Based on May Cobb’s 2021 bestselling novel of the same name, Netflix’s “The Hunting Wives” premiered in July and quickly shot to the streamer’s top 10. The series follows a Boston transplant (Brittany Snow) who relocates to East Texas and becomes entangled in a seductive clique of wealthy socialites. With its mix of glamour, secrets, and scandal, “The Hunting Wives” has become a breakout hit, and actors are surely eager to join the drama.
With everyone clamoring for more, Netflix greenlit a second season on Sept. 12. But for many performers, the real intrigue lies in getting cast alongside the show’s stellar lineup. Our guide features everything you need to know before the show enters production on Season 2, including advice from the cast and crew.
JUMP TO
- What is “The Hunting Wives” about?
- Who is in the cast of “The Hunting Wives”?
- Who are the casting directors for “The Hunting Wives”?
- How does the casting process work for “The Hunting Wives”?
- When does filming for “The Hunting Wives” Season 2 start?
- Where can you find “The Hunting Wives” casting calls and auditions?
- What are the best audition tips for landing a role on “The Hunting Wives”?
When Sophie O’Neil (Snow) and her husband, Graham (Evan Jonigkeit), move to Maple Brook, Texas, Margo Banks (Malin Akerman) and her “hunting wives” quickly draw Sophie into their world—a circle of affluent, gun-toting socialites whose weekend gatherings brim with competition, flirtation, and secrets. As Sophie dives deeper, however, the stakes grow more dangerous. With bodies piling up, Sophie and Margo find themselves on the outs—but Season 2 promises to see the women reunite as they discover they might not have as much control over their situation as they thought.
The Season 1 cast of “The Hunting Wives” includes:
- Brittany Snow as Sophie O’Neil
- Malin Akerman as Margo Banks
- Dermot Mulroney as Jed Banks
- Evan Jonigkeit as Graham O’Neil
- Chrissy Metz as Starr
- Jaime Ray Newman as Callie
- Katie Lowes as Jill
- Alexandria DeBerry as Taylor
- Joyce Glenn as Monae
- Madison Wolfe as Abby
As Netflix noted in its announcement about the show’s renewal, much of the original cast will return for Season 2.
Nicole Abellera and Jeanne McCarthy (“Hacks,” “Platonic”) cast Season 1 of “The Hunting Wives.”
Read more about what went into McCarthy’s casting process for films like “Foxcatcher” and “Big Eyes,” then discover why Abellera believes CDs are more understanding than actors think.
Both Snow and Akerman were approached to take on their respective roles.
As Snow told Collider, the process was unlike that for any project she’d done in the past. “I got all eight scripts. They were all sent to me, which is very rare and normally doesn’t happen when you’re in conversations for a show. I read all eight episodes in one sitting. It took me pretty much the whole day, but I couldn’t stop. I knew that it was going to be something really special because it was so addicting,” she explained. “I was scared and nervous about a lot of the things that happened in it. But I usually have a rule of thumb where if I am very nervous about something and it’s something that I’ve never done before, then I probably should investigate it further to find out if that’s something that I should explore and do.”
She added, “[Series creator] Rebecca Perry Cutter, who wrote the script, is incredible. She’s an incredible storyteller, and she also rides a really fine line of fun and camp and satire with some really intelligent writing and deep characters. You really fall in love with these people, regardless of their antics, and that’s a really rare thing. You’re not watching anybody thinking, Wow, this is a very one-dimensional person with [a] one-track mind. Everyone has all these different, really interesting layers.”
Akerman had a similar experience, telling People she also got to read all the scripts before signing on to the project. “I got to see [Margo’s] whole arc, and see where she begins and where she came from and where she ends up, and it’s just such a meaty role,” she said. “She’s a master manipulator, she’s vibrant, she’s sexy…. She’s all these things that are fun to play. There was just so much to work with there. There was no way I could say no to it.”
According to What’s on Netflix, “The Hunting Wives” Season 2 is expected to start production on Nov. 17 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and conclude on March 20, 2026.
There do not appear to be any public casting calls for “The Hunting Wives” available at this time. (But one casting team is looking to recruit real hunting wives for a reality show inspired by the fictional series, if that’s your thing.)
As we noted, despite being set in Texas, the series is actually filmed in North Carolina. We suggest bookmarking our casting directory page for listings local to the Charlotte area. Our guide on how to audition for Netflix might also be of service as you prepare for future opportunities.
Although Snow has been landing lead roles in hit shows and movies for decades, the actor has not yet fully acclimated to the idea of rejection. “I have to audition all the time, and I would love to tell everyone that I’m so used to rejection now…. But I still am a very sensitive human,” Snow told us. “I’m extremely sensitive and extremely shy, and I wear my heart on my sleeve. It always feels like a little bit of a [personal] rejection, but the tools that I have now and how I deal with it are much different than how I used to deal with them. I do truly believe that it was either a learning process, not meant to be, or something was getting me ready for something else.
“I can look back at so many TV shows that I should’ve gotten in the past years, where it was down between me and somebody else, and the other person got it. And then they met their husband on that show. They have a baby with that person. They live in Wales now. Things that are so crazy where I’m like, ‘I was not supposed to live in Wales with a baby!’ Things that I now have perspective on, and that makes it easier for the next rejection. Because I’ve been on the other side of it, too, where I’ve directed and produced, and people can give the best audition ever and they’re so good, but it’s just not the right vibe, tone, [or] look,” she continued. “There’s a whole bunch of things at play, and usually it has much more to do with everything else in the world and not just you.”
Even though rejection has always been part of the audition process, Akerman noted it isn’t easy for her to accept criticism—but she’s working on it. “There are different kinds of criticism. If it’s constructive criticism, I’m open to it. I really am. I truly try to open myself. My husband and I practice that a lot, where we try to communicate in such a way that if we have any criticism on anything, that we do it in a way so our defenses don’t go up,” she told Glamour. “But criticism just for criticism’s sake—everyone’s a critic nowadays. So you just have to let it roll off your sleeve and let it go, because it’s not worth it. I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t really care about what people have to say on social outlets, because that’s just ridiculous. I do care about the people close to me in my life, and I take it to heart. I want to be a better person, so if anyone has some constructive criticism, I’m open to it.”
For Akerman, listening remains the greatest superpower, as it helps anyone in any situation grow. “To be a good leader, you have to listen. Listening is the biggest superpower that we have as humans; if we can hone in on those listening skills and really challenge ourselves to hear what’s beneath the surface of what everyone is saying, I think we can communicate much better and understand each other much better and not go tit-for-tat on little details. I think we could come together as a community,” she said. “If I knew that when I was younger and didn’t get myself so emotionally involved in everything, and could step back and try to listen to what’s really being said, that would’ve been very beneficial.”