WeCrashed Cast, Character & Real Life Comparison Guide
Apple TV+'s newest biographical drama series WeCrashed is filled with a star-studded cast representing all the real-life characters involved in WeWork's rise and fall. Based on the Wondery podcast of the same name, WeCrashed follows the enigmatic WeWork CEO Adam Neumann and his wife, Rebekah Neumann, as the $47 billion startup company goes through its stratospheric climb and tumultuous downfall. WeWork is famously known to be a communal workspace company that still has hundreds of locations worldwide, despite its surrounding controversies. After being founded in 2010, a string of incompetency and disillusion led Neumann to step down from WeWork's board in 2019. WeCrashed joins a trend of limited TV series about true-story scams like Hulu's The Dropout, which retells Elizabeth Holmes' massive Theranos scandal, and Netflix's Inventing Anna, which follows Anna Sorokin's fraudulent identity scheme.
With content like the dystopian office sci-fi drama Severance and Apple TV+ upcoming MonsterVerse series, the streaming platform is recognizing the growing competition of Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and more. While the WeWork controversy has already been exhausted through several works already, like the aforementioned podcast and Hulu's documentary WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn, Apple TV+'s WeCrashed is putting more focus on the love story between Adam and Rebekah through the company's rollercoaster ride during the 2010s. The show is all the better for it, too, as it's a fresher approach to this retold story about selfish, wealthy people becoming further detached from reality. Even if WeCrashed's affiliation with tech supergiant Apple means that the series can't delve too deeply into the ills of billion-dollar companies that WeWork's story inherently expresses, WeCrashed still attempts to revitalize the story as much as it can.
Whereas The Dropout's characters reflect people directly connected to the true story, WeCrashed takes a slightly different approach to its characters. Most of the cast represents real people, but for the sake of general creative liberties or narrative flow, some characters are fictionalized representations of real people or elements of the story. Nonetheless, the general story is real. Here is the comprehensive character guide to WeCrashed.
Portraying Adam Neumann, the central character to the WeWork story, is Jared Leto. After failing to garner venture capitalist investors for any of his ideas, self-proclaimed "serial entrepreneur" Adam Neumann founded WeWork on the principle of redefining the modern-day workspace. Growing up in an Israeli commune known as a "kibbutz (קיבוץ)," Neumann wanted to create the same sense of community from his childhood for a growing gig economy workforce. Due to his unusual, magnetic, and persuasive personality, some have equated Neumann to be more like WeWork's cult leader.
With Morbius' pushed-back release date, it's only fortunate in the meantime for Jared Leto to star in a role that he exemplifies so perfectly, despite not matching Neumann's six-foot-five frame. With Neumann's soft-spoken Israeli accent and wavy, shoulder-length hair, Leto encapsulates WeWork's CEO much more effectively than Paolo Gucci in House of Gucci, a role which Leto received backlash for regarding his controversially comedic portrayal. Leto's other notable works include Dallas Buyers Club, for which he won an Academy Award, Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, and many others.
Playing Adam's wife and muse Rebekah Neumann is Anne Hathaway. Rebekah Neumann was a yoga teacher and occasional actress in New York City when she met Adam. Also famous for being Gwyneth Paltrow's cousin, Rebekah played an integral force in the growth of WeWork. She also founded the short-lived company WeGrow, an offshoot of WeWork that focused on education and childhood development.
With Anne Hathaway's parts in Colossal, The Princess Diaries, and The Devil Wears Prada, the actress has grown an established name for herself. Hathaway played Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises and earned an Academy Award for Les Misérables. As Rebekah Neumann, Hathaway exudes the character's deep, assured voice and spiritual New Age essence.
Kyle Marvin portrays Miguel McKelvey, Adam Neumann's WeWork cofounder. Neumann collaborated with McKelvey for his connections in the architectural and real estate industries, which were integral to helping WeWork grow. WeCrashed presents McKelvey as the voice of reason to the lofty Neumann, creating a tense partnership. Kyle Marvin is a filmmaker known for producing and starring in The Climb, which won the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard award as the jury's Coup de Cœur.
Playing Elishia Kennedy is America Ferrera, who starred as Astrid in the How to Train Your Dragon series, a franchise that includes some of the best animated movies of the decade. Ferrera's other notable works include Superstore, Ugly Betty, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Elishia Kennedy is a fictionalized character representing SoulCycle's founder Julie Rice, who became WeWork's chief brand officer in November 2017. As WeWork's value rose in the billions, Rice used her expertise to globalize WeWork's brand more. Her work with SoulCycle made Rice a valuable asset to WeWork, but she left the company just two years after being recruited.
Cameron Lautner is a fictional amalgamation of partners at the venture capital firm Benchmark that Adam Neumann worked closely with. Benchmark is notable in WeCrashed for being the first major investor for WeWork. Playing Cameron Lautner is O-T Fagbenle, who has starred in The Handmaid's Tale and plays the lead in the Hulu show Maxxx. Fagbenle also starred in the MCU's Black Widow as Rick Mason, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who helps Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) after the events of Captain America: Civil War.
One of the more influential players in WeCrashed is Masayoshi "Masa" Son, a Japanese billionaire and SoftBank's founder and CEO. Masa Son grew his wealth through investing in large companies like Uber and China's internet company ByteDance. With SoftBank's $100 billion "Vision Fund," Masa invested an estimated $18.5 billion in WeWork, a move he now regrets. Playing Masa Son is Kim Eui-sung, a South Korean actor most known for Train to Busan and the Korean series Taxi Driver.
- Shanti Ashanti as Adi Neumann - Adam's sister.
- Anthony Edwards as Bruce - Benchmark investor. Edwards has starred in Zodiac and Top Gun.
- Cricket Brown as Chloe Morgan - Recurring WeWork employee.
- Theo Stockman as Jacob - One of WeWork's first employees.
- Peter Jacobson as Bob Paltrow - Rebekah's dad.
New episodes of WeCrashed premiere on Apple TV+ every Friday.