The Lizzie Borden Cast, Before Lizzie Borden

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is on Netflix and has drawn a lot of attention this month. If the cast made you curious, their earlier work is spread across several services, which makes it a reasonable map for what to watch next. Three of them are a good place to start.

Austin Abrams: teen drama, then worse situations

Austin Abrams has worked across both series and films, and his characters tend to be dealing with complicated social dynamics or something considerably more intense. Occasionally both at once.

One of his earlier notable roles on television was Ron Anderson in The Walking Dead, which began in 2010. The series follows a group of survivors after a zombie apocalypse, and Ron belongs to a community trying to rebuild society while facing threats from outside and conflict from within. The part asks for fear and moral compromise in a survival setting, which in that show is the standard uniform.

He also played Ethan Lewis in Euphoria, which premiered in 2019. The show follows high school students dealing with identity, trauma, drugs and relationships, and Ethan is part of the ensemble that depicts all of it. It streams on Max. Adolescence, as the show presents it, is not a phase anyone would sign up for twice.

On film he played Ben in Paper Towns, from 2015, a coming-of-age story about a group of teenagers looking for someone who has gone missing. Compared with his heavier roles it leans toward friendship and discovery. Check where it streams before you plan around it; availability moves.

Paul Walter Hauser: the character actor's character actor

Paul Walter Hauser is known for character work in both comedy and drama. His roles tend to be distinct personalities who set part of the tone of whatever they are in. If a scene needs a specific kind of person, he is often that person.

In Cruella, from 2021, he plays Horace. The film is an origin story for the Disney villain Cruella de Vil, and Horace is one of her accomplices, involved in schemes that mix crime and fashion. Cruella is on Disney+. It is a film where the henchman has to keep up with the wardrobe.

Before that, he played Ivanhoe in BlacKkKlansman, the 2018 Spike Lee film. It tells the true story of an African-American police officer who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan, and Hauser's part is one piece of the film's depiction of racial tension and social commentary. Check where it is streaming right now.

On television he joined the cast of Cobra Kai, which began in 2018, as Raymond, a character known for a distinctive nickname. The series carries on the story of the Karate Kid films and the rivalry between Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso. Cobra Kai is on Netflix. The rivalry, it turns out, had more rounds in it.

Anne Hathaway: studio films and the other kind

Anne Hathaway has a long filmography that runs from major studio productions to critically recognized dramas, and a pattern of picking roles across a wide spread of genres and character types. The three below cover space, Gotham and Wonderland. Nobody could accuse her of staying put.

She played Brand in Interstellar, the 2014 science fiction film about a team of astronauts traveling through a wormhole to look for a new habitable planet for humanity. Her role involves scientific exploration and hard ethical decisions, usually at the same time. Check the current streaming options before you commit an evening to it.

In The Dark Knight Rises, released in 2012, she played Selina, who works her way through Gotham City's criminal underworld, sometimes on Batman's side and sometimes firmly on her own. The Dark Knight Rises is on Max. Selina's loyalties are flexible. Her aim is not.

She was also Mirana, the White Queen, in Alice in Wonderland, a 2010 fantasy film that takes a new approach to Lewis Carroll's stories and a visually distinct world. Her character is a benevolent ruler of a magical realm, which in Wonderland counts as the unusual job. Check where it is available before settling in.

Where to go from here

Between them, these three cover zombies, high school, Disney villains, a Spike Lee drama, karate, space and Wonderland, spread across Netflix, Max, Disney+ and Prime Video. Pick one thread and follow it. Add the titles to your Binge Boss library and you can see which service each one needs before you pay for a month of it.