Death Note (2017 film)/Cast and Crew

Nat Wolff
Nat Wolff is an American actor who portrays the character Light Turner in Netflix's Death Note.

Wolff's casting was announced on September 29th, 2015 for the film's unnamed lead. Upon the announcement, concerns about whitewashing began to emerge against the film.

Along with his castmates, Wolff attended a Netflix panel at San Diego Comic Con in 2017 to promote the film.


 * Relevant articles
 * Interview: Nat Wolff on ‘Death Note’, the Ryuk Scenes, and a Possible Sequel, Colider, August 25, 2017.
 * Interview: CS Video: Nat Wolff, Adam Wingard and the Death Note Cast, Coming Soon, August 25, 2017. Video interviews.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Nat Wolff
 * Twitter: NatAndAlex (shared account with his brother Alex Wolff)
 * Wikipedia: Nat Wolff
 * Official website: natnalex.com
 * Instagram: natandalex


 * Trivia
 * Wolff previously dated his Death Note costar Margaret Qualley.

Margaret Qualley
Margaret Qualley is an American actress who portrays the character Mia Sutton in Netflix's Death Note.

Qualley's casting was announced November 12th, 2015 for the unnamed female lead. As with the reaction to Wolff's casting, the announcement increased concerns about whitewashing.

Along with her castmates, Qualley attended a Netflix panel at San Diego Comic Con in 2017 to promote the film.


 * Relevant articles
 * Interview: Margaret Qualley Is Killing It On And Off Screen, Nylon, August 22, 2017.
 * Interview: CS Video: Nat Wolff, Adam Wingard and the Death Note Cast, Coming Soon, August 25, 2017. Video interviews.
 * Interview: Netflixオリジナル映画「Death Note/デスノート」マーガレット・クアリー来日インタビュー! 笑いが止まらず何度も撮り直した真剣シーンとは?, TV Groove, August 25, 2017.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Margaret Qualley
 * Wikipedia: Margaret Qualley
 * Instagram: margaretqualley


 * Trivia
 * Qualley previously dated her Death Note costar Nat Wolff. In 2013, Qualley was visiting Wolff on the set of one of his films when she was asked to fill a small non-speaking part, which was her first acting role.

Lakeith Stanfield
Lakeith Stanfield is an American actor who portrays the character L in Netflix's Death Note.

When Netflix picked up the film after Warner Brothers dropped it, it was reported that Stanfield was being considered for an unnamed role although an official offer had not yet been made. Stanfield's casting was announced on June 10, 2016 for an unnamed character. His role was confirmed as L on June 30, 2016 when Netflix released the names of the main cast and characters.

Along with his castmates, Stanfield attended a Netflix panel at San Diego Comic Con in 2017 to promote the film. He wore a covering over his face and remained in character for the event.

In an interview, Stanfield said that he picked up some of his mannerisms for L from Kenichi Matsuyama's performance in the Japanese film series.


 * Relevant articles
 * Watch: 'Death Note's Lakeith Stanfield stays in character all day at Comic-Con, makes three costume changes, LA Times, July 21, 2017.
 * Comic-Con: Lakeith Stanfield brings style, surprise to 'Death Note' detective, USA Today, July 21, 2017.
 * Interview: Death Note: L’s the Name: Exclusive Interview with Lakeith Stanfield, Dread Central, August 24, 2017.
 * Interview: A Bonkers Interview with Lakeith Stanfield, GQ, August 25th, 2017.
 * Interview: CS Video: Nat Wolff, Adam Wingard and the Death Note Cast, Coming Soon, August 25, 2017. Video interviews.
 * Interview: Netflixオリジナル映画「Death Note/デスノート」ラキース・スタンフィールド来日インタビュー! アウトキャストなLに共感, TV Groove, August 30, 2017.
 * Interview: ハリウッド版『デスノ』L役俳優、日本版の松ケンを研究「歩き方を参考に」, Nico Nico News, December 5, 2017.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Lakeith Stanfield
 * Wikipedia: Keith Stanfield
 * Twitter: lakeithlakeith
 * Instagram: lakeithstanfield3

Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American actor who voices Ryuk in Netflix's Death Note. Jason Liles was onset as Ryuk during filming, while Dafoe voiced the character in post-production. Ryuk's CGI appearance is also based on Dafoe.


 * Relevant articles
 * Interview: Netflix's Death Note: Willem Dafoe Talks Ryuk and Skipping the Source Material, IGN, August 26, 2017.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Willem Dafoe
 * Wikipedia: Willem Dafoe
 * Rotten Tomatoes: Willem Dafoe

Shea Whigham
Shea Whigham is an American actor who portrays the character James Turner in Netflix's Death Note.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Shea Whigham
 * Wikipedia: Shea Whigham

Paul Nakauchi
Paul Nakauchi is a Japanese-American actor who portrays the character Watari in Netflix's Death Note.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Paul Nakauchi
 * Wikipedia: Paul Nakauchi
 * Official website: PaulNakauchi.com
 * Twitter: paulnakauchi1
 * Instagram: paulnakauchi

Jason Liles
Jason Liles is an American actor who portrays the character Ryuk in Netflix's Death Note. Liles was onset as Ryuk during filming, while Willem Dafoe voiced the character in post-production.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Jason Liles
 * Twitter: tallie7487
 * Instagram: tallie7487

Adam Wingard
Adam Wingard is an American film director who directed Netflix's Death Note.

