On screen
Cast
212 credited performers
Jay O. Sanders
Self - Narrator (voice)
Lance Lewman
Narrator (voice)
Neil Ross
Narrator
Liev Schreiber
Narrator (voice)
Craig Sechler
Narrator
Will Lyman
Narrator (voice)
David Pogue
Self
Stacy Keach
Character not listed
David Ogden Stiers
Narrator
Brian Greene
Host
John Lithgow
Narrator
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Self - Host
Gene Galusha
Narrator
Peter Thomas
Narrator
Richard Donat
Narrator
Jeremiah Kissel
Narrator
Ella Al-Shamahi
Self - Presenter
Corey Johnson
Narrator
Richard Smith
Host
Jamie Effros
Narrator
Kathryn Walker
Character not listed
Paul Vaughan
Narrator (voice)
Demetri Goritsas
Narrator
Ted Marcoux
Narrator
Eric Meyers
Narrator
David Attenborough
Narrator
Tony Kahn
Narrator
Joe Morton
Narrator
Roy Scheider
Narrator
John Hockenberry
Narrator
Kirk Johnson
Host
Valerie Harper
Self
Stockard Channing
Narrator (voice)
Christian Pedersen
Gustav Wiik
Oliver Platt
Narrator
Edd Gasper
Narrator
Beatrix Gardner
Self
Ian Holm
Narrator (voice)
Don Wescott
Narrator (voice)
Martin Jarvis
Narrator (voice)
Courtney B. Vance
Narrator
Bray Poor
Narrator
Michael Scott
Narrator
Jim Carter
Narrator
Kenichi Nakamaru
Reporter
Shu Morino
Reporter
John McKenzie
Narrator
Henry Ian Cusick
Charles Darwin
Frances O'Connor
Emma Darwin
Nigel Bennett
Sir Charles Lyell
Rushmore DeNooyer
Narrator
Mark Oliver Everett
Himself
Stefanie E. Frame
Narrator
John Benjamin Hickey
Narrator
Alan Yentob
Narrator
Rob Tinworth
Narrator
David Slavin
Narrator
Ray Magliozzi
Host
Tom Magliozzi
Host
Harrison Ford
Narrator
E.O. Wilson
Himself
Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Percy Julian
Aidan McArdle
Albert Einstein
Shirley Henderson
Mileva Maric
Steven Robertson
Michael Faraday
Julian Rhind-Tutt
Antoine Lavoisier
Ty Glaser
Marie Anne Lavoisier
Brendan Fleming
Hermann Einstein
Stephen Noonan
Marat
Anton Lesser
Voltaire
Emily Woof
Lise Meitner
Alex Macqueen
Chater
Samuel West
Humphry Davy
Robert Styles
Newman
Philip Herbert
Count de Amerval
Di Trevis
Baroness de la Garde
James Tovell
Manson
F. Murray Abraham
Narrator
Scott Handy
Isaac Newton
Anthony Garner
Sir John Franklin
Maureen Bennett
Lady Franklin
Thom Fell
James Fitzjames
Bohdan Poraj
Francis Crozier
Corey Conradi
Roald Amundsen
Darri Ingolfsson
Godfred Hansen
Marian Tomas Griffin
Mary Mallon
Jere Shea
George Soper
Keith David
Narrator
Calvin Sims
Reporter
C. Scott Willis
Reporter
Simon Callow
Galileo
Laura Nardi
Maria Celeste
John Fraser
Inquisitor
Alexa Jago
Voice of Maria Celeste
Cornelius Garrett
Voices of the Ambassador and Castelli
Sigourney Weaver
Narrator
Rena Baskin
Narrator
Vladimir Pozner
Host
Roger McGough
Narrator
William Hootkins
Voice of Methuselah
Derek Jacobi
Voice of Ernest Shackleton
Susan Sarandon
Narrator (voice)
Héctor Elizondo
Narrator
Robert Krulwich
Correspondent
Hal Linden
Narrator
John Hurt
Narrator
Rebecca De Mornay
Narrator
Sally Kellerman
Narrator
Jeremy Akerman
Parslow
Jan Maxwell
