What Happened To The Cast Of Six Feet Under?

Appropriately, we’ll start with Richard Jenkins, who played Nathaniel Fisher Sr., the family’s patriarch. Though Nathaniel Sr. dies in the series premiere, he continues to haunt the family throughout the show’s run. Jenkins’ next major project after “Six Feet Under” was the 2007 drama “The Visitor,” for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor. This was followed closely by standout supporting roles in the Adam McKay comedy “Step Brothers,” the Coen brothers’ “Burn After Reading,” and the animated adventure “The Tale of Despereaux.”

He also had key roles in “The Cabin in the Woods,” “Let Me In,” and “Bone Tomahawk.” In 2014, he was lauded for his role in the miniseries “Olive Kitteridge,” and he returned to the Oscars in 2018 for his supporting role in Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water.” His most prominent recent role was in the controversial 2022 true crime miniseries “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” as the titular killer’s father.

Joanna Cassidy recurred throughout all five seasons of “Six Feet Under” as psychologist Margaret Chenowith. She is the mother of Rachel Griffiths’ Brenda Chenowith, as well as Brenda’s brother Billy (Jeremy Sisto).

Cassidy followed up “Six Feet Under” with recurring roles on a laundry list of high-profile television dramas, including “Boston Legal,” “Heroes,” “Body of Proof,” and “Bones.” In 2010, she joined the cast of the Canadian HBO black comedy “Call Me Fitz,” earning acclaim as the scheming matriarch Elaine Fitzgerald. Further recurring TV roles were in projects like “Odd Mom Out,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” and “The L Word: Generation Q.”

In seasons 3 and 4 of “Six Feet Under,” Ben Foster plays Russell Corwin, the very messy school fling of Claire Fisher (Lauren Ambrose). He appears in 22 episodes overall, including one guest-starring appearance in season 5.

Immediately after “Six Feet Under,” Foster joined the cast of the ill-fated “X-Men: The Last Stand” as Warren Worthington III — aka the winged mutant Angel. This was followed by a collaboration with James Mangold on the western film “3:10 to Yuma,” in which he gave a lauded performance as criminal Charlie Prince. Similarly, he was praised for his work in the 2009 war film “The Messenger,” starring opposite Woody Harrelson.

In 2016, the same year he appeared in the video game movie “Warcraft,” and he earned further accolades for playing Tanner Howard in the Taylor Sheridan crime-western “Hell or High Water.” In 2021, he earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the HBO film “The Survivor.”

Lisa Fisher, the mother of Nate Fisher’s (Peter Krause) daughter Maya, was played by Lili Taylor, who recurred through the latter seasons of the series. She only appeared in two episodes of the show’s fifth and final season, after which she briefly led the Lifetime drama “State of Mind” as a therapist suffering a personal crisis (it was cancelled after one season). She then took roles in “Public Enemies,” “The Good Wife,” and the hit James Wan horror film “The Conjuring” as Carolyn Perron. In 2013, she was a part of the core casts of both the Netflix horror series “Hemlock Grove” and the Fox drama “Almost Human,” though both only lasted a season.

Taylor has also had major roles in all three seasons of the anthology series “American Crime” (not to be confused with Ryan Murphy’s anthology “American Crime Story”). More recently, she appeared in the rebooted “Perry Mason” series and the Josh Brolin-led western series “Outer Range.”

Justina Machado recurred across all five seasons of “Six Feet Under” as Vanessa Diaz, the wife of Freddy Rodríguez’s Frederico Diaz. She was a series regular for the final two seasons.

Machado appeared in several smaller films and television shows after the finale, including recurring roles on “Ugly Betty,” “ER,” and “Private Practice.” In 2014, she played Tanya in the blockbuster thriller “The Purge: Anarchy,” and she joined the “Gears of War” video game series as the monstrous swarm queen Reyna Diaz. Beginning in 2016, she recurred on the romantic comedy series “Jane the Virgin” as Darci, a matchmaker who works with Jamie Camil’s Rogelio de la Vega.

After a few more small appearances on shows like “Superstore” and HBO’s “Harley Quinn” animated series, Machado was cast as the lead in the Netflix reboot of the sitcom “One Day at a Time.” It was cancelled after four seasons.

James Cromwell was already fairly well known before he joined the recurring supporting ensemble of “Six Feet Under.” In 27 episodes of the series’ final three seasons, he portrayed George Sibley, the second husband of Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy) who remarried following the death of her husband.

After “Six Feet Under” ended, Cromwell played Prince Philip in the 2006 film “The Queen,” opposite Helen Mirren in the title role. He then appeared in “Spider-Man 3” (as Captain Stacy), “24,” the Oliver Stone political biopic “W.” (as U.S. President George H.W. Bush), and the silent film “The Artist.” In 2012, he joined the cast of “American Horror Story: Asylum” as the wicked Dr. Arthur Arden.

He further lent his talents to projects like “Big Hero 6,” “The Young Pope,” “Law and Order: Organized Crime,” and “Sugar.” In the HBO drama “Succession,” he played Ewan Roy, the environmentally conscious brother of Brian Cox’s Logan Roy.

