‘Nonnas’ cast and character guide

Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella

The motor-mouthed Vince Vaughn built his career on ribald, big-hearted ne’er-do-wells in comedies like Swingers (1996), Old School (2003), and Wedding Crashers (2005).

His early career, however, was marked by several more enigmatic turns in films like Clay Pigeons (1998) and Gus Van Sant’s Psycho remake (1998). The last decade has seen Vaughn return to intense, physical performances in Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017), Dragged Across Concrete (2018), and True Detective‘s much-maligned second season.

Most recently, the actor found success as Freddy Funkhouser in final seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm (2020–2024), as well as last year’s Apple TV+ series Bad Monkey.

Vaughn leads Nonnas as Joe Scaravella, who seeks an escape from his dead-end job (and his grief over his late mother) by starting a restaurant honoring the kind of Italian comfort dishes she cooked for him as a boy.

“I really enjoyed the connection of food and family — the idea that love and culture was passed down through food and get-togethers, and that those gifts stay with us always,” Vaughn told EW of the role.

Susan Sarandon as Gia

Susan Sarandon is a five-time Oscar nominee (and one-time winner for her role in 1996’s Dead Man Walking), as well as a six-time Emmy nominee and nine-time Golden Globe nominee.

After scandalizing a generation in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Sarandon worked with acclaimed filmmakers like Louis Malle (Pretty Baby, Atlantic City), Tony Scott (The Hunger), Ridley Scott (Thelma & Louise), George Miller (The Witches of Eastwick, Lorenzo’s Oil), Paul Schrader (Light Sleeper), and the Wachowskis (Speed Racer).

She remains prolific, having spent the last decade lending her voice to animated series like American Dad! (2016), Rick and Morty (2017–2023), and Krapopolis (2023). Her other notable credits include Feud: Bette and Joan (2017), which she also co-produced, and Ray Donovan (2017–2019).

Sarandon’s glamorous Gia is the restaurant’s pastry chef, producing desserts as fluffy as the perms she no doubt doles out at her hair salon.

Lorraine Bracco as Roberta

The brassy Lorraine Bracco will forever be associated with the Mafia, what with her iconic roles as mob wife Karen Hill in Goodfellas (1990) and as put-upon psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi on The Sopranos (1999–2007). The former netted her Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, while the latter received four Emmy and three Golden Globe nominations. (That she never won is criminal!)

After spending the ’90s on the big screen in films like Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), Hackers (1995), and The Basketball Diaries (1995), the actress followed her Sopranos success with roles on Rizzoli & Isles (2010–2016), Bojack Horseman (2016), and Blue Bloods (2017–2018). In 2022, she voiced Sofia the Seagull in Robert Zemeckis’ Pinocchio.

As the trailer demonstrates, Bracco’s bold, outspoken Roberta is a proud Sicilian with no love for her Bolognese counterparts. The actress is the ideal casting choice, given that she spends part of the year living in a 200-year-old home in Sicily, the restoration of which she chronicled for HGTV.

Talia Shire as Teresa

Talia Shire, the sister of Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola and mother of actor Jason Schwartzman, is a two-time Oscar nominee for her work as Connie Corleone in The Godfather trilogy (1972–1990) and as Adrian in the Rocky films (1976–2006).

Her recent credits include Coppola’s Megalopolis (2024), as well as appearances on the series Grace and Frankie (2018), Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce (2018), and Abbott Elementary (2024).

Shire’s soft-spoken Teresa left the monastery for the kitchen. She also has a romantic history that may surprise those familiar with her years in the habit.

Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella

Brenda Vaccaro had an auspicious start to her career, scoring Golden Globe nominations for her first two film roles in Where It’s At and Midnight Cowboy, both released in 1969. She’d later win a Globe (and receive an Oscar nod) for playing Linda Riggs in Once Is Not Enough (1975).

As a voice actress, Vaccaro contributed to animated films like Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) and the series The Smurfs (1984-1989), The Critic (1994), and Johnny Bravo (1997–2004). Most recently, she appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and multiple episodes of the Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That… (2021).

“I’ve never had such a good time with a film,” Vaccaro told EW of playing the widowed Antonella. “I call it my Jimmy Stewart movie. There were moments where you went, oh my gosh, is that really happening? It was really charming.”

Linda Cardellini as Olivia

Linda Cardellini had been a working actress for years by the time she landed the lead role of Lindsay Weir on Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000), which gave way to a starring role on ER (2003–2009) as nurse Samantha Taggart. Cardellini later earned Emmy nominations for her guest turn on Mad Men (2013–2015) and a starring turn on Netflix’s Dead to Me (2019–2022).

Though she’s starred in dozens of notable films, she’s probably best known for playing Velma in Scooby-Doo (2002) and its 2004 sequel, as well as Laura Barton, wife of Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, in multiple Marvel projects.

Cardellini will next appear as the homicidal mother of masked slasher Jason Voorhees on Peacock’s Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake.

In Nonnas, Cardellini plays Olivia, Joe’s former prom date who lends a hand with the legal side of the restaurant business.

Drea de Matteo as Stella

Drea de Matteo was a highlight on The Sopranos (1999–2006) as the doomed (and fashionable) Adriana La Cerva, a role that earned her a Primetime Emmy in 2004. She later starred opposite Matt LeBlanc as Gina Tribbiani on the Friends spinoff Joey (2004–2006) and played Wendy Case on the FX biker drama Sons of Anarchy (2008–2014).

Over the past decade, she regularly appeared on NBC’s crime drama Shades of Blue (2016–2018), as well as on ABC’s A Million Little Things (2019) and Amazon Prime’s Paradise City (2021). She made headlines in 2023 after starting a profile on OnlyFans, an adult-oriented online subscription service.

During a recent appearance on Fox News Saturday Night, de Matteo said she was drawn to Nonnas because it illustrates how to cultivate community, which is “what being Italian is about and what life should be about.”

Joe Manganiello as Bruno

Joe Manganiello is best known as True Blood‘s Alcide Herveaux, a role he played from 2010 to 2014, though you may also recognize his oiled torso from the Magic Mike trilogy as Big Dick Richie (2012–2023).

His other notable roles include Brad Morris on How I Met Your Mother (2006–2012), Owen Morello on One Tree Hill (2008–2010), and Deathstroke in Justice League (2017), a role for which he’s actively campaigned. This year, he got into the hosting game as the overseer of Deal or No Deal Island.

Manganiello plays Bruno, Joe’s best friend. Speaking with EW, the actor says he was pleased to finally get to play an Italian. “I’m of mixed ancestry, so I haven’t been cast as Italian a lot in my life,” he said. “There were little nuanced, funny things about being Italian that I felt like I understood.”