Six Feet Under Cast Guide: Who Stars in the Darkly Funny Family Drama - Netflix Tudum

  • Who’s Who

    Meet the To-Die-For Cast of ‘Six Feet Under’

    You’ll definitely recognize the starry players in this darkly funny family drama.

    By Jessica Shaw
    Oct. 23, 2023

Over the course of five seasons of Six Feet Under, death and life did their singular dance at the Fisher & Sons Funeral Home, one always moving with the other. With the Fisher family as our guides, living could be bleak, dying could be comical, and the coolest ride around was always a hearse. 

The drama (which is streaming on Netflix starting Nov. 1) premiered in June 2001, just months before 9/11 changed the world and forced so many of us to reckon with what it meant to get more time. Perhaps that’s one reason why we felt so connected to the Fishers and those in their orbit — the insightful, artistic, selfish, misunderstood, scared, and hopeful characters— who were just trying to figure things out before they ended up on Rico’s embalming table. 

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It quickly became clear Six Feet Under was something special, which is why it attracted the likes of Kathy Bates, Justin Theroux, Catherine O’Hara, Ben Foster, Bobby Cannavale, Illeana Douglas, and Mena Suvari for story arcs. But if we’re talking about the show’s beating heart, the following characters truly brought it to life.

Peter Krause as Nate Fisher in Six Feet Under.

Peter Krause

as Nate Fisher
About the Character

The eldest of Nathaniel and Ruth’s three children, Nate moves back home to Los Angeles from Seattle after his father dies. Nate’s façade as a commitment-phobic, carefree heartthrob quickly crumbles when he steps up as half-owner of Fisher & Sons, falls in love with his airport hookup Brenda, and gets a scary diagnosis. He’s loyal, volatile, vulnerable, and deeply afraid of dying. 

Previously In

Krause struck another emotional chord as Adam Braverman on Parenthood and now helps save lives on 9-1-1


Michael C. Hall as David Fisher in Six Feet Under.

Michael C. Hall

as David Fisher
About the Character

The most buttoned-up of the Fisher siblings, he committed to working at Fisher & Sons long before his father’s death. Initially repressed, conflicted, and closeted, David becomes more comfortable with his emotions, his family, and his sexuality as the series progresses. 

Previously In

Hall went on to play serial-killer-with-a-conscience Dexter Morgan in Dexter, portrayed JFK on a Season 3 episode of The Crown, and earned strong reviews on Broadway playing the title characters in Lazarus and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

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Safe
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In the Shadow of the Moon
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The Crown
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Lauren Ambrose as Claire Fisher in Six Feet Under.

Lauren Ambrose

as Claire Fisher
About the Character

The youngest Fisher child and the only one not involved in Fisher & Sons. She begins the series as a high school student overflowing with sarcasm, brains, and terrible taste in men. By Season 2, she is the promise of the series with sarcasm, brains, and incredible artistic talent.

Previously In

Her on-screen characters have gotten mixed up in all sorts of drama, whether on Servant or Yellowjackets. On stage, Ambrose earned a Tony nomination for playing a powerful Eliza Doolittle in the 2018 Broadway revival of My Fair Lady


Frances Conroy as Ruther Fisher in Six Feet Under.

Frances Conroy

as Ruth Fisher
About the Character

Ruth goes through life somewhat frustrated and underappreciated, partially because society encouraged women of her generation to seek out fulfillment exclusively as mothers, and partially because she didn’t break free from those societal norms. After her husband dies, she tries to figure out where things went wrong in her life and how to create a better existence for herself, whether as a mother, florist, or lover who pays off mafia debts. 

Previously In

Clearly not done with dark themes, she became a fixture on Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story anthology, earning Emmy nominations for her work in AHS: Murder House and AHS: Coven

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The Power of the Dog
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Nimona
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Richard Jenkins as Nathaniel Fisher in Six Feet Under.

Richard Jenkins

as Nathaniel Fisher
About the Character

Considering he dies in the first minutes of the series, everything we know about Nathaniel we learn from flashbacks. He wasn’t exceedingly available emotionally to his own children, though he was generous and paternal toward Rico. He had his secrets, but family was important to him, which is why he left Fisher & Sons 50/50 to Nate and David. 

Previously In

Jenkins played another conflicted father, Lionel Dahmer, on DAHMER-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, for which he earned an Emmy nomination. 

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DAHMER
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Rachel Griffiths as Brenda Chenowith in Six Feet Under.

Rachel Griffiths

as Brenda Chenowith
About the Character

The brilliant, complex, and sex-positive (or sex-addicted, depending on the season) massage therapist brings along plenty of childhood baggage into her relationship with Nate. For starters, the fictional novel Charlotte Light and Dark, in which a preternaturally intelligent young child is interrogated by therapists, is based on young Brenda. And then there’s her very close bond with her brother, Billy.

