Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ Dracula adaptation remains a bit mysterious even as it comes to TV, but a regular trickle of cast information has us eager to meet the new inhabitants of Bram Stoker’s dark supernatural world.
At the moment, a few character details are still being kept secret, but we do know exactly which actors will be involved in the three-part BBC series, streaming on Netflix outside the UK.
- First look at Claes Bang’s Dracula is bloody, scary
- When is Dracula coming to TV? Who’s writing it? And who’s in the cast?
Here’s where you might have seen them before…
Claes Bang – Count Dracula
A centuries-old vampire who lives in Transylvania, the blood-drinking Count Dracula develops new plans when he’s visited by an English solicitor…
Currently the only actor with a confirmed role, Danish actor Bang was previously best known for his lead part in The Square, a satirical drama where he played an art curator, which won the Palme D’Or at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.
Over the years Bang has appeared in many Danish TV series and films, and UK audiences may have spotted him in The Bridge, Dicte, Borgen or 2018 thriller The Girl in the Spider’s Web.
John Heffernan – Jonathan Harker
A mustard-keen lawyer with a sense of justice, Jonathan’s latest client may prove to be even more bloodsucking than some of his colleagues…
Heffernan is best known for playing villainous or upper-class characters (or both!) with previous roles including Lord Altrincham in The Crown, Sam Spence in Collateral, Henry Lascelles in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Jaggers in Dickensian. In recent years he has also appeared in Brexit: The Uncivil War, The Loch and Foyle’s War among other roles.
Dolly Wells – Sister Agatha
A whip-smart nun suffering a loss of faith, Sister Agatha finds new purpose when she meets Jonathan Harker…
Actor and writer Wells has appeared in films including Bridget Jones’ Diary, I Capture the Castle, 45 Years, Bridget Jones’ Baby and Can You Ever Forgive Me? alongside TV series including The Bill, Peep Show, Star Stories, Campus, Spy, Some Girls, Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy and Blunt Talk.
Alongside Emily Mortimer, she starred in Sky Living’s Doll & Em, a fictionalised sitcom version of their real-life friendship.
Joanna Scanlan – Mother Superior
The head of a Hungarian chapter of nuns, the Mother Superior has a few clashes with Sister Agatha.
Scanlan is probably best known for her role as useless press officer Terri Coverley in satire The Thick of It and for starring as tough cop DI Deering in Channel 4’s No Offence.
However she has also had notable roles in dark NHS drama Getting On (which she also co-wrote), Spaced, The Woman in White, Rev, Death Comes to Pemberley, Big School and Hold the Sunset.
Film appearances include Stardust, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Notes on a Scandal, Birdget Jones’ Baby and Charles Dickens movie The Invisible Woman.
Morfydd Clark
Welsh actor Clark has appeared in films including The Falling, Love & Friendship, The Man Who Invented Christmas, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and upcoming Armando Ianucci adaptation The Personal History of David Copperfield. She has appeared in TV series like Patrick Melrose, New Worlds, The Alienist and The City and the City.
Lujza Richter
Richter is best known for her role as Princess Mona Braganza in critically-acclaimed movie Phantom Thread, though she has also appeared in short films like The Refuge and Those Who Are Most Happy.
Mark Gatiss
Gatiss co-wrote and co-created Dracula alongside his longtime colleague Steven Moffat, having previously worked on Sherlock together as well as collaborating during Moffat’s time on Doctor Who. As in Sherlock, he also takes an important acting role in their new project.
Among his many credits over the years Gatiss has appeared in TV shows like Wolf Hall, Game of Thrones, Gunpowder, London Spy, Taboo, Being Human, Psychoville, Jekyll and Good Omens. He has also played multiple characters in Doctor Who (which he has written nine episodes for), most recently in the 2017 Christmas special.
Film roles include The Favourite, Christopher Robin, Dad’s Army, Our Kind of Traitor, Victor Frankenstein and The Mercy. Along with Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, he created and starred in The League of Gentlemen and its attending spin-off movie and revival.
Jonathan Aris – Captain Sokolov
The mild-mannered master of the Demeter, Captain Sokolov has a few secrets of his own…
Best known for his work in Moffat and Gatiss’ previous show Sherlock (where he played forensic scientist Philip Anderson), Aris has also appeared in shows including The Game, Wolf Hall, Humans, The Night Manager, Tutankhamun, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Black Mirror, Good Omens, Spooks, The Government Inspector, Merlin, Being Human and Silk.
Film roles have included Gulliver’s Travels, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Death of Stalin, All the Money in the World, Morgan, Sightseers and Bright Star.
Sacha Dhawan – Dr Sharma
A Doctor with a shady past and a vulnerable young daughter, Doctor Sharma has more to lose than most onboard the Demeter.
Dhawan also appeared in Sherlock as assassin Ajay, and starred in other Mark Gatiss dramas like An Adventure in Space and Time and The Tractate Middoth.
Notable roles elsewhere have included Marvel’s Iron Fist on Netflix, Being Human, Outsourced, The Deep, Utopia, 24: Live Another Day, In the Flesh, In the Club, Mr Selfridge, No Offence and The Boy with the Topknot.
Patrick Walsh McBride – Lord Ruthven
A supercilious nobleman with a young new wife, Lord Ruthven may be more ruthless than he appears..
