Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires has an ensemble filled with both familiar faces and up-and-comers. The new movie is the fourth installment in the Disney Channel musical franchise, which kicked off in 2018 with Zombies, a musical that followed love blossoming between a teenage zombie and a human cheerleader in the town of Seabrook.
As implied by its тιтle, 2025’s Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires introduces new monsters to the franchise after the second installment brought in a group of werewolves and the third brought in aliens. This time around, the story follows a conflict between groups of vampires and daywalkers whose territory is in the countryside outside of Seabrook.
The introduction of two new groups of monsters necessitates a reduction of the number of legacy characters in the new movie, though a handful of stars from the original trilogy return to pᴀss the torch to the next generation.
The Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires Cast |
|
---|---|
Actor |
Character |
Milo Manheim |
Zed |
Meg Donnelly |
Addison |
Freya Skye |
Nova |
Malachi Barton |
Victor |
Chandler Kinney |
Willa |
Kylee Russell |
Eliza |
Swayam Bhatia |
Vera |
Mekonnen Knife |
Vargas |
Lisa Chappell |
Eldress |
Julian Lerner |
Ray |
Jonno Roberts |
Commander Bright |
Milo Manheim as Zed
Date Of Birth: March 6, 2001
- Active Since: 2009
Actor: Zombies 4 star Milo Manheim was born in Venice, California, and had his breakout in the original Zombies. Since then, he has starred in teen projects like the supernatural drama School Spirits (as 1980s jock ghost Wally) and musicals like the biblical adaptation Journey to Bethlehem (as Joseph). He’s also the son of Law & Order star Camryn Manheim.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:
тιтle |
Character |
---|---|
Zombies (2018) |
Zed |
Zombies 2 (2020) |
Zed |
Zombies 3 (2022) |
Zed |
Prom Pact (2023) |
Ben Plunkett |
Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. (2023) |
Nico |
School Spirits (2023-) |
Wally Clark |
Thanksgiving (2023) |
Ryan Baker |
Journey to Bethlehem (2023) |
Joseph |
Character: In Zombies 4, Milo Manheim plays Zed, a zombie whose desire to play football and date Seabrook cheerleader Addison formed the main crux of 2018’s Zombies. Since then, he has continued to be the co-lead of the franchise. In the new installment, he finds himself stuck in daywalker territory when his road trip to football camp is derailed.
Meg Donnelly as Addison
Date Of Birth: July 25, 2000
- Active Since: 2013
Actor: Meg Donnelly was born in New York City and broke out shortly before starring in the original Zombies when she played Taylor Otto in the 2016 sitcom American Housewife. Other than Addison and Taylor, her most notable role is playing co-lead Mary Campbell in the Supernatural prequel series The Winchesters.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:
тιтle |
Character |
---|---|
American Housewife (2016-2021) |
Taylor Otto |
Zombies (2018) |
Addison |
Zombies 2 (2020) |
Addison |
Zombies 3 (2022) |
Addison |
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2022) |
Val |
The Winchesters (2022-2023) |
Mary Campbell |
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (2024) |
Supergirl/Harbinger (voice) |
Character: In Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, Meg Donnelly plays Addison, the cheerleader whose love for Zed helps change the town of Seabrook forever. She has appeared in every installment so far, including Zombies 3, in which she discovered that she is half-alien. Her derailed road trip to cheerleader camp lands her in vampire territory in the new movie.
Freya Skye as Nova
Date Of Birth: October 17, 2009
- Active Since: 2021
Actor: Freya Skye was born in Buckinghamshire, England and had her breakout as a singer when she took fifth place in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with her song “Lose My Head.” Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires is her live-action feature debut, though she has previously held voice roles in video games like Final Fantasy XVI.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:
тιтle |
Character |
---|---|
Dragon Quest Treasures (2022 – video game) |
Mia/Additional Voices |
Final Fantasy XVI (2023 – video game) |
Additional Voices |
Character: In Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, Freya Skye plays Nova. Nova is the daughter of daywalker leader Commander Bright, who puts a lot of pressure on her to serve the needs of the people, the way that he feels is right. However, she has doubts about her community’s innate fear of vampires.
Malachi Barton as Victor
Date Of Birth: March 10, 2007
- Active Since: 2014
Actor: Malachi Barton was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia and had his breakthrough when he was cast as Beast Diaz in the Disney Channel sitcom Stuck in the Middle, ultimately starring opposite Jenna Ortega in all three seasons. He also has experience with monsters, having starred in two Disney Channel original movies about mummies, Under Wraps and Under Wraps 2.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:
тιтle |
Character |
---|---|
Stuck in the Middle (2016-2018) |
Beast Diaz |
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019) |
Young Diego |
Under Wraps (2021) |
Marshall |
Under Wraps 2 (2022) |
Marshall |
The Villains of Valley View (2022-2023) |
Colby Madden |
Character: In Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, Malachi Barton plays Victor. Victor is the foil to Nova, as he is being groomed to be the next leader of the vampire tribe, but isn’t being taken seriously. He has visions of Nova, and when she reveals that she had visions of him too, love begins to blossom between the pair.
Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires Supporting Cast & Characters
Both New & Recurring Characters Fill Out The Ensemble
Chandler Kinney as Willa: Chandler Kinney, who plays werewolf pack leader Willa, originated the role in 2020’s Zombies 2 and has appeared in every installment since then. She also played Tabby Haworthe in 2022’s Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and 2024’s Pretty Little Liars: Summer School in addition to taking third place in season 33 of Dancing with the Stars.
Kylee Russell as Eliza: Kylee Russell, who plays tech whiz zombie Eliza, has appeared in all four installments of the Zombies franchise. She is best known for the role of Eliza, but she has longstanding Disney Channel experience, having appeared in both 2008’s Jump In! and a 2016 episode of Girl Meets World.
Swayam Bhatia as Vera: Swayam Bhatia, who plays self-serving vampire Vera, is best known for two roles in major television series with coincidentally similar names: Sofi Hanson Bhatt in Disney+’s The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and Sophie Roy in HBO’s Succession.
Mekonnen Knife as Vargas: Mekonnen Knife, who plays the cheerful but unintelligent vampire Vargas, is an actor and dancer based out of Australia who is making his credited feature debut in Zombies 4, though he has previously appeared on the small screen in episodes of Joe vs. Carole and Reef Break.
Lisa Chappell as Eldress: Lisa Chappell, who plays the austere vampire leader Eldress, is an actor from New Zealand, where Zombies 4 was sH๏τ. She has held multi-season roles in the New Zealand drama Gloss and the Australian series McLeod’s Daughters, in addition to theatrical roles including performing in Shakespeare productions such as Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing.
Julian Lerner as Ray: Julian Lerner, who plays the sycophantic daywalker Ray, already has quite a few major roles under his belt. This includes playing Brad Hitman as part of the main cast of 2021’s The Wonder Years, Nando Torres in Netflix’s Yes Day, and Eugene Wexler in Monster Summer (opposite How to Train Your Dragon 2025’s Mason Thames).
Monster Summer was directed by another Disney star, Wizards of Waverly Place‘s David Henrie.
Jonno Roberts as Commander Bright: Jonno Roberts, who plays Nova’s strict father Commander Bright, also hails from New Zealand, though he has primarily worked in the U.S. for decades. Before appearing in Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, he appeared in various episodes of a number of prominent television series, with his longest-running stint being nine episodes of 2016’s Wrecked.