Set in the decaying heart of Gary, Indiana, We Strangers follows Ray Martin (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), a fiercely charismatic woman navigating the razor’s edge between ambition and cultural erasure. Her journey exposes the unspoken contracts of race, class, and identity in America’s forgotten industrial landscapes.

Directed with sociological precision, the film dissects assimilation’s illusions through Ray’s collisions with two families: the white, economically anxious Laiches and the upwardly mobile Indian-American Patels. This ensemble masterpiece interrogates who gets to belong—and at what cost.

We Strangers cast members

1. KIRBY HOWELL-BAPTISTE → RAY MARTIN

The Chameleon Strategist
From The Good Place’s cosmic wit to Barry’s grounded grit, Howell-Baptiste weaponizes charisma. Her Ray Martin is Gary’s survival architect: a Black woman code-switching between worlds, using others’ biases as tools. Expect layered stillness—every smile a calculated move in America’s racial chessboard.

Why this casting devastates: Kirby’s British-Nigerian roots mirror Ray’s outsider-insider duality. Her performance will expose assimilation’s toll—not through speeches, but silent compromises. When Ray cleans Jean Laich’s home, watch Kirby’s eyes: ambition and erasure warring in one glance.

2. PAUL ADELSTEIN → ED LAICH

The Fragile Patriarch
Adelstein (Scandal, Girlfriends’ Guide) masters men clinging to vanished power. Ed Laich embodies white anxiety in Gary’s decay—a former factory foreman now delivering pizzas. Paul’s specialty? Niceties masking resentment.

Class collision: Adelstein’s Midwest authenticity makes Ed’s racism tragically banal. His scenes with Ray won’t roar; they’ll simmer with “polite” microaggressions. When he “compliments” her “articulate” speech, feel the blade beneath the smile.

3. SARAH GOLDBERG → TRACY PATEL

The Model Minority Myth
Goldberg’s Emmy-nominated Barry role (Sally’s performative ambition) bleeds into Tracy Patel—an Indian-American lawyer armoring herself in respectability. Sarah excels at women crafting flawless facades while crumbling inside.

Assimilation’s lie: Tracy’s curated perfection hides generational trauma. Goldberg will weaponize Tracy’s judgment of Ray’s “ghetto” authenticity, revealing immigrants’ complicity in anti-Blackness. Their confrontation in a Whole Foods aisle? Cinematic dynamite.

4. MARIA DIZZIA → JEAN LAICH

The Liberal Ghost
Dizzia (Orange Is the New Black, The Staircase) embodies women haunted by privilege. Jean Laich hires Ray as a cleaner while preaching allyship—a patron saint of performative wokeness.

The betrayal: Maria’s genius is in subtle unraveling. Jean’s “kindness” curdles when Ray challenges her savior complex. Watch for the scene where Jean calls police on “suspicious” Black teens—Dizzia will make you weep with her character’s oblivious toxicity.

5. HARI DHILLON → NEERAJ PATEL

The Bargaining Immigrant
Dhillon (Succession, The Undeclared War) radiates corporate assimilation. Neeraj Patel trades cultural roots for suburban acceptance—a man who’d rather discuss golf than Gujarat.

Internalized racism: Hari’s steely charm masks Neeraj’s self-loathing. His dismissal of Ray’s struggles (“My family made it—why can’t yours?”) becomes the film’s most brutal indictment. Dhillon delivers it with a smile that chills.

6. TINA LIFFORD → WILLIE MARTIN

The Unyielding Root
Lifford (Queen Sugar) is Black matriarchy incarnate. Willie Martin—Ray’s mother—stands as Gary’s moral anchor, rejecting respectability politics with a wave of her hand.

Generational war: Tina’s volcanic warmth fuels Willie’s clashes with Ray. Her monologue about “cleaning white folks’ messes while they steal your soul”? Awards bait. Lifford doesn’t act Willie; she channels ancestral rage.

7. KARA YOUNG → MARI WINTERS

The Uncompromising Voice
Tony-nominee Young (Cost of Living) brings Gen-Z ferocity. Mari Winters isn’t code-switching—she’s burning systems down. Kara’s stage-honed intensity makes Mari the film’s moral sledgehammer.

Youth vs. compromise: Young’s scenes with Kirby will crackle. When Mari screams at Ray, “They’ll never see you as human!”, Kara’s delivery won’t ask for tears—it demands revolution.

8. JAZZANAE SHERMAN → KAYLA WINTERS

The Dreaming Shadow
Sherman (All American) embodies vulnerable aspiration. Kayla Winters mirrors young Ray—tempted by escape, terrified of betrayal. Jazzanae’s expressive eyes telegraph entire histories in silences.

Tragic parallelism: Sherman’s Kayla is Ray’s ghost of futures past. Their shared glance across a bus aisle—Kayla en route to college, Ray to clean houses—says more than dialogue ever could.

9. JARED CANFIELD → DANIEL

The Oblivious Heir
Canfield (Swagger) plays entitled whiteness with chilling ease. Daniel Laich inherits dwindling privilege, blind to his family’s racism. Jared’s “nice guy” persona makes the toxicity insidious.

Complicity exposed: Daniel’s line to Ray—”My mom says you’re like family!”—becomes horror via Canfield’s vacant smile. He doesn’t hate; he simply doesn’t see her humanity.