McBride is probably best known for his role as Sebastian Brudenell in Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators, though he has also appeared in Holby City, Giri/Haji, Pixies and Lake of Death.
Lily Dodsworth-Evans – Dorabella
The wife to Lord Ruthven, Dorabella charms everyone she meets – including Count Dracula.
Most familiar to many for her role as Cecily Hanson in Poldark, Dodsworth-Evans has also starred in The Good Liar, The Art of Racing in the Rain and Genius.
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett – Adisa
The high-minded aide-de-camp to Lord Ruthven, Adisa knows more than he’s telling…
Stewart-Jarrett is best known for his roles as time-rewinding Curtis in e4 superhero drama Misfits and as Ian in Channel 4’s Utopia. He has also appeared in The Paradise, Famous in Love, Prey, The Bill, The Kid Who Would Be King and Vita and Virginia.
Catherine Schell – Grand Duchess Valeria
A former Russian aristocrat, Valeria is headed to England in hope of new fortunes.
Hungarian-born actor Schell came to prominence in the UK in the 1960s, when she was a Bond girl in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She has also appeared in films like Moon Zero Two and Traitor’s Gate.
She starred alongside Peter Sellers in his films The Return of the Pink Panther and The Prisoner of Zenda, as well as films like Madame Sin, The Black Windmill, Callan and Gulliver’s Travels.
On television she appeared in cult sci-fi series Space: 1999 as Maya, and in classic Doctor Who serial City of Death among other roles. Dracula will mark her first TV role in 23 years.
Youssef Kerkour – Olgaren
The Demeter’s ship cook, Olgaren lost his hand in a previous voyage – but not his sense of humour.
Kerkour is probably best known for his role as Syrian immigrant Sami in Channel 4’s sitcom Home, and has also starred in Nightflyers, Bounty Hunters, Marcella, Strike Back and Holby City among other projects.
Alec Utgoff – Abramoff
A lowly member of the ship’s crew, Abramoff is a bit of a dreamer.
British-Ukrainian actor Utgoff has previously appeared in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, New Blood, Power Monkeys, River, The Wrong Mans and Spooks among many other roles – however, he’s probably best known for his breakout performance in Stranger Things, where he played lovable Russian scientist Alexei.
Clive Russell – Valentin
A grim old sea dog, Valentin is full of dire warnings about what’s to come on the Demeter’s latest voyage.
International audiences may recognise Russell for his role as Ser Brynden ‘The Blackfish’ Tully in Game of Thrones, though UK fans will probably have noted him in many other projects over the years.
Highlights include Ripper Street, Happiness, Great Expectations, Spaced, Still Game, Coronation Street, Merlin, Sherlock Holmes, The Wolfman, Thor: The Dark World, Shetland, Outlander, Uncle, The Hatton Garden Job and Back among many others.
Lyndsey Marshal
Marshal is well known for her role as Cleopatra in HBO’s Rome and as Lady Sarah Hill in Garrow’s Law. She has also starred in Being Human, Titanic, Inside No. 9, Midsomer Murders, The Shadow in the North and The League of Gentlemen.
Chanel Cresswell
Cresswell won a BAFTA for her role as Kelly Jenkins in This is England, and has also appeared in Murdered for Being Different, The Split, Vera, Silent Witness, Trollied and Casualty.
Matthew Beard
Breaking out in 2007’s And When Did You Last See Your Father?, Beard has also starred in The Imitation Game, The Riot Club, Hippie Hippie Shake, Fat Friends, An Education, One Day, Johnny English Strikes Again and Channel 4 drama Kiss Me First. He has also modelled for Burberry and Prada.
Lydia West
West recently had a starring role in Russell T Davies’s Years and Years, playing tech-obsessed daughter Bethany in all six episodes of the miniseries.
Paul Brennen
Brennen has appeared in projects including Alien 3, Men in Black: International, Dark Angel, Happy Valley, Silent Witness, Partners in Crime, Borgia, The Tudors, EastEnders, Shameless, Bad Girls, Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders among others. He also has a great many theatre credits, including Wonderland (above).
Sarah Niles
Niles played Melissa in Channel 4’s Catastrophe, and has also appeared in Moving On, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Spotless, Holby City, Waterloo Road, Being Human, Doctor Who and Beautiful People.
Sofia Oxenham
Oxenham has appeared in Grantchester and Doc Martin, but her biggest role will be in the new series of Poldark, within which she plays Tess Tregidden.
John McCrea
McCrea has appeared in Giri/Haji, God’s Own Country, Bleak House, New Tricks and CBBC show Kerching!, but is probably best known for playing the title role in West End show Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. In the upcoming film adaptation, he will cameo as the younger version of drag persona Loco Chanelle.
Phil Dunster
Dunster has had major roles in Channel 4’s Humans, Save Me, No Offence, Strike Back, Murder on the Orient Express, Catastrophe, Benidorm, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man and Shakespeare movie All is True. He is soon to appear in Glass Houses, Catherine the Great and The Good Liar, and regular acts for Sir Kenneth Branagh in his stage and screen projects.
Millicent Wong
This is Wong’s first TV project, though she has had some stage roles at The Royal Court and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Dracula airs on BBC1 on Wednesday 1st, Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd January
from Radio Times https://ift.tt/2F3Iq9g
