Amy Schumer’s latest television series for Hulu is a comedy-drama that revolves around an urban woman revisiting her hometown while dealing with a mid-life crisis of her own. With the show earning rave reviews, Life & Beth puts the spotlight on its leads Amy Schumer and Michael Cera.
Other than its two leads, the Hulu original also stars several other talented comedians and character actors who have had experience in both television and cinema. A few others are also established stand-ups along with even a Broadway legend joining the ensemble.
Amy Schumer – Trainwreck
While Amy Schumer has appeared in several movies, the Life & Beth leading star’s most critically acclaimed movie would be Trainwreck.
One of the best Judd Apatow comedies, Trainwreck deals with an impulsive woman who struggles with alcoholism, professional tussles, and an unstable love life. When she meets a mild-mannered sports doctor, she tries to get her act together in hilarious ways. For her acting in Trainwreck, Schumer earned herself a Golden Globe nomination and one from the Writer’s Guild of America as she also wrote the screenplay.
Michael Cera – Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
From Arrested Development to his 2000s movies, Michael Cera has almost always been typecast as a childish nerd. In Life & Beth, he plays a more mature character as a farmer who befriends Beth in her journey for self-discovery.
When it comes to the best Michael Cera movies, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an undisputed favorite. Based on the comic of the same name, the action-fantasy-romance deals with a boy’s attempts at winning over a girl by defeating her seven exes in combat. The result is a stylish, over-the-top, and hilarious adventure offering Cera the perfect opportunity to showcase his adorable and naive persona.
Susannah Flood – Chicago Fire
As Ann, Susannah Flood plays the hilarious yet cautious sibling. Both of them have had a strained relationship with their mother that is explored further in the series.
Flood is a Broadway actress with her major stage credit being a revival of The Cherry Orchard. When it comes to TV, viewers would have seen her in Law & Order Special Victims Unit and Chicago Fire. She appears in three episodes in the latter as Athena Bailey-Johnson, a woman who is determined to shut down Molly’s, the bar that serves as a recurring location in all shows of the Chicago franchise. Athena cites noise concerns as a cause for the shutdown but ultimately fails with Molly’s still standing.
Yamaneika Saunders – In Security
Comedienne Yamaneika Saunders appears in Life & Beth as Maya, one of Beth’s city friends who constantly gives her professional and dating advice.
Apart from a slew of on-stage comedy performances, Saunders has appeared in all six episodes of the Comedy Central animated show In Security. The premise deals with an incompetent security team assigned to the Museum of Art and Science where their lack of skills leads to chaotic hilarities. Saunders plays Anita, one of the bumbling members of the team.
Michael Rapaport – Deep Blue Sea
Michael Rapaport plays Beth’s overbearing father Leonard, one of his many character roles in movies and TV shows that include the likes of True Romance, FRIENDS, and Justified.
One of his leading screen credits includes the cult 90s creature feature Deep Blue Sea. The movie deals with an experiment gone wrong as genetically engineered sharks wreak havoc in an underground testing facility. Rapaport appears as one of the marine engineers Tom Scoggins. Much like the rest of his crew, Tom struggles for survival as the sharks flood the facility. The movie has gone on to be a public favorite for its B-movie tributes and over-the-top theatrics.
Laura Benanti – Supergirl
Along with Michael Rapaport’s Leonard, Laura Benanti joins the cast of Life & Beth as one of Beth’s parents. She plays a central role as Amy Schumer’s comedy focuses on the protagonist’s strained relationship with her mother.
A popular theatre actor with years of Broadway experience and five Tony nominations, Benanti’s tryst with television includes the first two seasons of the live-action DC comics show Supergirl. She played the primary antagonist Alura, a member of the Kryptonian Science Council. Additionally, she also appears as Alura’s twin sister General Astra who attempts to take over Earth after a coup attempt in Krypton.
LaVar Walker – Uncle Drew
Playing a character known as simply Lavar, LaVar Walker also serves as a writer for nine episodes of Life & Beth.
He has appeared in only a few movies and shows as he mostly indulges in stand-up comedy and variety shows where he appears as himself. When it comes to his cinematic pursuits, Walker had a brief role in the basketball comedy Uncle Drew. Marketed as an “anti-ageist” comedy, the movie deals with an old basketball legend who assembles his team of seasoned veterans to win a streetball tournament. Interestingly, the cast also includes NBA legend Shaquille O’ Neal who had previously collaborated with Walker by producing the comedy special All-Star Comedy Jam.
Kevin Kane – Inside Amy Schumer
Kevin Kane stars in the initial episodes of Life & Beth as the titular protagonist’s ex-boyfriend Matt. Even though he seems to be perfect on the surface, he adds to Beth’s mid-life crisis eventually leading to a breakup.
Kane actually has had a lot of previous experience with his on-screen lover Amy Schumer with her comedy sketch show Inside Amy Schumer and movies such as Snatched and I Feel Pretty. As Inside Amy Schumer included several sketches, Kane also got to play a wide variety of characters. As he also served as executive producer, he and Schumer won the 2015 Emmy for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series.
Rosebud Baker – Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys
Apart from leading lady Amy Schumer, Life & Beth includes several real-life comedians in the ensemble, Rosebud Baker being one of them.
Baker has appeared in a slew of independent films along with the reality TV series Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys. The latter is based on the journey of four gay men and their female best friends as they explore their professional and personal life. In the case of Baker’s episode, the show sheds light on her friendship with a friend from college called Sahil Farooqi. As Farooqi hadn’t come out to his parents at that time, the episode captures his fears and how his friends help him overcome them.
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