Penney, with Charlie Heaton as his son Wade and Mackenzie Davis as marine researcher Fonda Howander. But the supporting ensemble is central to the show’s sense of place. Netflix’s official cast guide includes Newfoundland and Canadian performers such as Willow Kean, Marthe Bernard, Shawn Doyle, and Frank Moore, while reporting from the set describes how local actors helped their co-stars get the region’s distinctive speech right.
Willow Kean brings a local perspective to the Penney family
Willow Kean plays Ruth Penney, Calvin’s sister and the town’s harbormaster. The role puts her at the center of the community’s daily life and the trouble gathering offshore. CBC reported that Kean is originally from Labrador West, in Newfoundland and Labrador, giving the production a performer with a direct connection to the province.
Ruth is more than a family supporting character: as harbormaster, she belongs to the practical network of people who keep a coastal town functioning. That makes her a natural bridge between the Penney family drama and the wider community. In a series where the harbor, fishing work, and local loyalties are all story engines, a role like Ruth’s needs to feel like part of the town rather than an outsider explaining it.
Marthe Bernard, Shawn Doyle, and Frank Moore help fill out the town
The official Netflix cast guide also lists Marthe Bernard as the mysterious Old Hag, Shawn Doyle as Walton Budgell, and Frank Moore as Jim Crocker. Their characters occupy very different corners of the story: Bernard’s figure brings an unsettling folkloric edge, Doyle’s Walton connects to Calvin’s past, and Moore’s Jim belongs to the influential Crocker family.
Those different roles matter because Below is not only a creature story. The town is divided by money, family history, and the question of whether residents should leave their homes. A convincing supporting cast makes those tensions feel communal. Instead of a handful of leads reacting to a monster, viewers see a place full of people with competing interests, old relationships, and distinct reactions to a crisis.
Local voices helped the cast get the Newfoundland sound right
Newfoundland speech is not a single uniform accent. Pronunciation, vocabulary, rhythm, and expressions can vary across the island and between communities. That is one reason the show’s accent work required more than adding a few recognizable phrases to a script.
In Reuters reporting about the series, Charlie Heaton said local cast members were supportive when he checked whether a line sounded right. Netflix’s Tudum coverage also notes that Heaton spent time with local people to better understand the culture, while Hartnett immersed himself in Newfoundland’s history and listened to people talk about fishing. The result the production was aiming for was a believable family and town—not a caricature of a regional voice.
The real residents were part of the production story, too
Authenticity also came from the places and people around the production. CBC’s reporting on Brigus South describes how the community was transformed into the fictional Snook’s Arm. Residents Elizabeth Power and Alexis Rice spoke about allowing their homes and surroundings to be altered for filming, while local families watched for familiar landmarks and relatives when the show arrived on screen.
Those residents are not automatically actors, and it would be misleading to label every local participant a cast member. But their cooperation helped create the physical environment the performers inhabited. Houses were restyled, streets were adjusted for the period look, and everyday life continued around the crew. That real-world participation is part of why the show’s setting feels more specific than a generic coastal backdrop.
Why the supporting cast matters as much as the monster
The sea creature is the series’ headline hook, but the show’s emotional stakes depend on the people who live beside the water. The family’s conflicts, the resettlement debate, and the town’s response to danger only work if Snook’s Arm feels like a place with a history before the first frightening event.
That is where Newfoundland and Labrador performers and the wider local community make a difference. Regional knowledge can inform how characters carry themselves, relate to neighbors, and talk about work or home. It does not mean every scene is documentary realism, and the series remains a scripted supernatural thriller. It does mean the production had access to local experience that helped shape its fictional world.
Who are the local actors in Below?
Among the performers identified in the official cast guide are Willow Kean as Ruth Penney, Marthe Bernard as the Old Hag, Shawn Doyle as Walton Budgell, and Frank Moore as Jim Crocker. Netflix also lists Mary Walsh among the series’ cast on its official title page. The cast includes performers with different backgrounds, so it is more accurate to distinguish actors with Newfoundland and Labrador connections from the full ensemble rather than describe everyone as a local.
Is Below filmed in a real Newfoundland town?
Yes. Netflix says the series was filmed in Newfoundland, and CBC reporting identifies Brigus South as one of the communities transformed to stand in for the fictional Snook’s Arm. The town in the story is fictional, but the coastal setting and production locations are real.
Where can you watch Below?
Below is streaming on Netflix’s official series page. For the cast list, see Netflix Tudum’s cast guide.
Sources
- Netflix Tudum — Below cast and characters
- Reuters — Cast of Netflix’s Below credit Newfoundland community for show’s charm
- CBC reporting republished by Today in Canada — Brigus South and the Below production
- Netflix — Below official series page
By Shivam Das
