While fake news is a dangerous and annoying problem that still plagues society to this day, something that people cannot get enough of these days is “too-weird-to-be-true news” — many of which are associated with bizarre and hilarious headlines that include the words, “Florida Man.” An eponymous, new Netflix TV show aims to capture the essence of what makes the Sunshine State so ripe for such twisted viral content through the lens of an original piece of crime fiction.
Created by former This Is Us executive producer Donald Todd and produced by Jason Bateman, the eight-episode limited series follows a former cop who is sent by a notorious Philadelphia mobster to locate his girlfriend in the last place he wants to be: his home state of Florida. However, the assignment turns out to be only the first step to an increasingly uproarious situation, which is now available to stream on Netflix. But, first, let’s take a look at who plays whom in the Florida Man cast and what other movies and TV shows you may recognize them from.
Edgar Ramírez (Mike Valentine)
Leading the Florida Man cast as former cop and gambling addict Mike Valentine is Edgar Ramírez, who has previously starred in several Netflix original movies — namely Bright, Wasp Network, The Last Days of American Crime, and Yes Day. He also has several notable theatrical releases to his name, like the third of the Jason Bourne movies (Ultimatum), 2013’s Zero Dark Thirty, sports biopic Hands of Stone, and Disney’s Jungle Cruise to name a few. The Venezuelan-born actor’s biggest small screen hits include his Emmy-nominated performances in the 2011 miniseries Carlos and as Gianni Versace in the second season of American Crime Story, HBO’s The Undoing, and one of Peacock’s best true crime titles, Dr. Death.
Abbey Lee (Delly)
As Delly, the woman Mike is hired to find, we have Abbey Lee, who broke into the acting world as one of the Sister Wives in Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015. She went on to play a goddess in Gods of Egypt, revisit her modeling roots in The Neon Demon, turn heads and inspire laughs in the party movie favorite, Office Christmas Party, and join the Stephen King universe with 2017’s The Dark Tower adaptation. The Australian native’s roles have only grown larger with each new project, with some of the most memorable in recent years being her villainous turn in HBO’s Lovecraft Country cast, a fictionalized version of herself in Gaspar Noe’s Lux Ærterna, and a scene-stealing part in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old cast in 2021.
Emory Cohen (Moss)
Playing Delly’s mobster boyfriend, Moss, is Emory Cohen — another Florida Man cast member who has worked with Netflix a few times before, namely on the platform’s sci-fi TV series, The OA, and the Brad Pitt-led political satire, War Machine, from 2017. His debut role in the 2008 coming-of-age drama Afterschool led to roles in acclaimed films like The Place Beyond the Pines (also starring Ryan Gosling) and the period romance Brooklyn, opposite Saoirse Ronan. He more recently appeared in the Blumhouse creature feature Sweetwater, played a racist cop in the Blue Bayou cast, and starred in the star-studded fantasy comedy, Big Gold Brick, in 2022.
Anthony LaPaglia (Sonny Valentine)
Mike’s father and fellow cop-turned-criminal, Sonny, is played by Anthony LaPaglia, who has played a number off law enforcement officials before — most notably on Without a Trace to Emmy-nominated acclaim — and a few criminals, such as Barry Muldano in 1994’s The Client or Al Capone in 2002’s Road to Perdition. The Australian actor once took home an Emmy for his recurring role on Frasier, starred opposite Mike Myers in 1993’s So I Married an Axe Murderer, leant his voice to animated favorites like Happy Feet and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, and starred in one of the most revered Conjuring Universe movies (Annabelle: Creation) as the creator of the titular, possessed doll.
Lex Scott Davis (Iris)
Mike’s ex-wife, Iris, is played by Lex Scott Davis, whose last Netflix original title was the Jason Momoa-led movie, Sweet Girl, in 2021, which is also one of her more recent crime dramas following her recurring role on the series remake of Training Day, the 2018 remake of Blaxploitation classic, SuperFly, and ABC’s short-lived dramedy, Rebel. She broke out as the title role of Lifetime’s 2016 music biopic, Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart, and went on to star in the first of the Purge movies (in chronological order, that is), landed a five-episode stint on The L Word: Generation Q, and appeared in the Son of the South cast in 2020.
Otmara Marrero (Patsy)
Mike’s sister, Patsy, is played by Otmara Marrero, who is best known for the Crackle original crime series, StartUp, her lead role in the 2019 lesbian romance, Clementine, and the Covid-era ensemble comedy series, Connecting… One of her earliest roles was a small appearance on the Dwayne Johnson-led HBO series, Ballers, in 2015, which she would follow-up with movies like the 2018 comedy, Miss Arizona, and Vandal — a drama from the following year.
Clark Gregg (Deputy Sheriff Ketcher)
As Deputy Sheriff Ketcher, we have Clark Gregg, whose last Netflix original titles were the Amy Poehler-directed comedy, Moxie, from 2021, and the more recent, post-9/11-era documentary, The Anthrax Attacks, for which he portrayed Dr. Bruce Ivins in scripted segments. He also had small roles in classic ‘90s movies like The Usual Suspects and Clear and Present Danger, played Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ ex-husband on The New Adventures of Old Christine, and wrote, directed, and starred in 2013's Trust Me. Of course, Gregg’s best-known role is, easily, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson from various Marvel movies and TV shows.
Paul Schneider (Officer Andy Boone)
As fellow Florida cop Andy Boone, we have Edgar Ramírez’s The Assassination of Gianna Versace: American Crime Story co-star, Paul Schneider, who starred in movies like Elizabethtown and The Family Stone before landing, arguably, his most recognizable role from the Parks and Recreation cast as Mark Brendanawicz. Following that short-lived stint on the beloved sitcom, he starred in 2011’s Water for Elephants, worked with Woody Allen on Café Society, led the first season of one of the creepiest shows on Shudder, Channel Zero, and had a starring role on one of the weirdest shows on Amazon Prime, Tales from the Loop.
Isaiah Johnson (Benny)
As Haitian-born Florida motel owner Benny, we have Isaiah Johnson, who originated the role of George Washington in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s blockbuster rap opera, Hamilton — which he also poked fun at in a 2017 Curb Your Enthusiasm episode. His best known screen acting credit is the role of Sky on the OWN network original drama, David Makes Man.
Lauren Buglioli (Kaitlin Fox)
Starring as local TV news anchor Kaitlin Fox is Lauren Buglioli, who last played a reporter in 2020’s Bad Boys For Life and whose previous Netflix original credits are the short-lived superhero series Raising Dion and Tyler Perry’s romantic period mystery drama, A Jazzman’s Blues. She made her feature-length debut in Unstoppable (not the train movie with Denzel Washington, but a Wesley Snipes thriller from 2004), played the lead of the 2020 horror movie, Transference, and also appeared in two of Bruce Willis’s last movies — namely Vendetta and White Elephant.
Sounds like the next “Florida Man” headline you will read could be “Florida Man Wows Audiences With Stellar Acting Ensemble,” considering all the talented names in the cast. See how you feel about the actors yourself when you stream Florida Man on Netflix now.