Brenda Chenowith’s brother Billy suffered from the same dysfunctional childhood, but he emerged with a different set of complicated psychological illnesses. He was played in 31 episodes of the series by Jeremy Sisto.

Sisto had a number of roles in smaller movies immediately following the “Six Feet Under” finale, including Earl in “Waitress.” He next led the NBC series “Kidnapped,” though when it was cancelled after one season, he joined the cast of “Law and Order” as Detective Cyrus Lupo. In 2011, he led his next major TV project in ABC’s “Suburgatory,” playing a single dad who tries to shield his teenage daughter (Jane Levy) from adulthood by hiding them both out in the suburbs. It was cancelled in 2014 after three seasons.

The years that followed contained a few notable roles in projects like “The Returned,” “Batman vs. Robin,” “Ice,” and “Frozen II.” In 2018, however, he landed his next career-consuming role on the long-running crime procedural franchise “FBI.” He stars in the flagship series as ASAC Jubal Valentine, and has appeared in the spin-offs “Most Wanted” and “International.”

“Six Feet Under” explored various corners of the funeral business, particularly through the perspective of restorationist Frederico Diaz. Alan Ball specifically wrote the role for actor Freddy Rodríguez, with whom he had worked with on the sitcom “Oh, Grow Up.” Rodríguez was touched that Ball had created a character for him, especially one that defied dominant stereotypes about Latin Americans at the time. Plus, because Ball was hot off an Oscar win for “American Beauty,” Rodríguez would get to be part of one of the most daring TV projects of his career. “We were pioneers…,” he recalled to Show Patrol in 2015. “And HBO was so great to us at that time. They just left us alone and let us do our thing.”

After “Six Feet Under,” Rodríguez began voicing the twin superhero duo Más y Menos on the animated series “Teen Titans” and later reprised his roles in the follow-up series “Teen Titans Go!” He then played the role of Wray in Robert Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” (which was originally released alongside Quentin Tarantino’s “Death Proof” as the “Grindhouse” double feature). He then began recurring as Gio Rossi on the ABC romantic dramedy “Ugly Betty” – despite initially being cast as a one-off guest star, fan response was so strong he was brought back several times throughout the series.

Other prominent projects of his include “Ultimate Spider-Man” (as Miguel O’Hara), “Generator Rex,” “Chaos,” “The Night Shift,” and a starring role on the long-running CBS legal drama “Bull.” Most recently, his voice can be heard on the acclaimed animated sci-fi series “Scavengers Reign.”

Throughout “Six Feet Under,” the most consistent and arguably aspirational relationship was between David Fisher (Michael C. Hall) and Keith Charles, an out gay police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. The actor has shared with outlets that the show’s depiction of a positive gay relationship has helped some gay men embrace their identities, in some cases for the first time publicly. He has described himself as grateful to those who have shared their experiences with him and was proud to be part of something that has helped people live their lives more honestly.

After “Six Feet Under,” St. Patrick has yet to join the core cast of another series, save the short-lived and relatively lesser known Fox crime drama “Reunion.” He’s guest-starred on various prominent procedurals over the years, including “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” “NCIS” and “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Private Practice,” and “Hawaii Five-0.” His most prominent role was as the mercenary Moses Cartwright in the final season of the FX crime drama “Sons of Anarchy.”

Australian actor Rachel Griffiths played Brenda Chenowith, a brilliant but troubled woman trying to outrun a dysfunctional childhood. Real world tragedies such as the 9/11 attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic have shaped how Griffiths (and fans who reach out to her) interprets the series’ meditations on mortality and vulnerability.

The same year Griffiths took a small role in the Channing Tatum dance drama “Step Up,” she joined the cast of the ABC drama series “Brothers and Sisters.” Though the show never achieved the same cultural status as “Six Feet Under,” it ran for over 100 episodes and earned Griffiths multiple Emmy nominations for best supporting actress. She then landed a leading role in the NBC comedy series “Camp” (which was cancelled after one season), followed by supporting roles in Disney’s Emma Thompson-Tom Hanks starrer “Saving Mr. Banks” and Mel Gibson’s war drama “Hacksaw Ridge.”

In the early 2020s, she joined the core casts of three TV shows — “Aftertaste,” the political drama “Total Control,” and Amazon Prime Video’s sleeper hit survival thriller “The Wilds” (in which she played the villainous Gretchen Klein). All three have since ended or been cancelled. In 2024, she began starring in the Australian comedy series “Madam.”

Of the unbelievably arresting ensemble of characters on “Six Feet Under,” our favorite is undoubtedly Frances Conroy’s Ruth Fisher. The mother of the three Fisher children and widowed wife to Nathaniel Sr. offered an older perspective on the show’s themes, reminding viewers that time neither guarantees you peace nor prevents you from seeking it in your later years.

Conroy has kept quite busy since the end of “Six Feet Under.” Following a spate of supporting roles in shows like “ER” and “Desperate Housewives,” she began recurring on “How I Met Your Mother” as Barney Stinson’s (Neil Patrick Harris) mother Loretta. She also began collaborating consistently with legendary TV producer Ryan Murphy, first on an episode of “Nip/Tuck,” then on his groundbreaking anthology series “American Horror Story” — her roles included Moira O’Hara in “Murder House,” Gloria Mott in “Freak Show,” and fan-favorite Myrtle Snow in “Coven” and “Apocalypse.” More recently, she recurred on Netflix’s “Dead to Me” and the revived “Arrested Development” series, and she played the ailing mother of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck in the DC Comics drama “Joker.”

