See the A-List Cast of ‘The Croods’ Side-By-Side with the Characters They Play – ryan

Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone went back in time to portray everyone’s favorite prehistoric family in The Croods.

Originally premiering in 2013, the DreamWorks Animation film follows the family of six after the safety of their beloved cave comes crashing down. With a new, terrifying world at their feet, they must put their trust in each other — along with a mysterious and overly confident newcomer named Guy (Reynolds) — to journey through an exotic new land in search of their next home.

The Croods became an instant animated classic, leading to both a sequel in 2020 and two animated series. In 2025, Netflix picked up the animated movie, and fans rediscovered their love for this well-meaning but often misguided brood.

As viewers embark once again on this family-friendly adventure to the world of Tomorrow, see the cast of The Croods side-by-side with the characters they play.

Nicolas Cage as Grug

Nicolas Cage stars as the prehistoric patriarch, Grug, whose one rule when it comes to keeping his family safe is that new is always bad. The National Treasure actor told HeyUGuys in 2013 that it was a little difficult to channel his character’s overprotective nature because he “actively goes against” the idea that anything new is to be feared.

“Sometimes I would cringe when I had to say those lines,” Cage said, adding that while Grug wasn’t the brightest, he did invent something that proved to be the most important of all the inventions: the hug.

This isn’t the actor’s first foray into the world of animation. Cage has also lent his voice to films like The Ant Bully in 2006 and G-Force in 2009, in which he played a mole named Speckles. Cage reprised his role as Grug in the 2020 sequel The Croods: A New Age.

Ryan Reynolds as Guy

Ryan Reynolds brings his classic charm to the voice of Guy, a self-described teenaged “genius” who wows the Crood brood with his flashy new inventions like shoes and fire.

Fans of the film noticed the similarities between the actor and his character’s mannerisms, which surprised the Deadpool actor.

“You forget they’re filming you when you’re recording,” he told HeyUGuys in a 2013 interview with costar Emma Stone. “So they capture the little things you do … and it was sort of odd to see that glimmer in the character’s eyes.”

In addition to reprising his role for The Croods sequel, Reynolds has also voiced and starred as the titular characters in the 2013 film Turbo and the 2019 film Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.

Emma Stone as Eep

Emma Stone rebels against her animated father, Grug, as Eep, a teenage cave girl who desperately wants to see what life is like outside of her family’s cave. The Poor Things actress told Australian magazine Total Girl that in the two-and-a-half years it took to film The Croodsshe only recorded with Reynolds once.

“It was the only time throughout the recording process … that I got to record with another actor in the room,” she said, adding she never met her on-screen father, Cage. “Isn’t that wild? We worked on a movie together for two-and-a-half years and never even met!”

Though Stone had previously voiced characters for TV shows like Robot Chicken and video games like Sleeping Dogsthis was her first leading role in an animated movie. She went on to reprise Eep in the sequel.

Catherine Kener as ugga

Catherine Keener plays Ugga, Grug’s slightly more open-minded wife who finds it increasingly difficult to keep her family safe with her husband’s outdated views on the world.

Though the actress did reprise her role in the 2020 sequel, she, like the rest of the original cast, didn’t sign on for the Hulu animated adaption of the franchise, The Croods: Family Tree.

Instead, the series character was voiced by Transparent actress Amy Landecker, who told SYFY in 2021 that Keener was one of her “favorite actresses” and that she did her best to “keep the spirit of Ugga that she created.”

Cloris Leachman as Gran

The late Cloris Leachman voiced Gran, Ugga’s mother, who never fails to let her feelings (especially those regarding her son-in-law) be known.

Before she died of natural causes in 2021, the 94-year-old award-winning actress also reprised her role for the 2020 sequel.

“Her comedic timing and feistiness is so perfect for Gran,” The Croods director Joel Crawford told SYFY in 2020. “It is Gran. I’m just blown away … and so glad that we got to be a part of her amazing career.”

Clark Duke as Thunk

Clark Duke plays Thunk, Grug and Ugga’s son whose lack of coordination and cognitive skills gets him into some dicey situations. But his big heart and harmless nature are something the Hot Tub Time Machine actor can relate to.

“He’s sort of a very childlike version of me, like one octave higher and very sweet, innocent, and naïve,” Duke told Looper in 2020. “He has no motives. He’s just very genuine and what you see is what you get. That’s kind of a funny thing to play.”

In addition to reprising Thunk in The Croods: A New AgeDuke also voiced Brett Hand in the Netflix adult animation series Inside Job.

Randy Thom as Sandy

Randy Thom voices the youngest member of the Crood clan, Sandy, who has not yet learned to talk and communicates solely via growling and biting.

The Academy Award-winning creative also served as the film’s supervising sound editor and told StudentFilmmakers.com in 2013 that the goal was always to make Sandy “sound feral, like a little half-wild animal.”