It was announced on April 27, 2015 that Wingard would direct the film.

Along with the main cast, Wingard attended a Netflix panel at San Diego Comic Con in 2017 to promote the film.

Explaining what drew him to the material, Wingard said: “It was an opportunity to take something that had a great premise and breath life into it. In terms of what happens is so outlandish: the power to kill everything by writing their name in a book. There were cool themes here and embedded in that was good and evil.”

Following the release of the film and negative reviews, Wingard deleted his Twitter account. His official reason was that he needed to focus on his next project, but many news articles pointed out that the deletion followed the negative fan response regarding Death Note.


 * Relevant articles
 * Interview: How Netflix's Death Note Alters the Original Story With Its American Setting, IGN, June 29, 2017.
 * Interview: What Adam Wingard Wants Death Note Fans To Know About His Netflix Movie, CinemaBlend, July 17, 2017.
 * The Director of Netflix's 'Death Note' Digs Into the Mind-Boggling Ending, Thrillest Entertainment, August 25, 2017.
 * Interview: CS Video: Nat Wolff, Adam Wingard and the Death Note Cast, Coming Soon, August 25, 2017. Video interviews.
 * Interview: David Bowie and Prince Were Adam Wingard's First Choices for Death Note's Demon, io9, August 24, 2017.
 * Interview: Death Note director Adam Wingard: “I wanted the death scenes to be more splattery and crazy”, MyM, August 25, 2017.


 * External links
 * Wikipedia: Adam Wingard
 * IMDB: Adam Wingard
 * Twitter: AdamWingard_ (private), AdamWingard (former),
 * Rotten Tomatoes: Adam Wingard

Masi Oka
Masi Oka is a Japanese-American actor and producer who produced Netflix's Death Note. He also has a brief cameo role in the film as a Japanese detective named Sasaki.

It was announced on April 27, 2015 that Oka would be a producer for the film. On November 17th, 2016, Oka announced in an interview that he had a part in the film as well.

Along with the main cast, Oka attended a Netflix panel at San Diego Comic Con in 2017 to promote the film.


 * Relevant articles
 * Comments on casting: What Crazy Rich Asians can learn from Better Luck Tomorrow, Suicide Squad, Entertainment Weekly, November 10, 2016.
 * Interview: Masi Oka Wants To Set The Record Straight About Those "Death Note" Comments, BuzzFeed, July 19, 2017.
 * Comments made at San Diego Comic Con: Masi Oka Says He Produced Death Note To Protect The Series, Comicbook.com, July 20, 2017.
 * Interview: Death Note Producer Masi Oka On Working With The Manga Creators & Adapting This Challenging Property For Netflix, LRM, August 24, 2017.


 * External links
 * Wikipedia: Masi Oka
 * IMDB: Masi Oka
 * Twitter: MasiOka

Roy Lee
Roy Lee is an American film producer who produced Netflix's Death Note. Lee is known for remaking well-known Asian films for American audiences, such as The Ring and The Grudge. Lee's production company is Vertigo Entertainment which began development of the Death Note remake film in 2008.


 * External links
 * Wikipedia: Roy Lee, Vertigo Entertainment
 * IMDB: Roy Lee, Vertigo Entertainment

Dan Lin
Dan Lin is a Taiwanese-born American film producer who produced Netflix's Death Note.


 * External links
 * Wikipedia: Dan Lin
 * IMDB: Dan Lin
 * Official site: Dan Lin profile on his production company website

Jason Hoffs
Jason Hoffs is a film producer who produced Netflix's Death Note. Hoffs was hired by VIZ Media in 2008 to head VIZ Productions, which was a newly-founded production company for creating films from VIZ's catalogue including the Death Note film.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Jason Hoffs
 * Wikipedia: Viz Media#Viz Productions

Jeremy Slater
Jeremy Slater is an American film writer who worked on the Death Note script after Charley and Vlas Parlapanides. He left before filming to work on another project, and writer Kyle Killen did rewrites after him.

Regarding his Death Note script, Slater said: "It’s the movie Heat, except with teenagers, and one of those teenagers has superpowers. It’s much darker, much funnier, and much more exciting than I think people are anticipating."


 * Relevant articles
 * Interview: Jeremy Slater Gives Update on ‘Umbrella Academy’ Series; Says ‘Death Note’ Is ‘Heat’ with Teenagers, Collider, September 19, 2016.


 * External links
 * Wikipedia: Jeremy Slater
 * IMDB: Jeremy Slater
 * Rotten Tomatoes: Jeremy Slater
 * Metacritic: Jeremy Slater

Charley Parlapanides
Charley Parlapanides is an American film writer who wrote the first draft of the Death Note script with his brother Vlas Parlapanides. The Parlapanides brothers were hired in 2008 by Vertigo Entertainment to pen the script.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Charley Parlapanides
 * Rotten Tomatoes: Charley Parlapanides
 * Metacritic: Charley Parlapanides

Vlas Parlapanides
Vlas Parlapanides is an American film writer who wrote the first draft of the Death Note script with his brother Charley Parlapanides. The Parlapanides brothers were hired in 2008 by Vertigo Entertainment to pen the script.


 * External links
 * IMDB: Vlas Parlapanides
 * Rotten Tomatoes: Vlas Parlapanides
 * Metacritic: Vlas Parlapanides