While the summer blockbuster movie season is in full swing at movie theaters, Netflix is not sitting on the sideline, with a number of star-studded movies set to highlight a summer of new releases, including the action movie The Mother starring Jennifer Lopez.
Directed by Niki Caro, The Mother is about a deadly assassin who comes out of hiding to protect the daughter she was forced to give up years ago after she is kidnapped by dangerous men. Lopez headlines, but she's not the only familiar face in The Mother cast.
Read on to find out who else is starring in The Mother, who they are playing and where you've seen them before. (Note, some spoilers ahead, but nothing that wasn't revealed in the trailer.)
Jennifer Lopez as the Mother
The main character of the movie is simply known as the Mother, a highly-trained assassin. Though she gave up her own daughter shortly after birth in order to keep her safe, danger still found her. So, after years in hiding, the Mother takes charge of her daughter, protecting her and teaching her how to survive her dangerous situation.
Lopez is a world-famous musician and actress. On the acting side, most are probably more familiar with her work in romantic comedies like The Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan or Marry Me, but she has some action movie experience, and not just in her most recent movie, Shotgun Wedding, which blended the rom-com and action genres. Lopez has appeared in straight-up action movies like Enough and Parker, while also starring as a police officer/federal agent in Out of Sight and Shades of Blue.
Lucy Paez as Zoe
Zoe is the daughter that the Mother gave up. Now 12 years old, Zoe knows nothing about her birth mother, but she is about to learn as the two are reunited when dangerous men are after Zoe.
Lucy Paez is a new face for many, and only has three previous credits to her name: Silencio, The Exorcism of Carmen Farias and an uncredited appearance in Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. With this being the biggest movie of Paez's young career, the actress told Netflix's Tudum that Lopez was a mentor figure on set. "She was very protective of me and I felt like I could talk to her about anything."
Gael Garcia Bernal as Hector Álvarez
Hector Álvarez is a dangerous arms dealer that has a score to settle with the Mother, so he enacts the plan to kidnap Zoe, forcing the Mother out of hiding.
Gael Garcia Bernal broke onto the scene with the movie Y Tu Mama Tambien and has since gone on to star in The Motorcycle Diaries, Babel, Coco and Old on the big screen, as well as Mozart in the Jungle, Station Eleven and Werewolf by Night on TV.
Joseph Fiennes as Adrian Lovell
Adrian Lovell was the Mother's military mentor, but he has since become an arms dealer, who like Álvarez, is trying to draw her out of hiding for revenge.
Viewers would have most recently seen Fiennes on The Handmaid's Tale, but he is also known for his roles in American Horror Story, Flashforward and playing William Shakespeare in the Best Picture-winner Shakespeare in Love.
Edie Falco as Eleanor Williams
Eleanor Williams is a government official who helped oversee the Mother. She is the one who gives the Mother the ultimatum — give up her daughter and go into hiding or put both of their lives at risk. Unfortunately, Williams' promise of safety doesn't last forever.
Edie Falco currently stars in the Peacock original series Bupkis, though she is best known for her time on The Sopranos, where she won two Primetime Emmys as Carmela Soprano. She was also recently seen in Avatar: The Way of Water.
Omari Hardwick as William Cruise
William Cruise is an FBI agent who becomes an ally for the Mother as she tries to rescue and protect her daughter. Playing Cruise is Omari Hardwick, whose credits include Pieces of Her, Army of the Dead, Power, Sorry to Bother You and Kick-Ass.
Paul Raci as Jon
When the Mother is forced to go into hiding, she relies on her former comrade Jon to help her get a new start in Alaska. Paul Raci takes on the role, who viewers should recognize from his time on Perry Mason and his Oscar-nominated performance in Sound of Metal.
The Mother streams exclusively on Netflix as of May 12.