Narrator
Salvatore Vecchio
Narrator
Richard Allinson
Narrator
Lee Berger
Self
Zeresenay Alemseged
Self
Kostas Baras
Character not listed
Alkibiadis Bakogianis
Character not listed
Argirios Bangelis
Character not listed
Andreas Charitopoulos
Character not listed
Aristotelles Kariofillas
Character not listed
Kiriakos Kamaros
Character not listed
Elias Papadopoulos
Character not listed
Demetris Xilas
Character not listed
John Hawks
Self
Zachary Quinto
Narrator
Laurence Golborne
Self
Talithia Williams
Self - Narrator
John Pallister
Self - USGS Geologist
Charlie Crisafulli
Self - USGS Geologist
Robert Michelson
Self
Reinhard Genzel
Self
Manfred von Richthofen
Self (archive footage)
William H. Whyte
Self
James R. Schlesinger
Self (archive footage)
Heather Berlin
Self
George Pataki
Self
Carl Sagan
Character not listed
John E. Mack
Self - Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Bernard Arcand
Self
Duncan Carse
Narrator
Carl Sagan
Self
R. Allen Gardner
Self
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
Self
Patricia Marks Greenfield
Self
Duane Rumbaugh
Self
Sarah Boyson
Self
Robert Sinsheimer
Self
David Baltimore
Self
George Church
Self
Jennifer Doudna
Self
Rodolphe Barrangou
Self
Antonio Regalado
Self
Christopher Molesworth
Joey as a Boy
John Prasher
Joey as a Young Man
Joseph Deacon
Joey Today
Tony Robinson
Younger Ernie
Ernie Roberts
Ernie Today
Anita Carey
Joey's Mother
Mark Wing-Davey
Joey's Father
Shankara Murthi
S. Ramanujan (voice)
A. Tarcisius
Indian Voices (voice)
Gregory Harris
J.E. Littlewood (voice)
Jean Dieudonne
Self
Paul Erdös
Self
Greg Moore
Self
Maureen Stapleton
Narrator (voice)
David Rose
Self
Richard Post
Self
William Franklyn
Narrator (voice)
Terrence Hardiman
Trofim Lysenko
David Swift
Nikolai Vavilov
Simon Lack
Zhukovsky
Richard Ireson
Prezent
George Cormack
Ivan Michurin
Forbes Collins
Iakovlev
Richard Beale
Lysenko's Father
Noel Davis
Scientist
Michael David
Agrobiologist
David James
Gorshkov
Brian Poyser
Shudenko
Eve Karpf
Woman
Frank Gillard
Narrator (voice)
Jeremy Keenan
Anthropologist
Linus Pauling
Self
Ray Moore
Narrator (voice)
Joseph Campanella
Narrator (voice)
Alexander John
Narrator (voice)
Robin King
Narrator (voice)
David Suzuki
Narrator (voice)
Harry Mannis
Narrator (voice)
Bill Mason
Narrator (voice)
Lee Grant
Narrator (voice)
Richard Kiley
Narrator (voice)
Ursula Drabik
Narrator (voice)
Lanie Zera
Narrator (voice)
Stephen Jay Gould
Self
Mimi Michaela Konoza
High School Student (uncredited)
Natalie Rose
Josephine Baker
Robert D. Ballard
Self
Homer H. Hickam Jr.
Self
Martin K.A. Morgan
Self
Abdelouahed Ben-Nce
Self - National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage
Sheila Coulson
Self
Thomas Sutikna
Self
Oshan Wedage
Self
Marco de la Rasilla
Self - Guest
Ludovic Slimak
Self
Duncan McLaren
Self - Guest
Duncan McLaren
Self - Guest
Pierre Tallet
Self
Ian Hodder
Self - Guest
Jun Ye
Self - JILA, NIST, CU Boulder
William Proxmire
Self (archive footage)