Daisy Edgar-Jones had a massive weight on her shoulders. When you’re cast as Kya Clark, the "Marsh Girl" from Delia Owens' juggernaut of a novel, you aren’t just playing a character. You’re playing a phenomenon. Millions of readers already had a very specific, mud-streaked version of Kya in their heads long before Sony Pictures ever rolled a camera in the humid wetlands of Louisiana.
The cast where the crawdads sing had to do more than just recite lines; they had to sell the isolation of the North Carolina coast in the 1950s and 60s. It’s a movie about loneliness. It’s a movie about how the natural world doesn’t judge, even when people do. If the chemistry between the leads didn't work, the whole mystery of Chase Andrews’ death would have felt like a generic police procedural instead of a southern gothic heartbreaker.
Honestly, the casting was surprisingly tight. Director Olivia Newman and producer Reese Witherspoon—who basically birthed the film’s hype through her book club—didn't just go for the biggest A-listers. They went for actors who could look like they actually belonged in a swamp.
The Marsh Girl: How Daisy Edgar-Jones Became Kya
Coming off the massive success of Normal People, Daisy Edgar-Jones was the "it" girl of the moment. But playing a posh Irish student is a world away from a girl who guts fish and hides from truant officers.
She nailed the physicality. That’s what most people overlook. Kya isn't a victim; she's a survivor. Edgar-Jones spent weeks learning how to handle boats and move through the thick, sucking mud of the marsh without looking like an actor on a set. She adopted a soft, hesitant Carolina accent that reflected a character who spent more time talking to gulls than humans.
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Some critics argued she looked "too clean" for someone living in poverty. You've heard that one before, right? The "Hollywood grit" problem. While there’s some truth to the fact that her hair often looked remarkably conditioned for someone using lake water, the emotional heavy lifting was there. Her performance captures that specific brand of feral vulnerability. You see it in the way she flinches when Jumpin’ tries to give her shoes, or how she watches Tate from a distance like a startled deer.
The Men in the Marsh: Taylor John Smith and Harris Dickinson
The story relies on a classic literary foil. You have two men representing two very different paths for Kya.
Taylor John Smith played Tate Walker. He’s the "good one." The guy who teaches her to read and then breaks her heart by not coming back from college. Smith brought a quiet, almost old-fashioned sincerity to the role. It’s hard to play a character that earnest without being boring, but he managed to make Tate’s guilt feel heavy and real. His chemistry with Edgar-Jones felt grounded in shared history, which is exactly what the script needed to make his eventual return meaningful.
Then there’s Harris Dickinson as Chase Andrews.
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Dickinson is a phenomenal actor—if you haven't seen Triangle of Sadness or The Iron Claw, you're missing out. In the cast where the crawdads sing, he had the thankless job of being the "villain," but he played Chase with enough charm to make you understand why Kya would fall for him. He wasn't a mustache-twirling bad guy from the jump. He was the local star quarterback who peaked in high school and turned to cruelty when he couldn't get what he wanted. That nuance is what makes the central mystery work. If Chase was purely evil from frame one, the trial wouldn't have any stakes.
The Soul of the Film: Sterling Macer Jr. and Michael Hyatt
If we’re being real, the heart of the movie isn't the romance. It's the relationship between Kya and the couple who runs the local wharf store, Jumpin’ and Mabel.
Sterling Macer Jr. and Michael Hyatt provided the only moral compass in a town that wanted Kya gone. Their performances were understated. In a story set in the Jim Crow South, their characters faced their own immense dangers just by associating with a social pariah like Kya. Macer Jr. conveys so much with just a weary look or a slight nod of the head. These weren't just "supporting roles"; they were the bridge between Kya’s isolation and the rest of humanity. Without them, the film would have been too bleak to stomach.
David Strathairn: The Atticus Finch of the Marsh
You can’t talk about the cast where the crawdads sing without mentioning David Strathairn. He plays Tom Milton, the retired lawyer who comes out of the woodwork to defend Kya.
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Strathairn is a pro. He brings a gravitas that anchors the courtroom scenes, which can often feel dry compared to the lush cinematography of the marsh. He plays Milton not as a crusader, but as a man who simply tired of watching his town be cruel. It’s a subtle distinction. He doesn't give a "big" Hollywood speech; he talks to the jury like they're his neighbors, which is a much more effective way to win a trial in a small town.
Why the Casting Choices Mattered for the Adaptation
Adapting a book with this much baggage is a nightmare. Fans are protective.
The production chose to film on location in Houma and New Orleans, Louisiana. This mattered for the actors. They were dealing with 100-degree heat, actual lightning storms that shut down production, and more mosquitoes than any human should endure.
- Atmosphere: The environment forced the actors out of their comfort zones.
- Authenticity: Using southern actors for many of the smaller roles helped ground the dialect.
- Visual Storytelling: Jojo Williams (the young Kya) set the stage for Edgar-Jones by establishing the character's grit early on.
The film grossed over $140 million globally. That doesn't happen just because of a popular book; it happens because the audience connects with the faces on the screen. People wanted to see the "Marsh Girl" succeed.
What You Should Do Next
If you’ve only seen the movie, you are missing half the context. The film is a faithful visual representation, but the internal monologue in Delia Owens' writing adds layers to the cast where the crawdads sing that the screen just can't capture.
- Read the book again, but specifically look for the poetry. The movie touches on it, but the book explains why Kya uses poetry to process her trauma.
- Watch the "behind the scenes" features on the physical environment. Seeing how the actors handled the actual swamp conditions changes how you view their performances.
- Check out the soundtrack by Mychael Danna. It features "Carolina" by Taylor Swift, which she wrote specifically because she loved the book so much. The song captures the haunting tone of the cast’s performances perfectly.
- Compare the trial notes. If you're a true crime fan, look into the real-life North Carolina legal procedures of the era to see how accurately David Strathairn’s character navigated the defense.
The story of Kya Clark remains a staple of modern pop culture because it taps into a universal fear: being truly alone. The cast managed to turn a solitary literary experience into a shared cinematic moment that stays with you long after the credits roll.