The Sun Never Sets Cast Guide

Joe Swanberg’s The Sun Never Sets keeps its story fairly small, which means the performances carry much of the movie. Set in summertime Alaska, the romantic drama follows Wendy as she begins questioning what she wants from her relationship with Jack, an older divorced father. When Jack suggests that they take some time apart, Wendy unexpectedly reconnects with her former boyfriend Chuck, turning an already uncertain relationship into a messy love triangle.

Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson and Cory Michael Smith lead the cast, while Debby Ryan, Anna Konkle, Lamorne Morris and Karley Sciortino play some of the people caught around their complicated romantic lives.

Related: The Sun Never Sets Filming Locations

Dakota Fanning as Wendy

Dakota Fanning plays Wendy, the central character of The Sun Never Sets. Wendy is in a relationship with Jack and initially believes she is comfortable with the life they have built together. Jack is older, has already been married and has children, while Wendy has not yet experienced those stages of life herself.

That difference becomes a problem when Jack starts worrying that Wendy may eventually regret giving up marriage and having children of her own. He asks her to spend some time away from their relationship and decide what she really wants. During that break, Wendy reconnects with Chuck, an ex-boyfriend who represents a more spontaneous kind of life.

Fanning has been acting since childhood and is known for movies including Man on Fire, War of the Worlds and The Runaways. More recently, she appeared in Ripley and The Perfect Couple. She also served as a producer on The Sun Never Sets.

Jake Johnson as Jack

Jake Johnson stars as Jack, Wendy’s boyfriend. Jack is divorced, has two children and has reached a very different point in his life from Wendy. He cares about her, but he becomes convinced that their relationship may be preventing her from deciding whether she wants marriage, children and a more adventurous future.

His decision to suggest a break creates most of the movie’s problems. Jack soon discovers that giving Wendy freedom to date other people is much harder to accept once she actually begins doing it. During their separation, he also starts seeing another woman named Sara.

Johnson is best known as Nick Miller from New Girl. His film work includes Drinking Buddies, Let’s Be Cops and the Spider-Verse movies, in which he voices Peter B. Parker. The Sun Never Sets reunites him with Swanberg, who previously directed him in Drinking Buddies and several other projects.

Cory Michael Smith as Chuck

Cory Michael Smith plays Chuck, Wendy’s former boyfriend. He reappears while Wendy and Jack are taking time apart, giving Wendy another possible version of what her future could look like.

Chuck is more interested in the kind of outdoor and spontaneous lifestyle Wendy enjoys. Their renewed attraction makes him an appealing alternative to Jack, but reconnecting with an ex also reminds Wendy why their earlier relationship did not work.

Smith is widely recognized for playing Edward Nygma, also known as the Riddler, in Gotham. His other credits include May December, First Man and Saturday Night. He is also one of the producers of The Sun Never Sets.

Debby Ryan as Lindsay

Debby Ryan portrays Lindsay, Wendy’s best friend. Lindsay is pregnant, which becomes particularly relevant while Wendy is trying to decide how she feels about marriage and motherhood. She wants to help Wendy move forward rather than remain trapped between Jack and Chuck.

Lindsay even arranges a blind date between Wendy and Danny, played by Tim Nienhueser. Her attempts to help do not necessarily make Wendy’s romantic situation any simpler.

Ryan became widely known through Disney Channel projects including Jessie and The Suite Life on Deck. She later starred as Patty Bladell in Netflix’s Insatiable.

Anna Konkle as Elizabeth

Anna Konkle plays Elizabeth, Jack’s ex-wife and the mother of his children. Rather than creating a stereotypical hostile ex-wife storyline, The Sun Never Sets gives Jack and Elizabeth a relatively functional relationship. Elizabeth also gets along with Wendy, who has become part of the family dynamic surrounding Jack’s children.

Her presence quietly makes Wendy’s dilemma more complicated. Wendy can see the family life Jack has already experienced, while simultaneously realizing that he may not want to start that stage of life again with her.

Konkle is best known for co-creating and starring in PEN15, in which she played a fictionalized teenage version of herself.

Karley Sciortino as Sara

Karley Sciortino plays Sara, a woman Jack begins dating while he and Wendy are apart. What starts as an attempt by Jack to move forward becomes difficult because he is clearly not over Wendy.

Sara eventually finds herself caught in a relationship with someone whose attention remains elsewhere. Her character helps show that Wendy and Jack’s experiment with separation affects people outside their original relationship as well.

Sciortino is a writer, television personality and actor known for Slutever. She also worked as a writer and producer on the 2026 film I Want Your Sex.

Lamorne Morris and the Supporting Cast

Lamorne Morris appears as one of Jack’s friends, offering him advice as his relationship with Wendy becomes increasingly complicated. His appearance also gives The Sun Never Sets a small New Girl reunion, bringing Morris and Jake Johnson back together after playing Winston and Nick on the long-running sitcom.

Brandon Daley plays Brad, an acquaintance of Wendy who has feelings for her, while Tim Nienhueser plays Danny, the man Lindsay sets Wendy up with. Joe Swanberg himself appears as Keith. Other credited performers include Ariana Parsa as Rebecca, Christopher Jackson as Chris and Karley Sciortino as Sara.

The relatively compact cast works well for Swanberg’s relationship-focused story. Wendy, Jack and Chuck remain the three people at the center, while Lindsay, Elizabeth, Sara and the others reveal different possibilities and complications surrounding their choices.