Previously In

She starred as Sarah Walker in Brothers & Sisters from 2006-2011, and also appeared in films like Saving Mr. Banks and Hacksaw Ridge. She made her Broadway debut in 2011 with the play Other Desert Cities


Jeremy Sisto as Billy Chenowith in Six Feet Under.

Jeremy Sisto as Billy Chenowith (right) in Six Feet Under.

 

Jeremy Sisto

as Billy Chenowith
About the Character

Brenda’s younger brother is a talented artist who suffers from bipolar disorder. His unnaturally close bond to his sister (think: his-and-hers lower back tattoos!) can play out with him showing up unannounced or taking secret photos of Brenda in bed with Nate. He and Claire have a connection, much to Nate’s dismay, and Billy recognizes Claire’s artistic talent almost before she does. 

Previously In

He played a single dad in Suburgatory and a special agent in three incarnations of Dick Wolf’s FBI franchise. 

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Freddy Rodriguez as Federico “Rico” Diaz in Six Feet Under.

Freddy Rodriguez

as Federico “Rico” Diaz
About the Character

An incredibly talented restorative artist (as in, he makes dead people look their best), Rico works alongside Nate and David, occasionally threatening to leave, and ultimately becoming a partner. He can be loving and warm, but can also be violently homophobic. 

Previously In

He starred as in-house counsel Benny Colón in the legal drama Bull

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Justina Machado as Vanessa Diaz in Six Feet Under.

Justina Machado

as Vanessa Diaz
About the Character

Vanessa is Rico’s wife and she wants more of everything: more money, more of a house, and for Rico to have more ownership in Fisher & Sons. She’s a registered nurse, at first at a nursing home (until an incident involving a hot dog gets her fired) and later at a hospital. Things fall apart for her once her mother dies.

Previously In

She’s had recurring roles on Jane the Virgin and Superstore, but she’s best known for playing Penelope Alvarez on One Day at a Time

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One Day at a Time
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All Together Now
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Patricia Clarkson as Sarah O’Connor in Six Feet Under.

Patricia Clarkson

as Sarah O’Connor
About the Character

Ruth’s younger sister is everything Ruth isn’t. She’s adventurous, untethered, and part of a hippie/artist community. She tells Claire she used to live with Allen Ginsberg in Berlin, and hosts parties in Topanga Canyon where her out-there friends eat hallucinogenic mushrooms. Like Billy, she sees promise in Claire’s art early on.

Previously In

She starred in films like Easy AShutter Island, and the Maze Runner films, along with the miniseries Sharp Objects, and as Claire-ally Jane Davis on House of Cards

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House of Cards
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James Cromwell as George Sibley in Six Feet Under.

James Cromwell

as George Sibley
About the Character

George is a geology professor who meets Ruth after attending a funeral at Fisher & Sons. He treats his depression by getting married over and over again.

Previously In

The Oscar-nominated actor has appeared in everything from The Young Pope to Succession.

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The Laundromat
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The Family
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Mathew St. Patrick as Keith Charles.

Mathew St. Patrick

as Keith Charles
About the Character

Initially a Los Angeles cop, Keith begins the series as the closeted David’s secret boyfriend, but he encourages David to come out to his family. He can be adoring to David and parental toward his niece, but he can also be cranky and cantankerous, and his violent streak gets him into professional trouble. 

Previously In

He appeared on Sons of Anarchy and Hawaii Five-0


Lili Taylor as Lisa Kimmel in Six Feet Under.

Lili Taylor

as Lisa Kimmel
About the Character

Claire describes her as “crunchy-granola backpacky” which feels spot-on for Nate’s ex-fling with whom he has a one-night stand while visiting Seattle. She moves to Los Angeles several months later to be a nutritionist for a rich client, runs into Nate at an upscale market, and reveals some life-changing information to him.

Previously In

Taylor has appeared in various roles on all three seasons of American Crime, as well as on Perry Mason, and in the 2017 Broadway staging of Marvin’s Room.

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To the Bone
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Eli
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Joanna Cassidy as Margaret Chenowith in Six Feet Under.

Joanna Cassidy as Margaret Chenowith (left) in Six Feet Under.

 

Joanna Cassidy

as Margaret Chenowith
About the Character

A psychiatrist with no boundaries as far as messing up her own kids, Brenda and Billy, Margaret is self-absorbed, inappropriate, misguided, and at times funny. She met her husband Bernard (“Bern”) when she was his student, and they have an on-again-off-again relationship. 

Previously In

Plenty, popping up on series including Everwood, Star Trek: Enterprise, Desperate Housewives, and NCIS: New Orleans

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