Black Mirror season 6 kicks off with “Joan is Awful,” featuring a cast of recognizable actors in an offbeat satire of the streaming landscape. Black Mirror season 6 releases June 15, 2023 on Netflix, and "Joan is Awful" revolves around an ordinary woman named Joan who, while exploring a popular streaming service, stumbles upon a new prestige TV drama series based on her own life. This premise gave the Black Mirror casting team plenty of opportunities to cast big stars because most of the characters are played by two actors.
Written by series creator Charlie Brooker and directed by Ally Pankiw, “Joan is Awful” is one Black Mirror's most star-studded episodes. The Black Mirror season 6 cast features such stars as Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, House of Cards’ Kate Mara, and Joker’s Zazie Beetz, but “Joan is Awful” has more famous faces than any other installment in the season. Joan’s real life features a star of Schitt’s Creek and an X-Force member from Deadpool 2, while the TV version of her life features an Eternal from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Beatles plagiarist from Yesterday.
Annie Murphy As Joan
The title character in Black Mirror’s “Joan is Awful” cast, a woman who discovers a hit streaming show based on her life, is played by Annie Murphy. Murphy is best known for playing quotable Alexis Rose in the hit sitcom Schitt’s Creek and Allison McRoberts in the acclaimed satire Kevin Can F**k Himself. She played recurring roles as Ruth Brenner in Russian Doll, Jill in Blue Mountain State, and the voice of Angela in Crank Yankers, and also appeared as herself as the celebrity guest detective in Murderville season 1, episode 4, “Murder by Soup.” Murphy’s work in Schitt’s Creek earned her an Emmy and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Salma Hayek As TV Joan
The TV version of Joan who appears in the in-universe streaming series is played by Salma Hayek. Hayek first achieved fame with the lead role of Teresa Chavero Martínez in the telenovela Teresa, and broke into Hollywood playing Serendipity in Dogma and Santanico Pandemonium in From Dusk till Dawn. Hayek was later nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of painter Frida Kahlo in the biopic Frida. She has since played Ajak in the Marvel superhero movie Eternals, Giuseppina “Pina” Auriemma in House of Gucci, and Roxanne Chase-Feder in the Grown Ups films.
Hayek is one of many A-listers to appear in an episode of Black Mirror. Jon Hamm appeared in the holiday special, “White Christmas.” Letitia Wright appeared in the season 4 finale, “Black Museum.” Anthony Mackie and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II starred in the season 5 premiere, “Striking Vipers.” Much like Miley Cyrus in the season 5 finale “Rachel, Jack, and Ashley Too,” Hayek’s Black Mirror role plays on her real-life celebrity status. Part of the prestige of the in-universe Joan is Awful streaming series is that Joan is played by a world-famous actor.
Michael Cera As Beppe
Michael Cera appears in the Black Mirror “Joan is Awful” cast in the role of Beppe. Cera first rose to prominence with the role of George Michael Bluth in the absurdist sitcom Arrested Development. He gained further recognition with his film roles as Evan in Superbad, Paulie Bleeker in Juno, and Scott Pilgrim in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Cera also made a cameo as himself in This is the End, and voiced Robin in The Lego Batman Movie and Barry in Sausage Party. Cera has appeared on Broadway in the Kenneth Lonergan plays This Is Our Youth, Lobby Hero (which earned him a Tony nomination), and The Waverly Gallery.
Avi Nash As Krish
Krish, Joan’s boyfriend in the real world who stumbles upon the show with her, is played by Avi Nash in the Black Mirror “Joan is Awful” cast. Nash is best known for playing Siddiq on the hit horror series The Walking Dead, with a major arc from season 8 to season 10. He has also appeared in movies as Preet in Learning to Drive, an orderly in Amateur Night, and the comic relief role of Saleem in Netflix’s college-era Barack Obama biopic Barry. Nash’s other TV roles include Wajeed in the HBO comedy series Silicon Valley and Lukas Kyle in the cast of the Apple TV+ dystopian sci-fi series Silo.
Himesh Patel As TV Krish
Himesh Patel plays the TV version of Krish who appears in the Joan-centric streaming series. Patel started his acting career with the role of Tamwar Masood in the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders, which he played from 2007 to 2016. He’s best known for his lead role as Beatles plagiarist Jack Malik in the romantic comedy Yesterday. Patel has also played Jeevan Chaudhary in HBO’s post-apocalyptic limited series Station Eleven (which earned him an Emmy nomination), fixer Mahir in Christopher Nolan’s spy-fi epic Tenet, and journalist Phillip Kaj in the Netflix climate change satire Don’t Look Up. Patel made a cameo appearance as Dr. John Watson in Enola Holmes 2.
Rob Delaney As Mac
Rob Delaney appears in the Black Mirror “Joan is Awful” cast as Mac. Delaney is best known for playing un-superpowered X-Force member Peter in Deadpool 2, and for co-creating and co-writing the Channel 4 sitcom Catastrophe with Sharon Horgan, and starring alongside Horgan as Rob Norris. The actor's notable movie roles include Henry Dubros in Tom & Jerry, Agent Loeb in Hobbs & Shaw, Jeff McKenzie in Home Sweet Home Alone, and Stefan in The School for Good and Evil. On TV, Delaney has played Hatch Flood in The Man Who Fell to Earth and the voices of Brian Tobin in The Great North and Martin Wright in Big Nate.
Ben Barnes As TV Mac
Ben Barnes plays the TV version of Mac in the Black Mirror “Joan is Awful” cast. Barnes is most famous for his roles as Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia movie franchise, Logan Delos in the HBO sci-fi series Westworld, Billy Russo/Jigsaw in the Marvel superhero series The Punisher, and The Darkling in the Netflix fantasy series Shadow and Bone. He made his film debut with the role of young Dunstan Thorn in the 2007 fantasy adventure Stardust. Barnes also played the title character in the Oscar Wilde adaptation Dorian Gray, Tom Ward in Seventh Son, and Samuel Adams in the American Revolution-based History Channel miniseries Sons of Liberty.