Vacation Friends Cast & Character Guide

The Vacation Friends cast of characters offers a slate of stellar comedic talent; here’s what the actors have been in before. Recently released on Hulu, it tells a literal odd-couple tale of two mismatched couples who meet while on a weeklong vacation in Mexico. One couple is uptight, there to relax and celebrate their engagement. The other couple is there to get wild. When they part, the uptight couple assumes everyone realizes it was just a temporary bond formed while they were all on vacation, and go back to their normal life.

Their wild week in Mexico comes back to haunt them, however, when their wedding weekend is crashed by the other, crazy couple, who apparently took what happened during their drunken nights in Mexico as a lifelong bond. Comedic shenanigans ensue, tension escalates, and there’s an inevitable falling-out before the just as inevitable reunion.

Of course, some of the scenarios are completely ridiculous–what odd-couple comedy would be complete without that? It takes a talented cast of actors to pull off the sillier, raunchier sequences while still driving home the heartfelt and unexpected friendship at the center of the movie. Here’s the cast of Vacation Friends and where audiences have seen them before.

Lil Rel Howery as Marcus

Lil Rel Howery’s Marcus could be considered the protagonist of the movie. Straight-laced and responsible, he’s desperate to make his fiancée Emily’s dad respect him for once–or at least stop actively hating him. It’s not an easy feat. Howery has been in a number of recognizable projects, and this summer has been a good one for him, with him recently appearing as Buddy in Free Guy. Other notable movies include Get Out, Tag, Bird Box, Judas and the Black Messiah, and Bad Trip, among others. TV roles include The Carmichael Show, playing Quentin on Insecure, and Rel on Rel.

Yvonne Orji as Emily

Yvonne Orji plays Emily, Marcus’ soon-to-be wife and the cooler head of their couple. Emily is much less uptight than Marcus and sometimes wonders if they need to loosen up and have more fun. Still, her dad’s dislike of Marcus is a source of tension. Orji is relatively new to Hollywood, with her most notable role to date being Molly Carter on Insecure. She’s also had brief guest stints on Jane the Virgin and A Black Lady Sketch Show. Along with Vacation Friends, Orji’s other movies include 2020’s Spontaneous and 2018’s Night School.

John Cena as Ron

John Cena plays Ron, who is the kind of friend everyone had at least one of in college–the friend who drank the most, went the hardest, and was always up for the craziest stunts and pranks, yet somehow always walked away unscathed. Cena has had himself a heck of a 2021, also costarring in F9 and The Suicide Squad. Cena also returned to WWE SummerSlam 2021 earlier this summer. Other movies include Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, Fighting with my Family, Blockers, Playing with Fire, Trainwreck, and the Daddy’s Home movies. Clearly, Cena has parlayed his wrestling showmanship and uncanny timing into over-the-top comedy in his jump to Hollywood.

Meredith Hagner as Kyla

Meredith Hagner’s Kyla is Ron’s partner and the love of his life. She’s sweet, bubbly, supportive–and completely inappropriate at the worst possible times with no sense of boundaries. Hagner has a solid TV resume doing comedy and dramedies, with notable roles as Portia Davenport on Search Party and Amy on Men at Work, with other roles on Royal Pains and Younger. Hagner’s movie roles have ranged all over, from horror to indie comedy, including superhero horror movie Brightburn, Palm Springs, Ingrid Goes West, Set it Up and The Oath.

Vacation Friends Supporting Cast

Robert Wisdom as Harold – Emily’s dad, Harold is well-off and looks down on Marcus for having what he considers a lowly blue-collar job. Wisdom has had a lengthy career with a number of notable roles including Bobby Washington in That Thing You Do!, Coleman Carlisle on Nashville, Howard ‘Bunny’ Colvin on The Wire, and Lechero on Prison Break.

Andrew Bachelor as Gabe – Emily’s brother, Gabe has a special hatred for Marcus thanks to Marcus having once punched him at a family get-together. Bachelor is known for playing T.J. Gigak on The Mindy Project, Trayvon on Black Jesus, King Bach in King Bachelor’s Pad, John in The Babysitter movies, and Freezee in the Meet the Blacks movies.

Kamal Angelo Bolden as Bennet – Gabe’s friend who comes to the wedding and participates in Gabe’s confrontations with Marcus. Bolden has had guest stints on TV shows Rosewood, Betrayal, and Chicago Fire, and movies The Night Before and Elvis & Nixon.

Denise Burse as Grandma Phyllis – Emily’s grandma who is thought to be almost comatose before Kyla brings her out of her shell. Burse is best known for her long-running role as Claretha on House of Payne, and has appeared in other shows such as Manifest, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and acclaimed Black Mirror episode “San Junipero.”

Other Vacation Friends supporting cast include Lynn Whitfield as Suzanne, Emily’s mom; Tawny Newsome as Brooke, Emily’s sister; Carlos Santos as Maurillio, the Mexico hotel clerk; Chuck Cooper as Larry, Marcus’ dad; and Anna Marie Horsford as Nancy, Marcus’ mom.

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