Texas heat isn't just a weather report in David Lowery’s 2013 lyrical crime drama; it’s a physical weight that sits on the shoulders of every actor in the frame. When people talk about the cast of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, they usually start with Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck. That makes sense. They are the gravity of the film. But if you look closer at the edges of the screen, you see a collection of character actors who turned a relatively simple "outlaw in love" story into something that felt like an old folk song come to life.
It's been over a decade since the film hit Sundance, and honestly, the way these performances aged is fascinating. You’ve got Ben Foster playing a cop who isn't a villain, and Keith Carradine essentially acting as the moral, if weary, backbone of a lawless world. It wasn’t a massive box office hit. It didn't need to be. The film exists in that sweaty, golden-hour space where the performances do more work than the dialogue ever could.
The Central Gravity: Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck
Bob Muldoon and Ruth Guthrie. They aren't your typical Bonnie and Clyde. There is no glamour in their crime, only a sort of desperate, quiet inevitability. Casey Affleck plays Bob with this strange, mumbling confidence. He’s a man who thinks he can outrun fate just by walking fast enough. Affleck has this specific ability—you saw it later in Manchester by the Sea—to look like he’s vibrating with internal dialogue while staying perfectly still.
Rooney Mara, on the other hand, is the anchor. As Ruth, she has to carry the consequences of Bob’s romanticized view of their life. While Bob is in prison, Ruth is raising their daughter in the same small town where their lives fell apart. Mara’s performance is mostly in her eyes. It’s a lot of staring out of screen doors. It could have been boring. It wasn't. She makes the act of waiting look like a high-stakes sport.
The chemistry between them is mostly felt in their absence from one another. That's a hard trick for any cast to pull off. They spend the vast majority of the movie separated by prison walls or miles of Texas brush, yet the entire plot is driven by the invisible tether between them.
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Ben Foster and the Subversion of the "Lawman"
Usually, in a movie about an escaped convict trying to get back to his wife, the local sheriff is the guy you want to see fail. Ben Foster plays Patrick Wheeler, and he completely upends that trope. Foster is known for playing "live wire" characters—think Hell or High Water or 3:10 to Yuma. He’s usually the guy who’s about to explode.
In the cast of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Foster does the opposite.
He’s incredibly gentle. Patrick is a deputy who was actually shot during the initial standoff with Bob and Ruth, yet he develops this protective, almost courtly affection for Ruth and her daughter. He isn't trying to "catch" her; he’s trying to keep her safe from the mess Bob is bringing back with him. It’s a nuanced performance that forces the audience into a weird spot. You want Bob to get home, but you also kind of want Ruth to just stay safe with Patrick. It creates this moral friction that keeps the movie from feeling like a cliché.
The Supporting Players Who Ground the Myth
Keith Carradine shows up as Skerritt. If you know anything about 70s cinema, seeing a Carradine in a Western-adjacent film feels like a nod to the greats. He’s the father figure to the outlaws, the man who runs the local hardware store but clearly knows where all the bodies are buried. He brings a weathered authority to the film. When he tells Bob to stay away, you feel the weight of his experience.
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Then you have the smaller roles that flesh out the world:
- Nate Parker plays Sweetie, Bob’s friend who provides a brief glimpse of what a "normal" life might look like, if only for a second.
- Charles Baker (who many recognize as Skinny Pete from Breaking Bad) appears as Bear. He brings that same gritty, lived-in energy that makes the criminal underworld of the film feel authentic rather than theatrical.
- Rami Malek has a very brief appearance as Will. This was right before Mr. Robot made him a household name. Seeing him here is like finding a hidden Easter egg in a movie you already liked.
Why the Casting Choices Defined the "Sundance Style"
David Lowery didn't just pick famous faces. He picked textures. Every person in the cast of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints feels like they belong in 1970s Texas. There’s no "Hollywood gloss" here. The casting director, Laray Mayfield, who has worked extensively with David Fincher, clearly looked for actors who could handle the silence.
The film relies heavily on a "Malick-esque" visual style—lots of lens flares and whispering. In the hands of lesser actors, that can feel pretentious. But because the cast is so grounded, it feels earned. You believe these people have dirt under their fingernails. You believe they’ve spent their lives in the same three-block radius.
The Legacy of the Performances
Looking back, this film was a turning point for several people involved. For Lowery, it proved he could handle big stars while maintaining an indie soul. For Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, it solidified them as the king and queen of "interior" acting. They would eventually reunite for A Ghost Story, another Lowery film that dealt with time, memory, and longing. If you liked them in Saints, you basically have to watch A Ghost Story, though it’s much weirder (Affleck spends most of it under a bedsheet).
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The "outlaw" genre is crowded. From Bonnie and Clyde to Badlands, we’ve seen this story. What makes this specific iteration stick in the ribs is the restraint of the cast. No one is chewing the scenery. No one is screaming for an Oscar. They are just existing in this humid, tragic space.
Takeaways for Film Enthusiasts
If you’re revisiting the film or watching it for the first time because of the buzz surrounding the actors' later careers, keep an eye on these specific elements:
- Watch the hands. Lowery uses a lot of close-ups on hands—touching, reaching, holding. The actors use this to convey intimacy without needing a five-minute monologue.
- Listen to the pauses. The dialogue is sparse. The meaning of most scenes is found in the three seconds after a character finishes speaking.
- Note the lighting on the faces. The film was shot by Bradford Young, who is a master of natural light. Notice how the actors' features are often partially obscured by shadows, reflecting their own moral ambiguity.
To truly appreciate the cast of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, one should watch it back-to-back with Hell or High Water. It’s a masterclass in how modern cinema can still capture the spirit of the American West without relying on gunfights every ten minutes. The real conflict isn't between the law and the lawless; it’s between the person you were and the person you’re forced to become when your choices finally catch up to you.
Seek out the physical media version if you can. The commentary tracks and behind-the-scenes looks at how these actors prepped for such quiet roles provide a much deeper understanding of the craft than a standard streaming experience offers.