The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel casting agents couldn’t have found better actors to play adult Esther and Ethan Maisel on Season 5.
Alexandra Socha embodied the neurotic, genius of Esther as a young woman, and even sounds like her mother Midge when she rants to her psychologist about not being able to talk to her mother. But then Ethan, played by Ben Rosenfield, is more of a gentler, passive soul living in Israel on a Kibbutz.
Both actors brought young adult Esther and Ethan Maisel to life on season 5, so who are these young actors?
Alexandra Socha dishes about young adult Esther’s Ramones t-shirt on season 5 of ‘Maisel’
Socha announced her appearance in season 5 in a very Maisel way. “You might see a familiar face (and an awesome mess of hair) in the opening scene of the season. What a joy to get to be on one of my favorite shows!” she captioned a photo on Instagram. Adding, “PS. Can we please discuss the hilarious fact that I’ve lusted after this shows aesthetic for 5 years, particularly the costumes, finally get cast, and then am wearing…a sweatshirt and no makeup.”
She also revealed that the Ramones t-shirt she wore was the real deal. “And you bet that it was actual vintage as that costume department doesn’t half-ass anything!” she dished.
Socha made her television acting debut in the series White Collar in 2010. She was in Blue Bloods and appeared in several episodes of Royal Pains. Socha also replaced Lea Michele in the original Broadway production of Spring Awakening in 2008.
Ben Rosenfield starred alongside an ‘AHS’ alum in the past
The typically clean-cut actor grew a bushy beard and let his hair grow long for the role of Ethan in Maisel. The 32-year-old actor appeared in the film Affluenza in 2014, followed by tackling the role of Willie Thompson in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. He was also in the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks and in the mini-series Mrs. America.
He starred alongside American Horror Story‘s Taissa Farmiga in the 2015 indie hit 6 Years about star-crossed high schoolers. Rosenfield thought the role of Dan and the storyline to be relatable. “I thought it was very relatable, but it was really exciting that it was more of an outline then a script and that we were going to be doing a lot of improv,” he told The Moveable Fest.
Adding, “The script Taissa and I were sent had a lot of photos in it for reference to give you a sense of the visual tone in the movie. That’s really important to me, to see the film maker has a visual sense and the pictures certainly expressed a lot, so those were things that made me really excited about it.”
Rachel Brosnahan says Esther grows up to be a ‘weird kid’
In the opening scene of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5, it’s 1981 and Esther is a Ph.D. candidate bemoaning the self-centered life her (now) famous mother leads. Rachel Brosnahan, who plays the titular role of Miriam “Midge” Maisel can see how Midge and her daughter could have a strained relationship.
“Midge has chosen a somewhat selfish profession,” Brosnahan told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think it’s inevitable that kids grow up to hate their parents to some degree. We only see them for a brief time, so maybe there’s still hope as we move forward that Esther and Midge may grow closer, but Esther was a weird kid, in fairness.”
But also in fairness, during frost-bitten delirium, Midge says that her kids can go “f*** themselves.” Of course, she later realizes she said it but doesn’t seem too concerned.
Episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 5 are currently streaming on Prime.
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