--- name: "Samantha Sloyan" canonical: "https://film.one/person/samantha-sloyan" roles: ["Actor"] born: "4 January 1979" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 74 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-09-17T13:52:51.540995+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Samantha Sloyan Actor. Born 4 January 1979 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 4 January 1979, Los Angeles County, California, USA - **Active:** 2018–present - **Also known as:** Sam Sloyan - **Frequently works with:** [Mike Flanagan](https://film.one/person/mike-flanagan.md), [Dani Parker](https://film.one/person/dani-parker.md), [Jamie Flanagan](https://film.one/person/jamie-flanagan.md), [Kate Siegel](https://film.one/person/kate-siegel.md), [Kathy Gilroy](https://film.one/person/kathy-gilroy.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 80 (1), 2020s 73 (3) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 74 to 76 across 4 titles - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 4, Mystery 3 - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Sloyan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21593058, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1418096/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1331981 ## Coming up - *Carrie* (2026-10-07), as Margaret White — [page](https://film.one/tv/carrie-2026.md) - *The Exorcist: Martyrs* (2027-03-10) ## Streaming the US now - **Netflix:** [*Midnight Mass*](https://film.one/tv/midnight-mass.md) (72), [*The Fall of the House of Usher*](https://film.one/tv/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher.md) (65) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Samantha Sloyan > Samantha Sloyan is Mike Flanagan's zealot of choice: the woman in the pew who has read the book and means to use it on you. In *Midnight Mass* she is quietly frightening. Elsewhere in his ensembles she has had less to do. Bev Keane does not raise her voice. In *Midnight Mass* (2021) she quotes scripture at you in a tone that suggests you have already lost, and the trick of Samantha Sloyan's performance is that she never once winks. Most actors playing a parish bully let us know, somewhere behind the eyes, that they find her ridiculous. Sloyan plays a woman who is right and is being patient with you about it. We found her harder to sit with than anything else on that island, because we have all met her, and because for long stretches she seemed to be winning the argument. She took the long road to that room. There were small film parts and shorts from 2003, guest spots on *NCIS*, *Castle* and *Parks and Recreation*, then recurring work on *Scandal* (2012–2014) and *Grey's Anatomy* (2015–2016) as Dr Penelope Blake. The turn came with *Hush* (2016), her first film for Mike Flanagan, and she has barely left his company since: *The Haunting of Hill House* (2018) as Leigh Crain, *Midnight Mass*, *The Midnight Club* (2022) and *The Fall of the House of Usher* (2023), seven projects together in all. Flanagan writes long speeches, more than seven hours can comfortably carry, and Sloyan, who came up through stage work at the Geffen Playhouse, is one of the few in his troupe who can deliver them so that they sound like something a person decided to say rather than something a writer needed said. The pattern is plain: conviction, control, a protectiveness that shades into suspicion. What keeps it from being a party trick is that she plays the conviction from the inside, so the rigid characters are never one thing. The limit is also plain. In *Usher* she is Tamerlane, one of the heirs in a pharmaceutical dynasty being killed off an episode at a time, and in a series that shouts where Poe whispered she did not register with us; our review did not find room to mention her. She is at her best when the material is quiet enough for her stillness to count, and Flanagan does not always give her that. Nor, so far, has anyone else. Her reputation sits almost entirely inside his ensembles, and the wider audience has had little chance to find her. What comes next is either the confirmation or the escape. She has recurring work on *The Pitt* (2025), and then the lead in *Carrie* (2026), a Flanagan miniseries, as Margaret White, the mother. Of the part she has said, "She loves Carrie, but she doesn't