The cast list for Syfy’s upcoming show The Ark has been released, and there’s no one under forty.
The Ark is a new space opera series from SyFy set 100 years in the future during a recolonization period for humanity. Several spacecraft, known as Arks, set off to colonize distant planets, but Ark One runs into a bit of a problem. The ship can no longer sustain life, and its leadership is crumbling, but the worst part is that they’re still over a year from their final destination planet. Check out our piece from back in January for more about the production.
As someone who reads and watches a lot of space opera, this is a very common trope in the genre, so I’m interested in seeing how this show brings a new approach to the concept.
Normally, a cast list is a fun teaser, but to me, it suggests that the new twist on the “colony ship” may be signaled by the actors chosen for the roles.
Check Out The Ark’s Cast List
Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garnet
Burke is a relative newcomer, having been a reoccurring character in several shows, including 2021’s Maid and The Haunting of Bly Manor. She plays a law-ranking officer on the ship who must step up when tragedy strikes. Methinks her commanding officers might suffer a mishap?
Richard Fleeshman as Lt. James Brice
Like Burke, Fleeshman is also young in his career as an actor (he’s mainly played supporting roles on various shows) and in his character’s role on the show. Brice is a navigator for the ship, and thus I expect he’ll be doing some math or pressing some buttons?
Reece Ritchie as Lt. Spencer Lane
Ritchie, also a younger actor, has been a supporting character in several movies and a main character in the 2019 fantasy series The Outpost. His character on The Arc is a young lieutenant who has a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
Stacey Read as Alicia Nevins
The Arc is the first acting gig for Read, a new actor from Zimbabwe. She will be playing a member of the Waste Management team on the ship, who is said to be secretly brilliant. Is she also young? You betcha.
Ryan Adams as Angus Medford
Not the singer, but this Adams has been in two movies previous to The Arc and will also play a farmer and a horticulturist.
There is also Christina Wolfe as Cat Brandice and Steven William Moore as William Mulachy, but nothing has been said about their characters.
Given it appears all the cast seems to be around or under thirty-five (at least in terms of their actor’s ages), I have a feeling The Ark’s senior staff are going to die in the first episode … or the ship departs Earth without anyone “too old,” A.K.A. Gen X and Boomers!
Is this simply for practical purposes because younger people are more likely to reproduce in the new colonies, or is it the result of something more sinister? Perhaps what caused the need to leave Earth was a war between the generations? Did Gen X get tired of being ignored and teamed up with their older compatriots who were sick of “OK, Boomer?” jokes? But would an alliance between Gen Z and Millenials really survive?
There is no release date yet, but filming has begun in Siberia.
