Meet the actors in the cast of ‘American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez’

Learn more about the actors playing Tim Tebow, Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft, Rob Gronkowski, and other notable Patriots in FX's "American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez."

With the airing of episode 5 of “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” earlier this week, we have now officially reached the halfway point of the 10-part FX drama about the rise and fall of the former Patriots tight end.

That also means that viewers have met the majority of the cast of characters in the Hernandez saga, from his earliest days as a child growing up in Connecticut to his days in Foxborough — both as a Patriots player and as a defendant on trial for murder.

Episode 5 of “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” has some show-stopping moments for Norbert Leo Butz, the actor playing Patriots coach Bill Belichick. In one scene that speaks to the campy style of “American Sports Story” executive producer Ryan Murphy (“Glee,” “American Horror Story”), the gruff coach rocks out to Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life,” twirling his whistle and throwing up devil horns in a very un-Belichickian fashion.

The midpoint of “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” also introduces an individual who became widely known to the public following Hernandez’s arrest: Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, a former high school girlfriend who eventually became Hernandez’s fiancée.

For those playing catch-up on the show, which is based on The Boston Globe’s Spotlight series and subsequent podcast with Wondery (both of which serve as producers on the FX show), here’s everything you need to know about the actors in the cast of “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez.”

“American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” cast

Josh Andrés Rivera as Aaron Hernandez

Josh Andrés Rivera, the actor who plays Aaron Hernandez, experienced his breakout role in 2023 in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” Prior to that, Rivera was part of the first national tour of “Hamilton” and was part of Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.”

Rivera told The Hollywood Reporter that he used firsthand accounts of Hernandez from friends and family to inform his performance.

“Initially, the foundation I tried to use was the accounts that a lot of his friends and family had of him — that he was a sweet individual. He was good humored. He was charismatic,” Rivera said. “I think that’s the part that’s really interesting: How is this same person capable of all that? I tried to use that perspective as his foundation and then use certain traumatic events, situations, or circumstances to add on these layers that make it a little bit more complex until eventually you don’t really recognize the person from the first episode anymore.”

Norbert Leo Butz as Bill Belichick

Norbert Leo Butz, one of only nine actors to win two Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical (“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Catch Me If You Can”), plays former Patriots coach Bill Belichick in “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez.”

Butz told The Boston Globe that he only had a passing knowledge of the football coach before being cast, but quickly studied up.

“I came to see him as much more multifaceted than those press conferences would have you believe,” Butz said. “And in fact, that stoic, kind of unemotional, mumbling guy, I thought was a real tell into who he was. I thought it was very strategic what he was doing. I thought it was all — and I think other people would agree with me — kind of an act in order to win football games.”

Ross Jirgl as Tom Brady

FX found a former football player for the role of Tom Brady, casting actor Ross Jirgl (“Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch”) as the Patriots icon.

Jirgl, who played linebacker in high school and college, told the Wausau Daily Herald that he worked hard to match the quarterback’s on-field mannerisms, and wanted to “make Tom Brady proud, or at least not make him look bad.”

“People know everything about Tom Brady because they have been watching him for [over 20] years,” Jirgl said. “And people are going to call you out if it’s not right.”

Laith Wallschleger as Rob Gronkowski

In a brief scene in Episode 5 of “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” Hernandez meets his fellow rookie tight end, Rob Gronkowski.

Gronk is played with boundless bro energy by Laith Wallschleger (“The Rookie”), who played college football at the University of Delaware and spent time in the Arizona Cardinals training camp as an undrafted rookie free agent.

They call me Gronk,” Wallschleger wrote on Instagram. “YO SOY FIESTA.”

Patrick Schwarzenegger as Tim Tebow

The son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, Patrick Schwarzenegger has starred in “The Boys” spinoff “Gen V,” alongside brother-in-law Chris Pratt on “The Terminal List,” and will be in Season 3 of HBO’s “The White Lotus.”

On “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” Schwarzenegger plays Tim Tebow, the Heisman-winning quarterback who was teammates with Hernandez at the University of Florida.

Tebow also had a brief NFL career, including a training camp stint with the Patriots in 2013. In fact, Tebow signed with the Patriots fewer than 10 days before authorities first searched Hernandez’s home in connection with Odin Lloyd’s death.

Ean Castellanos as Dennis “DJ” Hernandez (Aaron’s brother)

Ean Castellanos plays Aaron Hernandez’s older brother, DJ Hernandez, on “American Sports Story.” A recent graduate of the American Music and Drama Academy (AMDA), Castellanos’ previous TV credits include the HBO series “High Maintenance.”

DJ Hernandez was arrested in 2023 after authorities alleged that he threatened to shoot up the University of Connecticut campus as well as find and kill three individuals who live outside of Connecticut. In October 2023, he was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation. No trial date has been set for Hernandez, and the case is pending.

Tammy Blanchard as Terri Hernandez (Aaron’s mother)

Veteran actress Tammy Blanchard, who won a Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Judy Garland in “Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows,” was cast as Terri Hernandez, the mother of Aaron Hernandez.

Unlike Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez (see below), Terri Hernandez has stayed out of the public eye since her son’s death in 2017. According to public records, she still lives in Connecticut, but sold the Bristol home where she raised Aaron and DJ in 2020.

Jaylen Barron as Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez (Aaron’s fiancé)

Jaylen Barron, best known for her work on Showtime’s “Shameless” and Netflix’s “Free Rein,” plays Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, Aaron’s high school sweetheart turned fiancée.

After being charged with lying to a grand jury in 2013, charges against Jenkins were dropped in 2015 as part of an immunity deal. In 2023, she was accused of misspending funds set aside in a trust for the couple’s daughter, Avielle.

Jenkins-Hernandez has been outspoken in the press about the media’s portrayal of Hernandez in recent years.

Following the premiere of the 2020 Netflix documentary about the former Patriots tight end, Jenkins-Hernandez told “Good Morning America” that she didn’t think rumors about Hernandez’s sexuality should have been discussed, adding that she “would not have loved him any differently” if he had come out to her.

Then in 2024, Jenkins-Hernandez told TMZ that jokes from Netflix’s Tom Brady roast about Hernandez’s suicide made her “sad.”

Lindsay Mendez as Tanya Singleton (Aaron’s cousin)

Tanya Singleton, Hernandez’s cousin, was found guilty of criminal contempt in 2014 after refusing to testify about Hernandez’s role in a 2012 South End double homicide (for which Hernandez was acquitted only days before his death). She was also found guilty on a similar charge earlier that year for refusing to testify about Hernandez’s role in the murder of Odin Lloyd.

In “American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez,” Singleton is played by Lindsay Mendez, an actress best known for her theater work, including her Tony Award-winning turn as Carrie Pipperidge in a Broadway revival of “Carousel.”

Jake Cannavale as Chris (composite character)

In Episode 6, which airs October 15 at 10 p.m., Jake Cannavale, the son of actor Bobby Cannavale, plays Chris, a massage therapist with whom Hernandez explores a romantic relationship. A stage actor and two-time Tony nominee, Cannavale also appeared in the Showtime series “Nurse Jackie.”

Chris is not based on a real-life individual, but is instead a composite character, representing the multiple men that Hernandez allegedly had relationships with in his life.

After Hernandez died, Hernandez’s high school football teammate Dennis SanSoucie told The Boston Globe that he and Hernandez had a sexual relationship while teenagers. Hernandez also told his mother he was gay when she visited him in prison, per the Globe.

Kevin Slane is a staff writer for Boston.com covering entertainment and culture, with a specific focus on movie reviews, streaming guides, and things to do in Boston.