Out of all of the many frightening sea creatures, sharks have always been one of the more reliable obstacles for great horror movies. However, director Jon Turtletaub’s campy adaptation of Steve Alten’s novel, The Meg, changed things up, putting a much, much larger creature on the big screen: the prehistoric megalodon. You know what is scarier than just one meg? Three of them, which is what you will find in Meg 2: The Trench.
This follow-up to the 2018 blockbuster — helmed this time by Ben Wheatley — does not just feature multiple gargantuan beasts to make you afraid to go in the water, but also a few human characters who are played by newcomers to the franchise. There are also plenty of returning players, such as Jason Statham, who is reprising his heroic lead role from the original. He is where we shall start with our breakdown of the Meg 2: The Trench cast and where else you may recognize them from.
Jason Statham (Jonas Taylor)
Former U.S. Marine Jonas Taylor is only one of many fearless, wisecracking, heroic figures whom Jason Statham has played throughout his action-packed career. Among them are former Special Forces operative Frank Martin from the Transporter franchise, former MI6 agent Deckard Shaw (who started off as a villain) in the Fast and Furious movies, and secret agent Orson Fortune in the most recent of his many Guy Ritchie movies, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.
The British actor has also shown that he can be a good bad guy in movies like Cellular, proved he had no qualms about poking fun at his onscreen persona in the aptly titled comedy, Spy, and has also taken on a few more comparatively grounded roles, such as in the fact-based heist thriller, The Bank Job, from 2008. Statham has another upcoming 2023 movie to look forward to after Meg 2: The Trench — namely the fourth Expendables movie — and is working with David Ayer for the upcoming 2024 movie, The Beekeeper.
Wu Jing (Character Name Unavailable)
Joining in on the hunt is someone who also has had a storied career as an action movie star in his home country: Chinese actor, Wu Jing. The martial arts master landed his breakout role as the lead of 1996’s Tai Chi II, which led to a stellar career in many more ass-kicking roles — some of which he would even direct himself, such as 2008’s Legendary Assassin (with co-director Li Chung-Chi) and both Wolf Warrior movies.
American audiences may recognize Wu from the recent, unique space travel thriller, The Wandering Earth, which gained traction in the United States after it dropped on Netflix in 2019. However, Meg 2 is not his English-language debut either, having previously played an assassin in 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and, technically, joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline with an uncredited appearance in Iron Man 3 as a terrorist from the faux Ten Rings.
Sophia Cai (Meiying)
Reprising her role as Meiyang — a young girl who befriended Jonas during his hunt for the creature — is Sophia Cai. The 2018 thriller was actually her second film and second acting gig ever, having previously debuted in the Chinese romantic drama, Somewhere Only We Know, in 2015.
Cai would return to acting in 2021 for an episode of creator and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s dramedy, Mr. Corman, as a character named Maggie. The Apple TV+ original TV show was also the actor’s most recent credit before starring in Meg 2.
Page Kennedy (DJ)
Also (probably reluctantly) coming back for another high-seas adventure in Meg 2 is scientist DJ, played once again by Page Kennedy. The actor and rapper got his start guest-starring on hit dramas like Six Feet Under and The Shield before landing his feature film debut in 2003’s S.W.A.T. and making his horror movie debut in Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood, that same year.
Following more guest spots on shows like Boston Legal and CSI: Miami, a major recurring role on the hit dramedy, Weeds, and small appearances in films like the 2009 spoof movie, Dance Flick, Kennedy landed a starring role alongside star Alan Ritchson on the second season of the raunchy sitcom, Blue Mountain State, and its feature length spin-off, The Rise of Thadland, from 2016. More recently, and most notably, he worked with his future Meg co-star, Rainn Wilson, on the short-lived cop dramedy, Backstrom; landed a recurring role on the Netflix original sitcom, The Upshaws; and appeared on an episode of the final season of Snowfall on FX.
Sergio Peris-Mencheta (Character Name Unavailable)
Another newcomer to the franchise — reportedly as a human antagonist — is Sergio Peris-Menchata, who, coincidentally, is known for his regular role on Snowfall as Gustavo “El Oso” Zapata. The drug cartel enforcer was also one of the actor’s first roles for American television, having rose to prominence in his home country of Spain.
He already has a prominent career in films that Stateside audiences should know — such as one of the Resident Evil movies (the fourth one from 2010, Afterlife), the 2018 ensemble drama Life Itself, and Rambo: Last Blood as the central antagonist, Hugo Martinez, in 2019. According to Deadline, he was also chosen to host a Spanish version of the Dutch reality competition, The Traitors.
Skyler Samuels (Character Name Unavailable)
Meg 2 is only the latest horror-centric title starring fellow franchise newcomer Skyler Samuels, who made her feature film debut in the 2009 remake of The Stepfather before appearing in the two spookiest Ryan Murphy TV shows (American Horror Story and Scream Queens), most notably. The actor made her acting debut, however, on the Nickelodeon sitcom, Drake & Josh, followed by appearances on Disney Channel comedies like That’s So Raven and Wizards of Waverly Place, before moving on to more mature dramas like ABC’s short-lived fantasy, The Gates, and playing the title role for The Nine Lives of Chloe King on Freeform.
After starring in the underrated 2015 teen dramedy, The DUFF, Samuels was cast on Fox’s Marvel-inspired series, The Gifted, as telepathic triplets Esme, Sophie, and Phoebe Frost. She more recently played Gabby Petito in a 2022 Lifetime movie dramatizing the infamous events surrounding her tragic death and, in 2023, replaced Candace Cameron Bure in Hallmark’s Aurora Teagarden Mysteries as a younger version of the title role.
Cliff Curtis (Mac)
Coming back to play Jonas’ old friend and colleague, James "Mac" Mackreide, is Cliff Curtis, who last worked with Statham in Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and also recently took on some “man-eaters” as part of the Fear the Walking Dead cast and in Mike Flanagan’s 2019 Stephen King adaptation, Doctor Sleep. He has also dealt with a few other unique sea creatures before — as an opponent (in 1998’s Deep Rising), as an ally (in 2002’s Whale Rider), and as an aquatic being himself (in the Avatar: The Way of Water cast as Metkayina leader, Tonowari).
Curtis has several other classic movies on his extensive resume — including 1993’s The Piano, Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day, the Johnny Depp-led true crime drama, Blow, and the fourth installment of the Die Hard movies (2007’s Live Free or Die Hard) to name a few. He could more recently seen in the fact-based crime thriller Muru and the Netflix original movie True Spirit, and is set to return as Tonowari in three more Avatar movies.
See which one of these Meg 2: The Trench cast members is destined to be the hunter, or fish food, in the sequel, which is now in theaters.
