If you’re a fan of high-end movies featuring Oscar-winning performances, special effects which push the envelope, and impactful stories, then you won’t have watched Green Lantern. The 2011 movie, based on the DC Comics character of the same name, does not have a great reputation, and you’ve probably avoided it as a result.
Fair enough, no one would blame you. But if you have skipped Green Lantern, then you will have forgotten which well-known actors were in the movie. And the term “forgotten” is being used rather loosely here, because you can’t forget what you haven’t seen.
Of course, even if you haven’t watched the movie, you know Ryan Reynolds is in the film, as he regularly makes jokes about the movie. But what about the rest of the cast?
Below is a list of 11 well-known actors who appeared in Green Lantern. If you never knew they starred in the movie, soon you will!
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Blake Lively
First up is Blake Lively, who is best known for her roles in the television show Gossip Girl as well as the movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. In Green Lantern, Lively played the role of Carol Ferris, vice president of Ferris Aircraft, and also the love interest of lead character Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern.
Fun fact: While the movie might not have been a hit, while working together on the set of Green Lantern, Lively and Ryan Reynolds began dating, which in turn led to them getting married in 2012.
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Mark Strong
Next up is Mark Strong, who played the part of Sinestro – a fellow Green Lantern and mentor to Hal Jordan. Strong has a long list of high-profile movies to his name, including Stardust (2007), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Kick-Ass (2010), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), and Cruella (2021), amongst others, but DC fans will also know him as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana in the DCEU movies Shazam! (2019) and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023).
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Tim Robbins
The next actor on the list is Tim Robbins, who took on the role of United States senator, Robert Hammond. Robbins has an extensive film portfolio which ranges from Howard the Duck (1986) and Top Gun (1986) through to Jungle Fever (1991), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), and War of the Worlds(2005).
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Taika Waititi
A very surprising name now, which many people do not associate with Green Lantern (including those who actually watched the movie). It is actor/director, Taika Waititi!
In the film, Waititi played the role of Hal Jordan’s engineer friend, Tom Kalmaku. However, Waititi’s performance is very subdued, and lacks any hint of the off-the-wall humour he is known for.
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Angela Bassett
Next up is Angela Bassett who took on the role of Amanda Waller (credited as ‘Dr’ Waller) in Green Lantern. Bassett is known for roles in films such as Malcolm X (1992), How Stella Got her Groove Back(1998), and Black Panther (2018), but is perhaps best known for her powerful performance in the Tina Turner bio-pic, What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993).
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Peter Sarsgaard
Actor number six on this list is Peter Sarsgaard, who is known for movies such as The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), Jarhead (2005), and Black Mass (2015), as well as TV shows including The Killing and Dopesick. In Green Lantern, Sarsgaard played corrupted scientist, Hector Hammond – the chief villain of the movie.
Eleven years after appearing in Green Lantern, Sarsgaard returned to the world of DC movies to play the role of Gotham District Attorney Gil Colson in 2022’s The Batman.
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Jay O. Sanders
Next up is Jay O. Sanders who appeared in the role of Carl Ferris – aircraft designer and father to Carol. Sanders has a long body of work with roles in films such as JFK (1991), Angels in the Outfield (1994), Kiss the Girls (1997), and The Day After Tomorrow (2004).
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Temuera Morrison
Temuera Morrison is the next actor on the list, playing the role of Abin Sur – the alien who crash landed on Earth and recruited Hal Jordan to be a Green Lantern. Morrison is perhaps best known for his role in Once Were Warriors (1994), as well as various Star Wars projects including The Book of Boba Fett, and appeared in the role of Tom Curry in three DCEU movies: Aquaman (2018), The Flash (2022), and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023).
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Geoffrey Rush
You’ll almost certainly be forgiven for forgetting that actor Geoffrey Rush is in Green Lantern, because the actor provides vocal duties for a CGI character. Voicing the Green Lantern known as Tomar-Re, Quills (2000) and Pirates of the Caribbean actor, Rush is essentially hidden in plain sight.
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Michael Clarke Duncan
Another CGI character on the list and this time it is the Green Lantern known as Kilowog, who is voiced by the late Michael Clarke Duncan. Before his death in 2012, Duncan featured in a string of movies including Armageddon (1998), The Green Mile (1999), and Planet of the Apes (2001).
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Clancy Brown
And finally, yet another well-known actor hidden from view: Clancy Brown. The actor voiced the villainous entity, Parallax.
Outside of Green Lantern, Brown is known for his work in countless movies including Highlander and The Shawshank Redemption, as well as TV shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dexter: New Blood. However, to DC fans he is best known as the voice of Lex Luthor in the DC Animated Universe.
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Thank you for stopping by I’ll Get Drive-Thru to read this post about Green Lantern. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
Alex is the editor and writer of I’ll Get Drive-Thru – a blog which specialises in all things related to Batman and DC Comics. After graduating with a degree in film & television studies, Alex studied journalism, before acquiring NCTJ accreditation. Prior to creating I’ll Get Drive-Thru, Alex was a magazine editor, a senior copywriter, and a freelance writer. He is now, and always has been, a Bat-fan!
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