Manifest’s Cast Explains How They All Became “So Damn Close”

The story of Manifest is a uniquely modern television tale. 

In June 2021, the supernatural drama—about the passengers and crew of a commercial flight who reappear after being presumed dead for five-and-a-half years—was canceled after three seasons on NBC.

Right around the time of its cancelation, however, the series was added to Netflix. Almost immediately, Manifest skyrocketed to the top of the streamer’s viewing charts. Impressed with its performance, Netflix decided to renew the show for a 20-episode fourth and final season. The first 10 episodes drop Nov 4.

Though the show’s journey has been a rollercoaster, the members of its ensemble cast never lost touch with each other.

“There’s definitely a group text chain with all of us,” Josh Dallas, who plays Ben Stone, exclusively told E! News.

He and Melissa Roxburgh, who plays his sister Michaela Stone were “constantly in contact throughout the whole thing,” he said. “It was incredibly exciting. It was exciting when it was all going down.”

As it turns out, it was actually Melissa was told Manifest creator Jeff Rake that the show was even on Netflix in the first place. 

“I definitely feel like I should not have been the person to tell him, but I accidentally was,” she joked. “I think that means I watch too much TV, or maybe just too much Netflix. This was after I had been told so many times that we were never going to finish the story. No one wanted to pick us up. No one wanted to have an unfinished story. So when I turned on Netflix and we were there, I was mostly confused.”

That confusion, of course, was eventually replaced with elation—and the whole gang got back together.