Escape At Dannemora – Cast and Real Life Character Guide

Showtime's Escape to Dannemora utilizes an exceptional cast to tell its true crime story. The 2018 limited series is based on the 2015 escape from Clinton Correctional Facility in which two men, Richard Matt and David Sweat, successfully escaped thanks to the help of their mutual friend who worked at the prison, Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell could break out. Showtime required Actors like Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette, Paul Dano, Bonnie Hunt and more to bring these and other real-world characters to life.

Escape to Dannemora The series originally premiered on Showtime in 2018, but is now also available on Netflix and secured a spot in the top 10 in October 2024. Created by Brett Johnson and Michael Tolkin, the series was directed by actor Ben Stiller and examines the true events of the Before, during and after the infamous prison break in 2015. Of course everyone.”based on reality“TV series requires some creative freedom, but with such an extraordinary cast Escape to Dannemorait's easy to believe that this true crime happened exactly like that.

Benicio del Toro as Richard Matt

Date of birth: February 19, 1967

Benicio del Toro is a Puerto Rican-born actor His career began by playing gangsters on television shows in the 1980s MiamiVice. His career gained momentum with his appearance in The usual suspects in 1995, in which he played crook Fred Fenster. This established Del Toro as a character actor and led to projects like The funeral (1996), Basquiat (1996) and The fan (1996). Some of his other most notable roles have been in series Traffic (2000), 21 grams (2003) and more recent films like Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) and reptile (2023).

Del Toro plays Richard Matt Escape to Dannemoraa convicted murderer and career criminal with a history of prison escapes. The real Matt was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for second-degree murder at Clinton Correctional Facility before escaping in June 2015 along with fellow inmate David Sweat. Matt escaped with the help of Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell, a prison employee with whom he had a sexual affair.

Patricia Arquette as Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell

Date of birth: April 8, 1968

Chicago-born actress Patricia Arquette first rose to prominence for her role as Kristen Parker A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), which led to other prominent projects such as The Hi-Lo Land (1998), Bringing forth the dead (1999) and holes (2003). Arquette too Notably, she played the role of Allison DuBois in the drama mediumwhich earned her a Primetime Emmy Award in 2005, an honor repeated for her performance as Dee Dee Blanchard in the 2019 miniseries The law.

Arquette plays Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell Escape to Dannemoraa prison employee who was part of the three-way sex affair with prisoners Richard Matt and David Sweat (despite being married herself). Mitchell served as a commercial training supervisor at Clinton Correctional Facility and assisted Sweat and Matt in their infamous prison escape in 2015.

Arquette plays Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell in “Escape at Dannemora,” a prison employee who was part of the three-way sex affair with prisoners Richard Matt and David Sweat.

Paul Dano as David Sweat

Date of birth: June 19, 1984

Paul Dano, born and raised in New York City, New York, came into the spotlight in 2001 with his role in LIE And He gained further fame in 2006 with the role of teenager Dwayne Little Miss Sunshine. From then on, Dano took on roles in projects like There will be blood (2007), Gigantic (2008), 12 years slave (2013) and The Batman (2022). Dano's TV roles include Pierre Bezukhov in 2016 War and PeaceCaspian Keyes in Pantheon (2022 – 2023) and Harris Materbach in Mr and Mrs Smith (2024).

Dano plays David Sweat Escape to Dannemoraanother felon with whom Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell begins a sexual affair and ultimately helps him escape. The real Sweat had been jailed for first-degree murder after a New York gun deal led to the death of Broome County Sheriff's Deputy Kevin Tarsia. Sweat was serving a life sentence without parole before escaping from Clinton Correctional Facility in 2015.

Although Richard Matt was shot after escaping, David Sweat was arrested and taken back to prison.

Bonnie Hunt as Catherine Leahy Scott

Date of birth: September 22, 1961

Bonnie Hunt, born in Chicago, Illinois, landed her first film role in the 1988 hit Rain Mainwhere she played waitress Sally Dibbs. From there, Hunt appeared in various popular family films of the 1990s and 2000slike for example Beethoven (1992), Jumanji (1995) and Cheaper by the dozen (2003). Hunt also hosted The Bonnie Hunt Show from 2008 to 2010 and took on a handful of voice roles in popular Disney franchises such as The life of a beetle, Monsters Inc, Toy Story, ZootopiaAnd Cars.

Hunt plays Catherine Leahy Scott Escape to Dannemorathe New York State Inspector General who led the investigation into Matt and Sweat's grand escape from Clinton Correctional Facility. Scott's own account of the event, published a year after the escape, helped Stiller gather enough facts (via Times-Union) close Escape to Dannemora a reality.

Escape At Dannemora supporting cast and characters

Meet the supporting cast of Escape in Dannemora

Eric Lange as Lyle Mitchell – Eric Lange, best known for Day shift (2022) and Brand new cherry flavor (2021 – present), plays Lyle Mitchell in Escape to DannemoraTilly's husband, who also works at Clinton Correctional Facility.

David Morse as Gene Palmer – Actor David Morse is best known for his role as Dr. Jack “Boomer” Morrison known St. Elsewhere (1982 – 1988). He plays Gene Palmer Escape to Dannemoraan inmate companion at Clinton Correctional Facility.

Jeremy Bobb as Dennis Lambert – Jeremy Bobb is best known for his roles in Godless (2017), Russian doll (2019) and The Continental (2023). In Escape to DannemoraBobb plays Dennis Lambert, one of Clinton's correctional officers.

Michael Beasley as Murder – Michal Beasley, best known as Uncle Calvin on HBO's Rap shitHe plays murder Escape to Dannemoraan inmate next to Sweat and Matt.

Joshua Rivera as an angel – Joshua Rivera, known for The last OG And monsters and men, plays Angel in Escape to Dannemora.

Carolyn Mignini as Ilene Mulvaney – Carolyn Mignini is known for her roles on Broadway as well as appearances in projects such as House of cards, Blue BloodsAnd Crazy about you. Magnini plays Ilene Mulvaney Escape to DannemoraTilly's boss.

Gregory Dann as Albert Boyd – Gregory Dann, known for birth (2004), Inside the human being (2006) and Michael Clayton (2007), joins the cast of Escape to Dannemora plays Albert Boyd, Sweat and Matt's least favorite CO.

Source: Times-Union