By David Craig

Published: Friday, 16 December 2022 at 12:00 am


Noah Centineo is seemingly leaving his past as a romcom heartthrob behind, following the one-two punch of superhero flick Black Adam and Netflix action-comedy The Recruit.

The latter sees him as newly-qualified lawyer Owen Hendricks who lands a prestigious job at the CIA straight out of university, only to find that he may not be cut out for everything that the job entails.

Indeed, far from being a comfortable desk job, Owen is immediately confronted with high-stakes cases involving national security and soon finds himself facing gunfire in the field.

Will this trial by fire produce a hardened operative or will he crack in his first days on the job? Read on for an introduction to The Recruit cast, ahead of the show’s Netflix premiere.

Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks

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Noah Centineo stars in The Recruit.
Netflix

Who is Owen Hendricks? Owen is a freshly graduated lawyer who lands a job at the CIA straight out of university. At just 24 years old, he suddenly finds himself thrown into a dangerous world of espionage and intrigue, which kicks into overdrive when a threatening letter is found from a former asset gone rogue.

Centineo told TUDUM: “This is a guy who clearly just wings it. Not that Owen doesn’t work hard. Not that he’s not smart… [He’s just like,] ‘It’ll work out and I trust my gut.’ That doesn’t really work well with the CIA at all.”

What else has Noah Centineo been in? Centineo broke out in the cast of teen romcom trilogy To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which led to similar projects like Sierra Burgess Is a Loser and The Perfect Date. He has eyed a shift to more action-oriented roles with 2019’s Charlie’s Angels and this year’s DC Comics blockbuster Black Adam, where he played goofy superhero Atom Smasher.

Laura Haddock as Max Meladze

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Laura Haddock stars in The Recruit.
Netflix

Who is Max Meladze? Max is a former asset of the CIA who has since turned on the organisation for reasons unknown. She holds the potential to do serious damage if she goes public about her past activities, meaning Owen will need to use some deft negotiating skills in order to prevent an international incident.

What else has Laura Haddock been in? Haddock is best known for her roles in television dramas Da Vinci’s Demons, The Capture and White Lines. Meanwhile, she also plays Star-Lord’s mother, Meredith Quill, in the Guardians of the Galaxy films and had a key role in 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight. Most recently, she has appeared in Downton Abbey: A New Era.

Aarti Mann as Violet Ebner

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(L to R) Aarti Mann as Violet Ebner and Colton Dunn as Lester Kitchens in The Recruit.
Philippe Bossé/Netflix

Who is Violet Ebner? Violet is a CIA operative who works with Owen.

What else has Aarti Mann been in? Mann played the recurring role of Priya Koothrappali in US sitcom The Big Bang Theory and went on to guest appearances in Suits, Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy and Netflix’s Never Have I Ever.

Vondie Curtis-Hall as Walter Nyland

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(L to R) Kaylah Zander as Amelia Salazar, Vondie Curtis-Hall as Walter Nyland in The Recruit.
Netflix

Who is Walter Nyland? Walter is a senior figure at the CIA.

What else has Vondie Curtis-Hall been in? Curtis-Hall will be known to comic book fans as journalist Ben Urich from Marvel’s Daredevil. His other projects include Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet and television dramas Rosewood, For the People and Evil.

Colton Dunn as Lester Kitchens

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Colton Dunn and Aarti Mann star in The Recruit.
Netflix

Who is Lester Kitchens? Lester is another CIA operative, who works closely with Violet.

What else has Colton Dunn been in? Dunn will be best known to fans of US comedy, thanks to his roles in long-running sitcom Superstore, sketch show Key & Peele and Star Trek: Lower Decks, where he voices Captain Dorg.

Fivel Stewart as Hannah Copeland

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(L to R) Fivel Stewart as Hannah Copeland, Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks in The Recruit.
Netflix

Who is Hannah Copeland? Hannah is Owen’s ex-girlfriend, who he managed to stay on relatively good terms with after their relationship ended. They still live together as housemates, along with mutual friend Terence.

What else has Fivel Stewart been in? Stewart is coming off a three-season run on Netflix’s comedy-drama Atypical, where she played high school student Izzie Taylor. Earlier this year, she appeared opposite Sandra Oh in horror film Umma.

Kaylah Zander plays Amelia Salazar

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(L to R) Kaylah Zander as Amelia Salazar, Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks in The Recruit.
Philippe Bossé/Netflix

Who is Amelia Salazar? Amelia is one of Owen’s CIA colleagues, who he becomes close with.

What else has Kaylah Zander been in? Zander has previously appeared in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, iZombie and The 100.

Kristian Bruun as Janus Ferber

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Kristian Bruun attends event for the Canadian nominees of The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards.
Leon Bennett/Getty Images

Who is Janus Ferber? Janus is another CIA operative, who struggles with the pressure of the job.

What else has Kristian Bruun been in? Bruun is known for his roles in sci-fi dramas Orphan Black and Snowpiercer.

The Recruit is available to stream on Netflix now. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.

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