Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein: Every Star and the Role They Bring to Life

Guillermo del Toro finally got his hands on Frankenstein, it is out in select US theaters right now and headed to Netflix on November 7, 2025. The early chatter is all about the cast, and fair: this thing is stacked. Del Toro is doing his usual dark, tender remix of a classic, leaning hard into love, loneliness, and what makes us human. Also, stats for the curious: it opened October 17, 2025, runs 2h 29m, and is sitting at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes as of now.

If you are waiting for the streaming drop, here is who is playing who, and what this version does with them. There are some bold swings, some clever tweaks, and at least one eyebrow-raising double role.

The cast and characters

• Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein — Victor is still the brilliant, egotistical scientist, but del Toro leans into him as a misunderstood artist, more rockstar than raving madman. Expect a bohemian spin from Isaac, who has range to spare after Inside Llewyn Davis, the Star Wars sequels, and Dune.
• Jacob Elordi as The Creature — Built from battlefield scraps, the Creature wakes up with a mind of his own and decides he is not his maker’s puppet, which fires the story’s father-son fuse. Elordi (Euphoria, The Kissing Booth) steps into the big, tragic shoes here, with Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights also on his horizon.
• Mia Goth as Elizabeth Lavenza and Claire Frankenstein — Yes, two roles. In this take, Elizabeth is engaged to Victor’s younger brother, William, and gets pulled into the gravitational mess between Victor and his creation. Claire is the brothers’ mother, whose death wrecks the family. Goth has already aced double duty in Ti West’s X trilogy, and she has talked about seeing pieces of herself in Elizabeth, which tracks with the film’s intimate, haunted vibe.
• Felix Kammerer as William Frankenstein — William is the golden child; he and Victor were separated as kids and reconnect as adults when William returns, engaged to Elizabeth. Kammerer broke out in All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) and showed up in All the Light We Cannot See, so do not be shocked if he quietly steals scenes.
• Christoph Waltz as Heinrich Harlander — A wealthy art patron who quietly bankrolls his lifestyle by trading weapons during the Crimean War. He backs Victor’s work but for his own reasons, which is never a great sign. Waltz previously voiced Count Volpe for del Toro in Pinocchio and, of course, chewed the scenery in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. Expect charm with a sting.
• Christian Convery as young Victor Frankenstein — The film splits Victor between two actors. Convery plays the younger version, shaped by an abusive father and an absent mother. You have seen him as Gus in Sweet Tooth, and he has popped up in Beautiful Boy, One Piece, Legion, and Invincible.
• Charles Dance as Leopold Frankenstein — The family patriarch: strict, emotionally closed-off, and the guy whose control issues help nudge both sons toward obsession and disaster. Dance has this gear locked in (see: Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones), along with turns in The Imitation Game and The Crown, which earned him a Primetime Emmy nod.
• Lars Mikkelsen as Captain Anderson — The movie frames part of the story in the Arctic: Anderson is an explorer who rescues a near-frozen Victor and hears the whole horrifying tale. It echoes the novel’s icy opening, with the film simply naming the captain Anderson. Mikkelsen’s resume includes Headhunter, The Day Will Come, Sherlock, and House of Cards.

All told, this is del Toro doing what he does best: turning a monster story into a bruised-heart melodrama with impeccable faces to sell the ache. If you live near one of the theaters playing it, go now. If not, Netflix has it November 7, 2025. Who are you most excited to see in this? I have my guesses, but I will let you fight it out in the comments.