Wayward Cast: Meet the Stars of Netflix's Explosive Troubled Teens Industry Thriller

I fired up Netflix expecting cozy Vermont vibes. Instead, Wayward drops you into a postcard town with a stomachache. Think: fresh start, white picket fences, and a school for 'troubled teens' that feels like the town’s locked basement door everyone swears not to open.

What Wayward is really about

Alex Dempsey, a Detroit cop, moves to Tall Pines with his pregnant partner Laura, who just so happens to be an alum of the local Tall Pines Academy. He’s barely unpacked before things start getting weird. Alex links up with two teens, Abbie and Leile (yes, spelled Leile here, occasionally seen as Leila elsewhere), who want out of the academy and might be the thread that unravels what’s wrong with this place.

As Alex pokes at a string of off-kilter incidents, his antenna starts pointing at Evelyn Wade, the school’s ironclad head counselor who runs the place like it’s a lifestyle brand and a fortress at the same time. The more he looks, the more the town’s smile starts to crack.

The series leans into that uneasy, genre-bending space: small-town mystery, institutional horror, generational warfare. It’s about loyalty getting stress-tested, and the stuff adults bury coming back up whether they like it or not. Also: multiple staffers at the academy are nicknamed Rabbit, Duck, and Mule, and there’s someone called Oatmeal Beth. So yeah, there’s a distinct flavor of weird here.

The real-life spark

Mae Martin (who also stars) told Netflix’s Tudum that this comes from a personal place. They were a self-described wayward teen, and their best friend was institutionalized at 16.

"I was a wayward teen in the early 2000s... She came back and had just the craziest stories about it."

That lived-in perspective definitely colors the show’s take on the 'troubled teen' industry.

Cast and who’s who

• Mae Martin as Alex Dempsey - A Detroit police officer chasing a quieter life in Tall Pines with his pregnant partner, Laura. The academy catches his eye fast, and the town’s rot isn’t far behind. Also seen in: Feel Good.
• Toni Collette as Evelyn Wade - Head youth counselor at Tall Pines Academy. Warm handshake, steel backbone. Alex quickly feels the chokehold under the smile. Also seen in: The Sixth Sense, About A Boy, Hereditary, The Staircase, Pieces of Her, Unbelievable, United States of Tara.
• Sarah Gadon as Laura Redman - Alex’s partner, expecting their baby and back in her old stomping grounds as a Tall Pines alum. Evelyn is thrilled to reel her back into the community. Also seen in: Alias Grace, Most Dangerous Game, Black Bear, True Detective, Letterkenny.
• Sydney Topliffe as Abbie - Sent to the academy by frustrated parents. Dyslexia has made school rough, and her folks aren’t exactly sympathetic. Also seen in: Davey & Jonesie’s Locker.
• Alyvia Alyn Lind as Leile - Abbie’s best friend. When Abbie gets locked away, Leile heads to Vermont to bust her out. She’s grieving her sister and barely keeping it together. Also seen in: The Young and the Restless, Chucky, Daybreak, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Revenge.
• John Daniel as Rory - Grows close to Abbie at the academy. He wants a relationship with his dad more than anything; his dad does not return the energy. Also seen in: The Hardy Boys.
• Brandon Jay McLaren as Dwyane Andrews - Tall Pines cop and Alex’s new partner. Makes a strong first impression, the kind that’s impressive and unsettling at once. Also seen in: Ransom, Graceland, Snowfall, The Rookie.
• Isolde Ardies as Stacey - Abbie’s roommate. Intense is an understatement, and not someone Abbie or Leile should trust. Also seen in: Ruby and the Well.
• Tattiawna Jones as Rabbit - Runs the girls’ side at the academy and used to be a student herself. Desperate for Evelyn’s approval. Also seen in: Flashpoint, Murderbot, A Strange Empire, Lost in Space, 19-2.
• Joshua Close as Duck - Another academy staffer; often found with a guitar in hand. Also seen in: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, Fargo, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Unusuals.
• Tricia Black as Mule - Works at the academy. Softer edges than Rabbit and Duck, but still not someone you want to push. Also seen in: Pretty Hard Cases, Stories from My Gay Grandparents.
• Gage Munroe as Riley - Escapes the academy and begs the cops not to send him back. Also seen in: Voice work including Hotel Transylvania; appeared in Nobody 2.
• Milton Torres Lara as Daniel - Riley’s former roommate at Tall Pines, simmering with anger. Also seen in: Slip, Tales from the Void.
• Elizabeth Adams as Ello - Before Tall Pines, she was in and out of the hospital for heroin addiction. Shares a room with Leile. Also seen in: Trouble in Suburbia, Richard III (2023).
• Patrick J Adams as Wyatt Turner - Headmaster at Abbie and Leile’s school. He suggests Leile head to Tall Pines; she flat-out refuses. Also seen in: Suits.
• Patrick Gallagher as Chief Bartell - Tall Pines Chief of Police. Also seen in: Big Sky, Glee, Night at the Museum.
• Byron Mann as Brian - Abbie’s dad. After enough boundary-crossing from his daughter, he ships her to the academy to straighten her out. Also seen in: Arrow, Wu Assassins, Blood and Water.
• Charlie Gibbard-McCall as Marty - Tall Pines student.
• Maia Jae as Alexandra - Tall Pines student. Also seen in: Gen V.
• Feaven Abera as Kendall - Tall Pines student. Also seen in: Doc.
• Erik Junnola as Tanner - Tall Pines student. Also seen in: It Chapter Two.
• Cynthia Ritchie as Claire - Abbie’s sister; the two could not be more different. Also seen in: Cruel Intentions.
• Jenny Raven as Carla - Abbie’s mother, who parents very differently than her husband. Also seen in: Majority Rules!.
• Carolina Bartczak as Maggie - Leile’s emotionally unavailable mother. Also seen in: Painkiller.
• Carolyn Taylor as Officer Terry - Works for Tall Pines PD and has a surprisingly intense love of stationery. Also seen in: Baroness von Sketch Show.
• Donald MacLean Jr as Kyle - Leile’s boyfriend, and he’s far too old for her. Also seen in: Workin’ Moms.
• Devin Cecchetto as Jess - Leile’s late sister. Also seen in: The Way Home.
• Christina Orjalo as Ashley - Jess’s best friend, and the person Leile has a crush on. Also seen in: Astrid & Lilly Save the World.
• Geena Meszaros as Oatmeal Beth - Graduated from the academy and chose to stick around. Loves oatmeal, obviously. Also seen in: High School.
• Michela Cannon as Harper - Lives in Tall Pines and attended the academy back when Laura was a student. Also seen in: Frankie Drake Mysteries.

Final vibe check

Wayward is a limited series that plays like a pressure cooker: a sunny town, a sinister school, and a cop who walked into the wrong postcard. It’s prickly, darkly funny in spots, and very pointed about generational power plays.

Where to watch

Wayward is streaming now on Netflix.