You Know These Faces: Where The Abandons Cast Earned Their Spurs Before Netflix’s Yellowstone Challenger

Netflix just dropped a new Western with a stacked cast and a very clear pitch: if Yellowstone is your thing, The Abandons wants your time. It premiered December 4, 2025, and it is loaded with familiar faces. If you keep pausing to ask 'where do I know them from?', I got you.

Created by Kurt Sutter, the series is set in the 1850s and centers on Fiona Nolan, a devout Irish woman who adopts four orphans, builds a cattle ranch in Oregon, and then gets into a fight for her land when European aristocrats try to claim it. At the top of the food chain are Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson as rival matriarchs — rough-hewn frontier grit vs. old-money mining power. Yes, it is very much aiming for the Yellowstone crowd, and honestly, swinging hard.

Who is who in The Abandons cast

• Lena Headey as Fiona Nolan — the show's moral and emotional center, a ranch-running survivor raising her 'abandoned' young adult kids. Headey has been doing layered, steel-spined characters for decades: Emmy-nominated as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones; a Saturn Award-nominated turn as Gorgo in 300 (2006); Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009); the villainous Ma-Ma in Dredd (2012); plus films like The Remains of the Day, Imagine Me & You (2005), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Fighting with My Family (2019). She also voiced The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance in 2019. Her film debut was Waterland in 1992.
• Gillian Anderson as Constance Van Ness — formidable head of a wealthy clan whose sway comes from the mining business, and a perfect foil for Fiona. Anderson's resume is a greatest-hits list: Dana Scully in The X-Files (1993–2002), which brought her Emmy and Golden Globe wins; Lily Bart in The House of Mirth (2000); Lady Dedlock in Bleak House (2005); Wallis Simpson in Any Human Heart (2010); Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier in Hannibal (2013–2015); Margaret Thatcher in The Crown; and Jean Milburn in Sex Education. On stage, her runs in A Streetcar Named Desire and All About Eve earned Olivier nominations. Expect authority, ambition, and charisma dialed way up.
• Nick Robinson as Elias Teller — brings a grounded, youthful charge to the frontier. He broke out in Melissa & Joey (2010–2015), led The Kings of Summer (2013), headlined Love, Simon (2018) and The 5th Wave (2016), and held his own in Jurassic World (2015). He also starred in the acclaimed miniseries A Teacher (2020).
• Diana Silvers as Dahlia Teller — rising star energy with a sharp edge. Silvers started acting at 12, popped up in Glass, then took on Ma (2019) and Booksmart (2019) before playing Erin Naird in Netflix's Space Force (2020–2022). She led Birds of Paradise (2021) and appeared in the anthology Into the Dark in 2018. The Abandons marks another major step up.
• Lucas Till as Garret Van Ness — charisma plus action chops, which is exactly what a Western family power player needs. Till's path runs from Walk the Line (2005) to Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009), to Marvel duty as Havok in the X-Men films (2011–2016), to five seasons headlining MacGyver (2016–2021). He also starred as Bob Zellner in Son of the South (2020).
• Aisling Franciosi as Trisha Van Ness — the kind of actor who quietly steals scenes. She won an AACTA Award for The Nightingale (2018), anchored The Fall (2013–2016), and turned up in I Know This Much Is True (2020). She has range across genres too, from His Dark Materials to Black Narcissus, and she voices Kaylie in The Legend of Vox Machina (2023–2024).
• Lamar Johnson as Albert Mason — a performer with both kinetic energy and heart. Johnson first broke out as West in The Next Step (2013–2019), then hit films like The Hate U Give (2018), All the Bright Places (2020), and award-winner Brother. He drew widespread praise as Henry in The Last of Us (2023) and also appeared in Native Son. Expect him to make this role pop.
• Natalia del Riego as Lilla Bella — fresh face, sharp presence. Del Riego has turned up in Promised Land and played Rosa Reyes in NCIS: Los Angeles (2019–2023), starred in Hail Mary (2023), and even saddled up for a guest spot on Chicago P.D. Early materials sometimes list the character as Lilla Belle, but Lilla Bella is what the show is using.
• Marc Menchaca — recurring role, specifics under wraps for now. Menchaca is one of those versatile, quietly lethal actors who elevates everything: Russ Langmore in Ozark (2018), Jack Hoskins in The Outsider (2019), plus key turns in The Sinner and Manifest. On the film side, he led the indie #LIKE (2021) and fronted Netflix horror No One Gets Out Alive (2021). He is also an award-winning writer and director.
• Toby Hemingway — recurring, role not yet announced. You have definitely seen him: Reid Garwin in The Covenant (2006), Tom in Black Swan (2010), Quinn in Playback (2012), and Barca in Division 19 (2017). He is one of those utility players who can slot into any tone the show needs.

All together, it is a deep bench: two ringers at the top, a sharp younger core, and a few secret weapons in the margins. The show is set in 1850s Oregon, the stakes are land, blood, and power, and the clash between Fiona Nolan and Constance Van Ness is the kind of TV beef I will happily watch simmer for a season.

The Abandons is streaming now on Netflix. Team Fiona or Team Constance? You know what to do.