Abigail Cowen

Abigail Cowen arrived in Los Angeles with a suitcase and a public relations degree still unfinished. She was only 19 years old. By 2014, she had made a brief television appearance on Red Band Society, but that shoot was little more than a crash course in how to carry yourself on a professional set.

Her real breakthrough came in 2017. She appeared in the second season of Stranger Things as Vicki Charmichael. It was a small role, but her striking presence and icy gaze caught the attention of Netflix casting directors who were looking for faces for their upcoming youth-oriented productions.

The streaming industry was quick to take notice of her.

Shadows Refuge

In 2018, she joined the cast of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. For two years, she played Dorcas, one of the three Blackwood Sisters (a trio of relentless witches). Filming in Vancouver taught her how a big-budget production with constant visual effects works. Her face began appearing on magazine covers around the world.

Netflix gave her the lead role in a series in 2021. She took the lead in Fate: The Winx Saga, playing Bloom. Critics were harsh on the adaptation for its dark tone, which strayed far from the original animated series. Despite the backlash, the show topped the most-watched charts in dozens of countries over two consecutive seasons.

But the network canceled the series in November 2022 after just two seasons.

Turning Toward Adult Drama

Cowen wanted to move away from magical high school dramas and special effects. In 2022, she starred in Redeeming Love, a period drama set during the California Gold Rush. The role of Angel demanded an emotional depth her earlier work had never required. The film grossed 9.2 million dollars at the U.S. box office.

Her bet on independent film started to pay off.

In 2024, she filmed the thriller The Edit under director Laura Brownson. Here, Cowen moves away from fantasy to explore grittier cinema, where the weight rests entirely on the performance. She shared the set with Cara Santana in a psychological suspense story that aims to break her image as a young heroine.

Disney+ filmed the pilot episode of Witch Mountain with her in 2023. It was a reboot of the famous science fiction franchise. However, the company decided not to greenlight a full season after reviewing the footage and weighing the production costs.

Cowen's contract for Redeeming Love included a strict confidentiality clause about the filming locations in South Africa.