Renaissance Man (film) - Cast

Cast

• Danny DeVito as Bill Rago, an advertising executive who loses his job. He applies for unemployment and is ultimately offered a temporary teaching job for the U.S. Army. Bitter and frustrated, he finds himself unable to comprehend the strict structure of the army.
• Gregory Hines as Sergeant Cass, a strict Drill Sergeant, who makes it clear to Rago upon their first meeting that he finds classroom teaching of this civilian's "students" to be a waste of time and money, mockingly calling him "Shakespeare." In turn, Rago nicknames him "Lou".
• James Remar as Captain Tom Murdoch, an official at Fort McClane and a supporter of Rago's, who is always busy but finds himself amused by Bill's initial frustrations.
• Ed Begley, Jr. as Jack Markin, Rago's advertising partner, who does his best to defend Bill when he comes under fire for losing a business deal.
• Lillo Brancato, Jr. as Private Donnie Benitez (Horatio), a soldier from The Bronx, who was originally part of a street gang. He enlists after his young sister is killed in a gang shooting. After seeing Henry V with Rago and the class, he buys a copy of the play to read himself, and later recites the St. Crispin's Day Speech for Sgt. Cass while on night maneuvers.
• Stacey Dash as Private Miranda Myers (Ophelia), the sole female soldier in the class. Prior to joining the army, Miranda's mother ran off with a man and left her alone. While riding a bus for two days she found herself staring at an Army recruitment sign with the slogan "Be all you can be," so she enlisted.
• Kadeem Hardison as Private Jamaal Montgomery (Ghost of Hamlet's Father), a wise-cracking soldier who jokes around and taunts everyone in class.
• Richard T. Jones as Corporal Jackson Leroy (Laertes), a serious soldier (and Montgomery's best friend), who had previously been an all-star football player before an injury forced him to give up his dream. He is bitter about having been encouraged to only pursue sports, leaving him with only a handful of options. He is married and a father-to-be.
• Khalil Kain as Private Roosevelt (Nathaniel) Hobbs (Hamlet), an intelligent, mysterious soldier who intrigues Rago to encourage officials to explore his background in hopes of promoting him. While the research is being conducted, the officials uncover that he is actually a drug dealer who joined the Army with a fake identity to escape warrants for his arrest from selling crack. His discharge and arrest devastates Rago and the rest of his students.
• Peter Simmons as Private Brian Davis, Jr., a soldier needled by others for continually discussing his deceased father, who was killed in the Vietnam War before he was born. When roles for the class version of Hamlet are handed out, he's not thrilled about being cast as Queen Gertrude but accepts it after its revealed that all parts were played by men in Shakespeare's time. Rago proves this by performing a Juliet soliloquy.
• Gregory Sporleder as Private Melvin Melvin (Polonius), a redneck soldier, well known for falling asleep under any situation. It is implied that he enlisted to escape the abuse he endured from his stepfather. Upon receiving a letter, he learns that his younger siblings have begun to receive the beatings in his place. During the final exam, he notes that all royal characters in the play are either killed or commit suicide, and the only two characters who live on are "Fornbrazz and Horatio... a soldier, and a student... ain't that something?"
• Mark Wahlberg as Private Tommy Lee Haywood (King Claudius), a tough-talking soldier from a trailer park, who had previously worked in a mill with his father before it closed down. He enlists in the Army hoping to see the world. Due to his objection of Private Davis's being cast as the Queen (because he's the King), for once he takes more teasing than Davis.
• Alanna Ubach, as Emily Rago, Bill's daughter. It is Bill's continuing desire to provide for her that he takes 'any' job.