The new season of Netflix’s dread-infused anthology series Black Mirror is undoubtedly its starriest yet.
Among the cast of the dystopian drama’s five new instalments are Aaron Paul, Rob Delaney, Josh Hartnett, Michael Cera, Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy and I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu – not to mention Salma Hayek playing herself in one of Black Mirror’s most comedic episodes ever.
Of course, Black Mirror has featured plenty of existing stars in past episodes, including Jon Hamm, Rupert Everett, Andrew Scott, Maxine Peake and Miley literal Cyrus, but it’s also been something of a star-maker, too.
Here are just 12 stars who appeared in Black Mirror that you may well have totally forgotten about...
Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya took the lead in one of Black Mirror’s first ever episodes, Fifteen Million Merits, way back in 2011.
The episode was a send-up of The X Factor, and was written by Charlie Brooker’s wife Konnie Huq, who had not long completed a series hosting companion show The Xtra Factor.
In the years since, Daniel has become a global star, appearing in huge films like Get Out, Black Panther and Judas And The Black Messiah, which earned him an Oscar win in 2021.
Jodie Whittaker
Another cast member from Black Mirror’s very first season, Jodie Whittaker appeared in The Entire History Of You as Ffion, the girlfriend of Toby Kebbell’s character, who begins obsessively doubting their relationship.
Since Black Mirror, she appeared in Broadchurch and later made history as the first woman to take the lead in Doctor Who.
Domhnall Gleeson
When Black Mirror returned for its second season in 2013, Domhnall Gleeson took on two roles – first, as Ash Starmer, a man who dies early on in the episode, and later as an android who takes on his personality using artificial intelligence.
Although Domnhall was already known for his performance in the Harry Potter films, he’s now perhaps most famous for his role as General Armitage Hux in the rebooted Star Wars trilogy. He’s also appeared in Mother!, The Revenant and Run.
Tobias Menzies
Tobias Menzies is probably most recognisable now for playing Prince Philip in the third and fourth seasons of The Crown, but he too was a part of Black Mirror long before Netflix took over at the helm.
He appeared in the season two episode The Waldo Moment, playing a politician in the race to become an MP up against a cute cartoon character who swiftly gets adopted by a group with sinister intentions.
Michaela Coel
Before I May Destroy You made Michaela Coel a celebrated star on both sides of the Atlantic, she had the distinction of appearing in not one but two Black Mirror episodes.
During season three opener Nosedive, she appeared in a small cameo as an airline stewardess, before taking a more prominent role in the Star Trek-inspired season four instalment USS Callister.
Letitia Wright
Black Museum was a rather different spin on Black Mirror, as it was made up of three smaller stories woven together as part of a supposed museum visit.
Letitia Wright took the lead as Nish in the episode, earning her an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie category.
A year later, she starred opposite Chadwick Boseman and Angela Bassett in Marvel’s adaptation of Black Panther, reprising the character of Shuri in the film’s 2022 sequel.
Will Poulter
Black Mirror’s most ambitious moment to date came in 2018, when Netflix debuted the one-off interactive episode Bandersnatch, which allowed viewers to decide what happened next with hundreds of different outcomes.
British actor Will Poulter appeared in a principal role of video game developer Colin Ritman, who meets a grisly end during the episode. Or, depending on which outcome you chose, maybe he didn’t...
Will has gone on to appear in the Ari Aster horror Midsommar, the acclaimed miniseries Dopesick and the Marvel offering Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 3.
Sarah Snook
Australian actor joined the cast of Black Mirror for the season three episode Men Against Fire, in which Sarah Snook played a squad leader in a military that hunts humanoid monsters (or so they’re all led to believe, anyway).
Nowadays, of course, Sarah is more famous for her performance as Shiv in Succession, which has earned her a Golden Globe win and two Emmy nominations.
Malachi Kirby
Joining Sarah in Men Against Fire was Malachi Kirby as a young soldier, Stripe, who discovers a disturbing truth about his squad’s missions.
In 2021, Malachi won a Bafta for his performance in the Small Axe film Mangrove, in which he shared the screen with fellow Black Mirror alum Letitia Wright.
Kelly MacDonald
Hated In The Nation was Black Mirror’s first ever feature-length episode, telling the story of a group of malfunctioning drone bees who began targeting anyone who becomes the subject of a social media pile-on.
In the season three closer, Kelly MacDonald portrays DCI Karin Parke, who was in charge of investigating the bizarre case.
Kelly had already starred in Bad Girls, Boardwalk Empire and the Harry Potter series when Black Mirror came calling, and she later joined the cast of Line Of Duty as Joanne Davidson (yes, another DCI).
Owen Teague
Owen Teague played a teen love interest in the (in our opinion, criminally underrated) Black Mirror episode Arkangel.
He’s gone on to play Patrick Hockstetter in It parts one and two, as well as portraying Harold Lauder in The Stand, another Stephen King adaptation.
His other credits include an upcoming Planet Of The Apes adaptation and To Leslie, in which he shared the screen with Andrea Riseborough.
Andrea Riseborough
Oh, and speaking of Andrea Riseborough, her star has only continued to rise since the 2017 Black Mirror episode Crocodile.
As well as the sports biopic Battle Of The Sexes, the surreal horror Mandy and the musical Matilda, she famously appeared in To Leslie this year, earning her first Oscar nomination (and sparking plenty of conversation in the process).
All six seasons of Black Mirror are available to stream on Netflix now.