Character Relationship Map: Babylon

Characters

• Nellie LaRoy (played by Margot Robbie) — protagonist

  A brash, ambitious aspiring star from New Jersey, Nellie is discovered after Jane Thornton overdoses and quickly becomes a celebrated silent-film actress. She struggles with sound cinema, drugs, gambl...

• Jack Conrad (played by Brad Pitt) — supporting

  A benevolent and often-married silent-film star, Jack helps Manny enter the studio system after Manny procures a camera for one of his scenes. His popularity declines after sound films arrive, and the...

• Sidney Palmer (played by Jovan Adepo) — supporting

  An African-American jazz trumpeter whose orchestra becomes important to Manny's studio ambitions, Sidney suggests that Manny pitch films featuring the band to Irving Thalberg. He leaves Kinoscope afte...

• Orville Pickwick (played by Troy Metcalf) — supporting

  An actor present at Don Wallach's bacchanal, Orville Pickwick is with Jane Thornton when both take enough drugs for Jane to overdose. His brief connection to the incident helps establish the reckless,...

• Elinor St. John (played by Jean Smart) — supporting

  A gossip columnist who follows both Nellie's rise and Jack Conrad's decline, Elinor helps shape Hollywood publicity. She works with Manny to improve Nellie's image and enter high society, but later te...

• Jane Thornton (played by Phoebe Tonkin) — supporting

  A young actress attending Don Wallach's lavish party, Jane overdoses on drugs with Orville Pickwick. Manny helps carry her away while an elephant distracts the guests, and her absence creates the oppo...

• George Munn (played by Lukas Haas) — cameo

  Jack Conrad's longtime friend and producer, George Munn is important to Jack's professional and personal life. His suicide occurs as Jack is practicing lines with Estelle, leaving Jack devastated and...

• Lady Fay Zhu (played by Li Jun Li) — cameo

  A Chinese-American gay cabaret singer and Kinoscope title-writer, Lady Fay Zhu belongs to Manny's Hollywood circle and shares a tender moment with Nellie after killing a rattlesnake and removing its v...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Sidney Palmer → Jack Conrad (Professional Industry Peers) — They represent different branches of the same studio system.

  Sidney is a Kinoscope orchestra leader while Jack is a Kinoscope film star during the studio's transition to sound.

• Sidney Palmer → Lady Fay Zhu (Professional Studio Peers) — They are fellow performers in the studio-era entertainment world.

  Sidney and Fay attend the same early Hollywood party, where Sidney performs as a jazz trumpeter and Fay sings in a cabaret.

• Jack Conrad → Elinor St. John (Professional Career Subject) — Elinor's writing tracks and evaluates Jack's public career.

  Elinor follows Jack's career and later publishes a cover story about his declining popularity.

• Jack Conrad → Nellie LaRoy (Professional Studio Colleagues) — They occupy different stages of the same changing film industry.

  Jack is an established Kinoscope star while Nellie is recruited into a Kinoscope film and rises within the same studio system.

• Nellie LaRoy → Lady Fay Zhu (Romantic Interest) — Their encounter reveals a sudden and intense romantic connection.

  After Fay kills the rattlesnake and removes its venom, Nellie passionately kisses her.

• Nellie LaRoy → Elinor St. John (Professional Publicity Subject) — Elinor helps shape Nellie's public image.

  Elinor follows Nellie's rise and presents her as an emerging 'it girl' in gossip coverage.

• Nellie LaRoy → Jane Thornton (Professional Replacement) — Nellie's breakthrough directly comes at Jane's expense.

  Nellie is recruited to replace Jane in a Kinoscope film after Jane overdoses at the party.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Orville Pickwick → Jane Thornton (Social Party Companion) — They are directly connected during the party's overdose incident.

  Orville is with Jane when she overdoses on drugs at the mansion party.

• Sidney Palmer → Nellie LaRoy (Social Studio Acquaintances) — Their careers develop within the same turbulent industry.

  Sidney and Nellie are both present at the opening studio-party environment and later experience the changing demands of Hollywood performance.

• Lady Fay Zhu → Jack Conrad (Social Hotel Acquaintances) — Their brief encounter links two careers being reshaped by Hollywood's changes.

  Jack encounters Fay at a hotel party, where she tells him that she is leaving for Europe and Pathé.

• Jack Conrad → George Munn (Social Longtime Friend) — George's death deeply affects Jack.

  Jack is devastated when he learns that his longtime friend and producer George Munn has committed suicide.

• Nellie LaRoy → Orville Pickwick (Social Party Acquaintance) — They are connected through the chaotic studio party.

  Nellie is present at the party where Orville is with Jane Thornton during Jane's drug overdose.

Story Analysis

The film follows Hollywood's transformation from silent cinema to sound while tracing how ambition, exclusion, fame, and memory reshape its performers.

Plot Progression

1. A Scandalous Entrance — A chaotic Hollywood bacchanal introduces Nellie, Jack, Sidney, Fay, Jane, and Orville. Nellie's reckless energy turns a party emergency into her unexpected entrance into film.
2. The Sound Revolution — Nellie becomes a celebrated new star while Jack represents the established silent-film order. The arrival of sound transforms the studio system and creates new opportunities for Sidney.
3. Fame Turns Dangerous — Nellie struggles with sound filming, addiction, gambling, and public expectations. Fay saves her from a rattlesnake, creating an intimate moment amid Nellie's worsening instability.
4. Hollywood's Cruel Judgment — Jack's fame declines, Fay is pushed out because of discrimination, and Sidney rejects blackface. Nellie's attempted social rehabilitation instead produces another public scandal.
5. The Price of Immortality — Jack dies by suicide, while later clippings reveal the deaths of Elinor and Nellie. A return to the cinema reframes their losses within the enduring history of film.