30 Days Of Night Cast Breakdown
The 2007 horror film directed by David Slade has a solid supporting ensemble behind the leads. The main role of Eben Olathe was played by Josh Hartnett, who was at a point in his career where he was trying to move away from teen idol typecasting. His performance is understated for the most part — not a lot of emotional range, but functional and credible as a rural Alaska sheriff dealing with a vampire siege. Melissa George plays Stella Carlsen, a visitor to the remote Alaskan town. She's the emotional anchor in a film that doesn't really have one. Doug Jones takes on the role of the Tall One, the vampire leader. Jones is an unusual choice because he's primarily known as a creature performer and makeup artist — you'll recognize him from other genre films. The physical requirements of that role were intense, especially given the filming conditions in New Zealand during winter.
30 Days Of Night Cast Supporting Members
The supporting cast includes people most viewers won't immediately recognize but who are working professionals in the industry. Mark Boone Junior plays Al, the town drunk and comic relief character who doesn't provide much comic relief. Michelle Branch, actually a real musician from that era, plays Tammy. Her acting performance isn't memorable, but she's serviceable. Daniel Cook appears as Steve Carlsen, Stella's husband. Matthew Gray Gubler has a small role as Deputy Joe. This was early in his career before he got the TV show that made him famous. Patrick Kilpatrick shows up as Frank, and R. Brandon Johnson appears briefly as Jake. Michael St. Michaels plays the sheriff's father, Haggard, a former sheriff whose health becomes a plot point. I remember watching this when it came out and being mildly surprised by how competent the creature effects were for a mid-budget production. The makeup and prosthetics work held up better than I expected, which is saying something for a 2007 genre film. The practical effects budget was tighter than most people realize, and they still managed something passable.
The main issue with the film, honestly, is the pacing. It spends about forty minutes building tension in a very limited location, then the third act collapses into confusion. The vampire design and rules are never clearly explained. You end up with questions like why certain vampires behave differently from others, and the film doesn't bother answering them. If you're looking at this from a casting perspective, the interesting detail is that director David Slade chose actors who could physically sell the cold environment. Alaska sets were notoriously uncomfortable to shoot in, and several cast members have mentioned in interviews that the low temperatures affected their performance choices. Hartnett in particular had to do a lot of physical work in freezing conditions, which is why certain scenes feel more genuine than others. The film is based on the graphic novel by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith. Some people prefer the source material, which has a tighter structure and clearer rules for the vampire threat. The movie adaptation simplified things significantly, partly because of runtime and partly because the studio wanted something more accessible.
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There's also a sequel, "30 Days of Night: Dark Angels," which was released directly to video in 2010. The cast changes significantly there. If you're trying to track down who was in which version, the original film's cast is easier to find complete information about because it had an actual theatrical release.
