In May 2016, Benoist was cast as Katherine Russell, the widow of deceased Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in Peter Berg's drama film "Patriots Day". In June, it was announced that she was set to star in the comedy-drama film "Sun Dogs". Also in that month, the Human Rights Campaign released a video in tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting; in the video, Benoist and others told the stories of the people killed there.