It is 2026, and if you flip through any streaming service, you’ll likely see a dozen legal thrillers trying to capture the specific, humid paranoia of the early '90s. Most fail. Why? Because they don't have the cast of The Pelican Brief.
Honestly, looking back at this 1993 Alan J. Pakula powerhouse, it’s kind of insane how many heavy hitters were crammed into one 141-minute frame. We aren't just talking about the leads. Yeah, Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington were at the absolute peak of their "movie star" powers, but the bench was deep. Like, "future Oscar winners in bit parts" deep.
The Duo That Refused to Kiss
The most famous thing about the cast of The Pelican Brief—besides the actual plot involving dead Supreme Court justices—is the chemistry between Julia Roberts (Darby Shaw) and Denzel Washington (Gray Grantham). Or rather, the lack of a traditional Hollywood "payoff."
In the John Grisham novel, Darby and Gray have a burgeoning romance. In the movie? They barely touch.
There’s been plenty of speculation over the decades about why the romance was stripped out. Some fans point to the era's hesitation regarding interracial on-screen couples. Others, including the producers, have maintained that a love story would have "leached the juice" out of the suspense. Basically, if you’re running for your life from international assassins, you probably aren't stopping for a candlelit dinner.
Denzel brought a "calm self-possession" to Grantham. He took a character who could have been a generic reporter and made him feel like the only sane person in a city full of ghouls. Meanwhile, Julia Roberts was coming off a two-year hiatus. People forget she was only about 25 when she filmed this. She spent time sitting in on law classes at Tulane University to get the vibe right, and it shows. She’s not just a damsel; she’s a nerd who accidentally dismantled a presidency with a typewriter.
The Supporting Bench was Stacked
If you blink, you’ll miss a performance that would be a career-high for anyone else. Look at the villains and the bureaucrats.
- Tony Goldwyn as Fletcher Coal: Before he was the President in Scandal, Goldwyn was the ultimate "smarmy" White House Chief of Staff. He actually consulted with George Stephanopoulos to figure out how a young power player in D.C. should walk and talk.
- Stanley Tucci as Khamel: Honestly, this is one of the weirdest and best Tucci roles. He plays an international assassin with a penchant for disguises. In 1993, he was the "swarthy" utility player, and his scene in the FBI agent's hotel room still induces anxiety.
- John Lithgow as Smith Keen: He plays Grantham's editor. It’s a dry, witty performance that provides some of the only levity in a very "brown and serious" movie.
Then you have the legends like Hume Cronyn (Justice Rosenberg) and Sam Shepard (Thomas Callahan). Shepard’s role as the booze-hound law professor who is also Darby’s lover—yeah, the '90s loved a student-teacher trope—sets the whole domino effect in motion.
Where the Cast of The Pelican Brief is Now
It’s 2026, and these actors are still dominating. Julia Roberts is currently garnering buzz for her role in After the Hunt, while Tony Goldwyn has essentially moved back into the world of law and order, literally, by joining the cast of Law & Order as DA Nicholas Baxter.
But not everyone is still with us. Director Alan J. Pakula died in a freak car accident in 1998, making this his penultimate film. John Heard (Gavin Verheek), who played the "good-but-dumb" FBI man, passed in 2017. Their work in this film remains a time capsule of a specific kind of "smart popcorn" cinema.
Why it Still Works
The cast of The Pelican Brief succeeded because it didn't treat the material like a pulpy airport novel. They treated it like All the President's Men.
There’s a scene in a parking garage—classic Pakula—where the tension is so thick you can taste the exhaust. It works because Denzel and Julia aren't playing "action heroes." They’re playing scared, competent people who are out of their depth.
What You Should Do Next
If you haven't revisited this one in a while, do it for the supporting performances alone.
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- Watch for the "Tucci Energy": Focus on Stanley Tucci’s various accents. It’s a masterclass in being terrifying with zero dialogue.
- Compare the Book: If you’re a Grisham fan, note how much better Gray Grantham is in the film. That is 100% Denzel's doing.
- Check the Background: Look for a young Cynthia Nixon (Alice Stark) before she became Miranda Hobbes.
This movie reminds us that you don't need a multiverse or a $300 million CGI budget to make a hit. You just need a law student, a reporter, and the best ensemble cast 1993 could buy.