Harold & The Purple Crayon Cast and Character Guide

Sony’s film adaptation of the popular children’s picture book, Harold and the Purple Pencilbrings together an impressive cast of talented performances. Released in theaters on August 2, 2024, Harold and the Purple Pencil entered the Netflix top 10 following a streaming release on October 31st. Oscar-nominated director Carlos Saldanha uses the actors expertly, ensuring that their background experiences fit perfectly with their Harold and the Purple Pencil characters.

Although there are some crucial differences, Harold and the Purple Pencil shares the same basic premise as the book. When Harold and his friends design a portal to the real world, they must seek help to return to their magical world. While waiting for the portal to open again, Harold, Moose and Porcupine decide to bring magic into the lives of a family of two. Despite the film’s middling reviews, Harold and the Purple Crayon’s greatest strength is, without a doubt, its impressive cast.all with fully committed performances.

Cast of Harold and the Purple Pencil
Photo	Actor	Character
	Zachary Levi	Harold
	Lil Rel Howery	Moose
	Benjamin Bottani	Honey
	Zooey Deschanel	Terry
	Tania Reynolds	Porcupine
	Jemaine Clemente	Gary
	Alfredo Molina	Narrator

Zachary Levi as Harold

Date of birth: September 29, 1980

Actor: Zachary Levi was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Broke big on ABC TV series Less than perfectplaying Kipp Steadman. The actor has remained very active on television since the beginning, acting in approximately two projects per year. Notably, he starred in NBC’s American spy drama chuck, and voiced Flynn Rider in the Disney film Tangled. Since then, Levi has landed several leading roles in family films, including DC’s ShazamTerrence Tango in Spy Children: Armageddonand Rocky in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.

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Character: In Harold and the Purple Pencil, Zachary Levi continues his leading streak by playing Harold. The character comes from a fantasy world that he can create as much as he wants using a magical crayon. Just like Giselle at Disney EnchantedHarold is naive about the way the real world works — which contributes to the film’s comedic elements and conflict as he concocts unusual things that cause confusion and unwanted attention.

Lil Rel Howery as Moose

Date of birth: December 17, 1979

Actor: Lil Rel Howery was born in Chicago, Illinois, and had his breakout role as Rod Williams in Jordan Peele’s acclaimed directorial debut, To go out. Howery got his start in comedy and has written most of his notable television work, including Friends of the peopleFox sitcom Reland two HBO stand-up specials. He had supporting roles in the Netflix hit bird box; Judas and the Black Messiah; Warner Bros.’ live-action adaptation of Tom and Jerry; and Netflix Paternity. The actor has recently starred in several well-received Disney+ and Hulu TV films, which include Friends on vacation and the Christmas movie Running through the snow.

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Character: As part of Harold and the Purple PencilIn the main cast, Lil Rel Howery plays Moose, one of Harold’s best friends. The character comes from Harold’s imaginary world and used to be a drawn moose. He becomes a man when he leaves the designed world. Howery displays his comedic prowess alongside Zachary Levi, playing the nervous fellow who turns into a live moose whenever things get scary.

Benjamin Bottani as Mel

Date of birth: September 12, 2009

Actor: Benjamin Bottani was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and her performance as Mel in Harold and the Purple Pencil constitutes his first leading role. The young actor started out in theater productions before moving on to film and TV. He appeared in an episode of the original Apple TV show, Place for puppiesand The Chosen Onea drama that portrays the life of Jesus Christ. In 2023 he voiced Kabir in Adam Sandler’s Netflix animated film Lion.

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Character: In Harold and the Purple PencilBenjamin Bottani plays the character of Mel, a boy who befriends Harold and his friends. Mel is the only child of a single mother and plays a big role in helping the fantasy characters adapt to the real world. Likewise, Harold’s imagination helps Mel and Terry’s relationship grow.

Zooey Deschanel as Terry

Date of birth: January 17, 1980

Actor: Zooey Deschanel was born in Los Angeles, California, and broke out in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famouswhere she played Anita Millerthe protagonist’s older sister. She appeared alongside Will Ferrell in the iconic Christmas film, Elffeatured on M. Night Shyamalan The eventand co-starred with Jim Carrey in Yes man. Deschanel is most popular for playing the strange and optimistic Jess Day on the Fox sitcom New girl too As for his portrayal of the charming heartbreaker in Marc Webb’s acclaimed film, 500 days of summer. She reprized her role as Bridget in the Trolls franchise several times.

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Character: As part of Harold and the Purple PencilIn the cast, Zooey Deschanel plays Terry, Mel’s hard-working mother. Terry decides to help Harold and Moose after almost running them over. Upon discovering that the strange group is not from her world, and encouraged by her son, she lets them stay at her house and gets them jobs at the convenience store where she works. The reluctant character serves as the mature voice of the groupadvising against creations that will attract unwanted attention. However, through his interactions with Harold, Terry regains his imagination and optimism.

Tanya Reynolds as Hedgehog

Date of birth: November 4, 1991

Actor: Tanya Reynolds was born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, and had her son prominent role in The Deliveredacting alongside Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance. The actress made small appearances on several TV series before landing her role as the quirky and artsy Lily Iglehart on Netflix’s popular teen dramedy, Sex Education. Reynolds played Mrs. Elton in Autumn de Wilde’s Oscar-nominated adaptation of Jane Austen Emmastarring Anya Taylor-Joy. Since then she has led Robert Popper’s miniseries I hate youand starred in the Netflix hit The Decameron adaptation.

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Character: In Harold and the Purple PencilTanya Reynolds portrays Porcupine, another friend of Harold. Porcupine also adopts a human form once in the real world. After arriving on Earth, she is quickly separated from Harold and Moose and goes on to live her own adventure — until she reunites with the group again for the final confrontation with the film’s villain.

Jemaine Clement as Gary

Date of birth: January 10, 1974

Actor: Jemaine Clement was born in Masterton, New Zealand, and broke out on the sitcom Flight of the Concordswhere he and Bret McKenzie portrayed themselves as musicians who wanted to make it in the industry. Clement has starred in several films over the years, playing a variety of characters. However, he acquired a reputation for playing the antagonist in roles such as Boris the Animal in Men in Black 3Tamatoa at Disney Moanaand Dr. Garvin in Avatar: The Path of Water. Clement also worked with Taika Waititi on What we do in the shadows.

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Character: As part of Harold and the Purple Crayonn cast, Jemaine Clement plays Gary, the film’s villain. At first, the strange character seems to want to help Harold, as he knows a lot about the world he comes from and the power he holds. However, Gary’s true intentions quickly come to light when he takes possession of the magical crayon and uses it for his own devices.

Harold And The Purple Crayon Cast and supporting characters

Harold And The Purple Crayon benefits from a talented supporting actor

Alfred Molina as narrator: the actor is best known for playing Dr. Otto Octavius ​​​​in the Sam Raimi film Spider-Man 2 and Diego Rivera in the Oscar-winning film Frida biopic of Julie Taymor. In Harold and the Purple Pencil, he plays the role of the Narrator, who tells the story off-screen.