understand Carrie." That is Bev Keane's sentence too, and Sloyan has been rehearsing it for a decade in smaller rooms. We would also, one day, like to see what she does for a director who does not give her a speech. ## Biography Samantha Sloyan is an American actress. She was born on 4 January 1979 in Los Angeles County, California, and is the daughter of actors James Sloyan and Deirdre Lenihan. Sloyan has appeared in recurring roles on *Grey's Anatomy* (as Dr Penelope Blake) and *Scandal*. She has collaborated frequently with filmmaker Mike Flanagan, appearing in *Hush* (2016), *The Haunting of Hill House* (2018), *Midnight Mass* (2021, as Bev Keane), *The Midnight Club* (2022) and *The Fall of the House of Usher* (2023, as Tamerlane Usher). She is also credited in the upcoming series *Carrie* (2026, as Margaret White). On stage, she has performed at the Geffen Playhouse and received LADCC and LA Weekly awards for her work in *Munched*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *The Pitt* (2025), Fi1m 81, as Lily Bradley — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-pitt.md) - *The Fall of the House of Usher* (2023), Fi1m 65, as Tamerlane Usher — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher.md) - *Midnight Mass* (2021), Fi1m 72, as Bev Keane — [page](https://film.one/tv/midnight-mass.md) - *The Haunting of Hill House* (2018), Fi1m 80, as Leigh Crain — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-haunting-of-hill-house.md) ## Complete filmography (39) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Exorcist: Martyrs* (2027), Acting - *Carrie* (2026), series, as Margaret White — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/tv/carrie-2026.md) - *Silver Anniversary* (2026), as Marnie - *The Life of Chuck* (2025), as Miss Rohrbacher - *The Pitt* (2025), series, as Lily Bradley — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-pitt.md) - *Good Daughter* (2024), as Rebecca - *The Place Between* (2024), as Beatrice - *Invaders from Proxima B* (2023), as Jane Jankins - *The Fall of the House of Usher* (2023), series, as Tamerlane Usher — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher.md) - *The Midnight Club* (2022), series, as Shasta - *Love You, Mama* (2022), as Lee - *Minx* (2022), series, as Joan Didion - *Midnight Mass* (2021), series, as Bev Keane — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/midnight-mass.md) - *Helstrom* (2020), series, as Jolene Spivey - *Truth Be Told* (2019), series, as Sharon Dotsikas - *The Morning Show* (2019), series, as Cheryl - *Miss Virginia* (2019), as Mrs. Watson - *Creepshow* (2019), series, as Lorna (segment "20 Minutes with Cassandra") - *Pappy Hour* (2019), as Jean Mulligan - *The Rookie* (2018), series, as Alice Sheldon - *The Haunting of Hill House* (2018), series, as Leigh Crain — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-haunting-of-hill-house.md) - *SEAL Team* (2017), series, as Victoria Seaver - *The Good Doctor* (2017), series, as Mrs. Gallico - *Hush* (2016), as Sarah - *Murder in Mexico* (2015), as Gretchen Thorne - *Tape 407* (2012), as Lois - *Scandal* (2012), series, as Jeannine Locke, Sassy Staffer - *The Cape* (2011), series, as Blonde Reporter - *Law & Order: LA* (2010), series, as Rachel Forester - *Hawaii Five-0* (2010), series, as Sarah Richmond - *Rizzoli & Isles* (2010), series, as Alex Ruebens - *The Forgotten* (2009), series, as Nurse - *Parks and Recreation* (2009), series, as Erica - *Castle* (2009), series, as Pam Clark - *Criminal Minds* (2005), series, as Tracy Senarak - *Grey's Anatomy* (2005), series, as Penelope Blake — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/greys-anatomy.md) - *NCIS* (2003), series, as Emily Goodwin - *My Life with Morrissey* (2003), as Florist - *Biter*, as Janet ## Gallery - ![Samantha Sloyan](https://film.one/media/person/95568/gallery-861d8c892593.jpg) Samantha Sloyan — Image via TMDB - ![Samantha Sloyan](https://film.one/media/person/95568/gallery-3d36d114e011.jpg) Samantha Sloyan — Image via TMDB - ![Samantha Sloyan](https://film.one/media/person/95568/gallery-5b160f3284ad.jpg) Samantha Sloyan — Image via TMDB - ![Samantha Sloyan](https://film.one/media/person/95568/gallery-66a58155b2cb.jpg) Samantha Sloyan — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/samantha-sloyan