Into The Badlands: 10 Facts You Didn’t Know About The Cast

For three seasons, AMC’s Into the Badlands told the story of a young warrior boy entangled in a war between warlords looking to gain full control of a territory. Some say that the show is comparable to HBO’s Game of Thrones, with its most intense fight scenes featuring some of the best martial arts stunts seen on television in recent years.

Unfortunately, AMC made the decision to cancel the series in 2019. Since then, the show’s cast members have been busy with other shows and films. That said, there are many things to know about the cast.

10 Daniel Wu’s Career Started With A Commercial

Having studied architecture, you can say that Wu stumbled into acting by chance. As it turns out, he was visiting Hong Kong, watching the handover to China from British rule when fate intervened. And it all happened because Wu went broke.

“Halfway through that trip I had run out of money,” the actor recalled while speaking with CGM. “Then one night I was at a bar with some friends and some girl approached me and asked if I wanted to be in a TV commercial,” That commercial paid Wu $4,000. It also led to his first feature film.

9 Daniel Wu Was Only Supposed To Executive Produce The Show, Not Star In It

By the time, Into the Badlands got hold of Wu, the actor was already established in the Chinese market, having starred in several action films, even alongside Hollywood stars such as Lucy Liu and Russell Crowe.

And when he got contacted for Into the Badlands, it was initially thought that Wu would only join the production as an executive producer because of his martial arts background. In the end, however, Wu’s onscreen presence helped elevate the series, as it showcased martial arts fighting stunts that are often only featured in movies.

8 Orla Brady Missed The Audition Deadline For The Show Because She Was Busy With American Odyssey

Prior to booking Into the Badlands, the Irish-born actress had been hard at work on the NBC series American Odyssey. In fact, she was so busy filming that she completely missed the audition deadline for Into the Badlands. Luckily for her, it didn’t matter.

“Three weeks later a friend of mine was coming to New York and I just said, will you read if I go on tape?” Brady told Geek Chic Elite. “They hadn’t found anybody in the first round and when the casting director saw my tape, she told me anyway, she just thought, that’s Lydia, that’s her.”

7 Orla Brady Is A Huge Fan Of Frozen

Perhaps, what many don’t realize about Brady is that she is a huge fan of Disney’s Frozen, which is arguably the best Disney animated film to come out in 2010. It also happens to be one of the highest-grossing Disney princess films of all time.

“I would love, love, love to have had something like Frozen when I was a kid,” the actress remarked while speaking with Irish Times. “But there were no female characters you could identify with.” At the moment, it doesn’t appear that Brady will be dabbling in animation anytime soon, though.

6 Prior To Working On The Show, Madeleine Mantock Famously Starred In The Tomorrow People

Prior to working on Into the Badlands, Mantock was already an established television actor, having previously starred in The Tomorrow People as Stephen’s best friend, Astrid Finch. Mantock jump at the chance of joining Into the Badlands because it was a new show and she needed the job.

Also, the actress told Black Nerd Problems, “The prospect of being involved with a network like AMC is a big draw …” Since the show ended, Mantock has moved to another big network, CW, where she stars in the reboot of Charmed, which some say is better than the previous show.

5 Sarah Bolger Starred In TV Shows And Films Before Joining Into The Badlands

Bolger already had quite an extensive career long before she signed on to star in Into the Badlands. Prior to the show, Bolger had starred in the critically acclaimed series, The Tudors, as Mary Tudor. Years later, the actress also portrayed Princess Aurora in the ABC series Once Upon a Time.

Aside from working on television, Bolger also took on a number of film roles, including in The Spiderwick Chronicles and The Lazarus Effect with Olivia Wilde. Meanwhile, Since Into the Badlands ended, Bolger has had roles in Marvel’s Agent Carter and Mayans M.C.

4 Emily Beecham Worked With George Clooney Before Coming On The Show

Beecham had previously starred in the Coen brothers’ Hail, Caesar, which is headlined by Oscar winner George Clooney. Granted, the actress played a minor role in the movie (as a Hollywood starlet). Nonetheless, Beecham got to work on a high-profile ensemble movie whose cast also included Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jonah Hill, and Ralph Fiennes.

Despite all the big names attached to the movie, however, Hail, Caesar managed to work with a meager budget, thanks in part to Clooney and his co-stars’ willingness to take pay cuts, as the Coen brothers told Variety.

3 Nick Frost Ventures Into Fantasy And Animation Projects Often

It’s no surprise that Into the Badlands would appeal to Frost considering that he’s always dabbled in fantasy. In fact, Frost has starred in movies such as his own film Shaun of the Dead, as well as Attack the Block and The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Frost has also been lent his voice to several animated films and series.

Early on in his career, Frost worked on The Adventures of Tintin and Ice Age: Continental Drift, which belongs to one of the most successful animated film franchises of all time. Later on, Frost followed these up with The Boxtrolls and Netflix’s 3Below: Tales of Arcadia.

2 Into The Badlands Was Oliver Stark’s Second Attempt To Break Into U.S. Television

It’s hard to imagine that Stark found it hard to get noticed by Hollywood. But as it turns out, this actor wasn’t successful the first time he tried. Fortunately, things eventually turned around for him.

“The second time I went out [to L.A.] was a much bigger deal for me because I had to rebuild all the confidence I’d lost and it was on that trip that I booked Into The Badlands,” the actor revealed while speaking with Fault. Since the show ended, Stark went on to star in FOX’s 9-1-1.

1 Ally Ioannides Was Known For Her Work On Parenthood Prior To Joining The Into The Badlands Cast

Just like some of the Into the Badlands cast members, Ioannides was also no stranger to television by the time she booked a part on the AMC show. In fact, the actress famously starred on the NBC series Parenthood as Dylan Jones.

And since the show was a drama, it didn’t prepare the Ioannides for the intensity of working on Into the Badlands. “That first training camp was such a shock and one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she told The TV Junkies. “I’ve never sweat so much.”