Cast of Where the Crawdads Sing Film
Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya, an abandoned girl who raised herself to adulthood in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. When her former boyfriend is found dead, she becomes the prime suspect in his murder.
Main Cast
Daisy Edgar-Jones
Kya Clark "Marsh Girl"
Taylor John Smith
Tate Walker
Harris Dickinson
Chase Andrews
David Strathairn
Tom Milton
Michael Hyatt
Mabel Madison
Sterling Macer Jr.
Jumpin'
Garret Dillahunt
Jackson "Pa" Clark
Ahna O'Reilly
Juliet "Ma" Clark
About Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing is based on the bestselling novel by Delia Owens. The film adaptation was produced by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine and features an original song by Taylor Swift, "Carolina," written specifically for the movie.
Daisy Edgar-Jones, fresh off her success in "Normal People," delivers a powerful performance as Kya, capturing both the character's vulnerability and strength. The film beautifully captures the North Carolina marshlands, making the setting almost a character in itself.
About Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing is a film adaptation of Delia Owens' bestselling novel. It follows Kya Clark, a young woman who grows up in the marshlands of North Carolina, and the murder trial that opens the story and frames the long flashback that explains how she got there.
Adaptation choices
The film follows the structure of the novel closely: a present-day legal storyline alternates with chapters of Kya's earlier life. Director Olivia Newman and screenwriter Lucy Alibar compress the longer interior monologues of the book into images and small dialogue exchanges, leaning on the marshland landscape to do a lot of the emotional work.
Casting
Daisy Edgar-Jones plays the adult Kya, with Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson as the two men who become important to her, David Strathairn as her defence attorney, and a young supporting cast playing the child versions of the central trio. Edgar-Jones anchors the film, balancing reserve with bursts of feeling.
Production and music
The film was produced for Sony Pictures in association with Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine. Original music was contributed by Mychael Danna, with a song co-written by Taylor Swift used in the closing credits. The location photography in coastal Louisiana doubles for the novel's North Carolina setting.
Where to watch
Where the Crawdads Sing was released theatrically in 2022 and is available to rent or buy on major digital storefronts, with streaming availability rotating between Sony's distribution partners.
Related cast pages
Viewers who liked the film often look up the Lessons in Chemistry cast, the Daisy Jones & the Six cast, and the Mare of Easttown cast.
How to read this cast page
Cast lists work best as a quick reference rather than a transcript of the credits. The principal cast section above lists the actors most viewers will recognise from marketing and from the first episode or first act. The character each actor plays is shown alongside the name, with short relationship cues where they help.
Recurring versus principal cast
Television in particular distinguishes between “series regulars,” who appear in most episodes, and “recurring” or “guest” performers who appear only in some. Recurring cast can shift between seasons: someone introduced as a guest can be promoted to a regular role if the writers decide the character should stay. When that has happened on this title, we update the cast list rather than leave outdated billing in place.
Why character descriptions stay short
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Spelling and credits
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Suggesting changes
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