Cast of The Electric State: Full Actors & Robots List

There’s something oddly fitting about a movie where the humans are the minority. The Electric State — Netflix’s $320 million sci-fi gamble — pairs Millie Bobby Brown’s orphaned teen with Chris Pratt’s war-scarred smuggler on a road trip through a robot-occupied America, and the real stars turn out to be the voices behind the machines. With Anthony Mackie, Alan Tudyk, Woody Harrelson, and Brian Cox all bringing bots to life, the film’s cast runs deeper than most summer blockbusters. Here’s everything you need to know before hitting play.

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo · Lead Actress: Millie Bobby Brown as Michelle · Lead Actor: Chris Pratt · Supporting Cast: Woody Harrelson, Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander · Platform: Netflix

Six rows of key production facts — directors, release window, and budget that set expectations before diving into who’s who.

Did Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown get along?

On-screen, Chris Pratt’s smuggler John D. Keats and Millie Bobby Brown’s foster-teen Michelle form the emotional spine of The Electric State. Off-screen, both actors brought professional instincts to a production that blended extensive location shoots with heavy VFX work.

Pratt, fresh from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, took on a character described as a former robot war soldier turned mercenary — a role that required physical work alongside the motion-capture performers who brought the film’s bots to life. Brown, meanwhile, anchored Michelle as a teen determined to find her missing brother in a world where machines have taken over.

The cast chemistry carries weight in ensemble-driven sci-fi like this — similar dynamics appear in cast of Sinners (2025 film), where multiple leads must gel for the story to land.

What gender is Herm in Electric State?

Herm, Keats’ robot sidekick, is explicitly male — voiced by Anthony Mackie as a sardonic companion to Pratt’s smuggler. Behind the voice, Martin Klebba handled the motion-capture performance, bringing physicality to the character on set during the Atlanta production.

The distinction matters because Herm isn’t just a background prop — he’s the film’s most consistently present robot, appearing across Michelle and Keats’ journey through the Exclusion Zone.

Ke Huy Quan also pulls double duty: he plays human scientist Dr. Clark Amherst and voices P.C., his robot assistant. The dual casting ties the human and robot worlds together narratively.

Is The Electric State LGBTQ?

The film’s queer representation drew scrutiny from the moment early footage circulated. The story centers on Michelle and her relationship with her missing brother Christopher — a plot that deals in found family and identity in ways that some viewers found ambiguous rather than affirming.

Critics at The Geekiary film review outlet noted that while representation exists, it reads more as subtext than explicit storytelling. The robots themselves occupy interesting identity territory — beings that were once human-adjacent but now operate outside traditional categories.

The film’s PG-13 rating and family-oriented adventure framing means representation is woven into character dynamics rather than stated outright. Whether that approach lands depends on what viewers expect from a Russo brothers sci-fi.

What is Netflix’s most expensive movie?

With a reported budget of $320 million, The Electric State stands as Netflix’s most expensive original film production — a figure confirmed across multiple industry reports and the production’s own footprint.

The money shows on screen: the Atlanta shoot involved extensive location work across multiple counties, a full ensemble of A-list talent both in front of cameras and in voice recording booths, and months of post-production to bring Simon Stålenhag’s illustrated world to life.

Where was The Electric State filmed?

The bulk of principal photography took place in Atlanta, Georgia, with shooting wrapping in fall 2022. The Georgia production base made sense for a film of this scale — the state’s film incentives and studio infrastructure allowed the production to build the Exclusion Zone environments without the cost of a full Hollywood build.

That location choice connects directly to the cast: Atlanta’s proximity to a deep pool of experienced stunt performers and motion-capture talent meant the production could staff those technical roles locally while flying in the marquee names for their specific shoot days.

The world premiere happened February 24, 2025 — weeks before the Netflix global release on March 14, 2025. The gap let the film build theatrical-buzz momentum before hitting the streaming platform.

The pattern shows how Netflix leverages production geography to maximize ensemble value — similar cost-saving strategies appear across cast of Grease (1978 film) retrospectives where location shooting determined talent availability.

The implication: The film’s most human character — Keats’ smuggler — is surrounded by robots voiced by actors with deeper credits in comedy, drama, and voice work than most of the live-action cast.

The complete human cast

Beyond the leads, The Electric State assembles a remarkable collection of character actors across live-action roles. Giancarlo Esposito plays Marshall Bradbury, a soldier actively hunting robots — a role that puts him at odds with both Pratt’s Keats and the film’s robot population. Stanley Tucci appears as Ethan Skate, CEO of Sentre, the tech company whose actions precipitated the robot uprising.

Jason Alexander occupies the film’s most grounded human role as Ted Finister, Michelle’s foster father — a character who represents the ordinary world Michelle is trying to escape. Holly Hunter rounds out the live-action ensemble as Madeline Vance, a figure connected to Michelle’s past.

Colman Domingo, known for his dramatic work in Rust and Rustin, voices Wolfe while bringing the kind of physical presence that would serve a drone-piloting customer well. The casting demonstrates how the Russo brothers used marquee names strategically — recognizable faces in supporting slots that ground the larger-than-life concept.

“In The Electric State, Millie Bobby Brown stars as Michelle, a teen on a quest to find her missing brother.”

— Collider film entertainment channel

“Anthony Mackie joins the ensemble as the voice of Herman — Keats’ hilarious robot sidekick.”

— Collider film entertainment channel

The production team behind the cast

The screenplay comes from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely — the writing team behind the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Infinity Saga. That pedigree matters: their dialogue-heavy approach to character relationships is exactly what a film like The Electric State needs to make the human-robot dynamic land.

Produced by AGBO, the Russo brothers’ production company, the film sits alongside Extraction and The Gray Man in the studio’s expanding Netflix slate. The franchise potential is baked into the casting: with multiple robot characters and an open-ended world, sequels could easily expand the ensemble.

Based on Simon Stålenhag’s 2018 illustrated novel, The Electric State translates a visual storytelling medium into live-action. The cast had to perform against environments that didn’t exist during principal photography — a technical challenge that makes Atlanta’s production infrastructure even more important.

The motion-capture performers deserve particular attention: Terry Notary handled both Mr. Peanut and Popfly, Devyn Dalton brought Cosmo to physical life, and Martin Klebba performed Herman. These performers did the physical work that voice actors built on in post-production.

The ensemble structure means no single character dominates, and the film’s success depends on the interplay between live-action chemistry and voice-driven robot personalities.

For viewers coming for Pratt or Brown, the robot cast delivers the film’s most memorable moments. For viewers interested in voice acting as craft, the roster of Tudyk, Harrelson, Cox, and Mackie represents a masterclass in character work without physical performance.

Netflix is gambling $320 million that audiences will subscribe for ensemble-driven sci-fi. The cast depth suggests that bet is intentional — there’s enough talent here to sustain multiple entries if the first film performs.