For Claire Fisher, the youngest of the Fisher clan, Alan Ball was essentially casting someone to play himself. Though they may not have lived the exact same life, the showrunner put so much of himself into creating her that she’s probably the closest thing “Six Feet Under” has to a writer-surrogate character. He eventually honed in on Lauren Ambrose, then mostly known as a supporting guest star on “Party of Five,” and personally coached her through parts of the audition process.

Ambrose stayed with “Six Feet Under” for the entirety of its five-season run and was, to many, the show’s beating heart. Reflecting on her favorite episodes of “Six Feet Under” ten years after the finale to Decider, “Everybody’s Waiting” of course came to her mind. “Saying goodbye to them was very emotional. And such a wonderful gift to be able to use all that big stuff that was happening to me, saying goodbye to our show, to use it in the actual work that we were doing on the show was just the most extraordinary blessing to be given that opportunity.”

After “Six Feet Under” wrapped up, she played major roles in the short-lived Fox sitcom “The Return of Jezebel James” and the “Doctor Who” spin-off series “Torchwood” (in the latter, as unscrupulous public relations expert Jilly Kitzinger). Following appearances in the miniseries “Coma” and “Dig” and the revival of “The X-Files,” she landed a leading role on M. Night Shyamalan’s AppleTV+ horror series “Servant” (and spoke to /Film about what it was like to portray a horrifically failing marriage alongside co-star Toby Kebbell). Currently, she stars as the grown-up version of ill-fated soccer player and wilderness survivalist Van Palmer on Showtime’s hit thriller series “Yellowjackets.” Ambrose was a fan of the show prior to being cast, and she was as shocked as anyone to discover Van’s fate in season 2.

As Alan Ball was searching for the right soul to embody the tragically confused and empathetic David Fisher, his “American Beauty” collaborator Sam Mendes was directing a young Michael C. Hall in Broadway’s “Cabaret.” The rest is history.

With “Six Feet Under” finished, Hall’s schedule was clear for a new challenge: the title role in a provocative Showtime thriller called “Dexter.” Less than a year after audiences said goodbye to David, the actor began a journey that would arguably come to define his career. He portrayed vigilante serial killer Dexter Morgan in the show’s original eight-season run, returned for the epilogue miniseries “Dexter: New Blood,” has executive produced and narrated the prequel series “Dexter: Original Sin” since 2024, and is currently working on a mysterious sequel series titled “Dexter: Resurrections.” Amidst all this death, Hall has appeared in films like “Gamer,” “Game Night,” and “The Report,” played U.S. President John F. Kennedy on Netflix’s “The Crown,” and starred in the miniseries “Safe” and “The Defeated.” He also continues to lead Broadway shows like “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and the David Bowie musical “Lazarus.”

Though “Dexter” has arguably shifted his TV legacy as one of the most famous fictional murderers of all time, fans are still finding comfort in how his “Six Feet Under” character confronts death. “One of the most gratifying things is I still hear from people who talk about how somehow watching this show about people running a funeral home and dealing with death maybe helped them as they navigated some sort of loss in their own life,” he said on The Rich Eisen Show in 2021. “That’s about as good a thing as you can hear from somebody about the work you do, that it helps them deal with their struggles.”

Last — and, to some “Six Feet Under” fans, very much least — we have Peter Krause, who brilliantly portrayed the equally heartbreaking and infuriating Nathaniel Fisher Jr. Krause was cast as the eldest Fisher sibling during what one could describe as his own period of mourning, having recently found out that his first major TV role in the ABC dramedy “Sports Night” would be coming to a sudden end with the show’s cancellation. Fortunately, Alan Ball invited him to audition for both Nate and David Fisher, the former character going to him once Ball discovered Michael C. Hall.

Krause’s first major project afterward was the ABC soap opera satire “Dirty Sexy Money,” which was created by “Six Feet Under” writer Craig Wright. It followed a family of sociopathic, wealthy New York power players and ran for just two seasons (though the actor feels that, at a network like HBO, it had the potential to be what “Succession” became). After the series was cancelled, he almost immediately joined the cast of the NBC drama “Parenthood,” in which he starred as the steadfast father Adam Braverman for over 100 episodes. Currently, he’s starring as one of the best characters in the Fox-ABC procedural “9-1-1” — yet another popular, long-running series.

Though Krause also considers “Six Feet Under” to have ended prematurely (HBO famously wanted two more seasons when Ball decided to pull the plug), he feels completely at peace. In an oral history of the show’s production with Entertainment Weekly released in 2021, he repeated a sentiment he’s shared in countless interviews since its ending. “I think Alan ending the show when he did elevated the entire series into a work of art. Because it did end too soon, but again, that’s the point of the show is that your life can be taken away from you at any moment… and [so], how are you going to live your life?”