Everything you need to know.
Culprits, an eight-part thriller from the production company that brought us The Night Manager and The Undoing, revolves around Joe Petrus, who is seemingly “living the American dream”.
But: “Joe has a secret: three years ago, he was recruited by notorious British criminal Dianne Harewood to join her crew and take part in a high-stakes crime that promised to make Joe rich and provide him with a brand-new life.”
He managed to escape with his life and a lot of money but now, his “dangerous past is about to catch up with him”.
Read on for everything you need to know about the characters in Culprits and where you’ve seen the actors before.
Culprits cast
- Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Joe/’Muscle’
- Gemma Arterton as Dianne Harewood
- Kirby Howell-Baptiste as ‘Officer’
- Niamh Algar as ‘Specialist’
- Tara Abboud as Azar Mizouni
- Ned Dennehy as ‘Devil’
- Eddie/Suzy Izzard as Vincent Hawkes
- Kevin Vidal as Jules
- Maria Nash as Frankie
- Baeyen Hoffman as Bud
- Kamel El Basha as Youssef Mizouni
- Uriel Emil Pollack as Malek Mizouni
- Karl Collins as ‘Fixer’
- Vincent Riotta as ‘Driver’
- Mark Field as Fuse
- Amara Khan as ‘Doctor’
- Morgan Kelly as Kyle Bedrosian
- Nathan Walsh as Colin
- Juliet Cowan as ‘The Intermediary’
- Tom Mothersdale
- Laura Morgan
- Colin Salmon
- Jodie Mcnee
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett plays Joe/’Muscle’
Who is Joe/’Muscle’? “He’s basically a bad guy who wants to be a good guy,” said Stewart-Jarrett of the character. He added: “He’s a person with morals but one who essentially does many, many bad things.
“He was a key part of the crime three years ago as ‘Muscle’, your guy who gets it done, but since then he’s tried to – because he had to – rebuild his life with a new partner and his kids, living a suburban dream in America. And then the past comes back to haunt him.”
Where have I seen Nathan Stewart-Jarrett before? Many of you will recognise him from Channel 4’s Misfits and Utopia, HBO Max’s Generation and Candyman (2021).
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Gemma Arterton plays Dianne Harewood
Who is Dianne Harewood? “When we first meet Dianne, she’s in a gallery where she’s crewing up for the high-stakes crime,” said Arterton. “When she’s enlisting, she has to be quite charming and calm and in control. She’s very, very glamorous – she loves being rich.
“She’s deep into the crime world, very revered and respected in high level crime and is quite feared and mysterious. But as the story goes on, you realise that her motivations for the crime itself are very personal. Although there’s this steel to her, deep down there’s this real soft core too.”
Where have I seen Gemma Arterton before? Her extensive CV includes Netflix’s Rogue Agent, The King’s Man, St Trinian’s, Quantum of Solace, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Clash of the Titans and Tamara Drewe.
Kirby plays ‘Officer’
Who is ‘Officer’? A con artist who possesses the gift of the gab. “She is a woman of many disguises but in the beginning, we know very, very little, and that’s all part of her mystery,” said Kirby.
“She is very good at keeping people at bay and making sure they know very little.”
Where have I seen Kirby before? You might recognise her from The Good Place, The Sandman, Killing Eve, Bill Hader’s Barry and dark comedy Why Women Kill.
Niamh Algar plays ‘Specialist’
Who is ‘Specialist’? Her real name is Inga Beatrice, “also known as Psycho”, said Algar, adding: “She’s a specialist in the field of being able to kill people in a very quick and un-messy way, so basically, she’s a badass assassin. She’s tactical; she’s a hunter, extremely intelligent, fearless, tough as nails, and quite wild.
Though she’s brought into the group to help carry out the heist, she’s definitely a loner and she finds it quite difficult to work in group environments. This is the first time she’s worked as part of a team and I think she would in many ways rather work alone.”
Where have I seen Niamh Algar before? You might know her from ITV’s Malpractice, Netflix’s The Wonder, Channel 4 dramas Suspect, Deceit and The Virtues, HBO’s Raised by Wolves and Censor.
Tara Abboud plays Azar Mizouni
Who is Azar Mizouni? An 18-year-old Arab artist living in Barcelona. She comes from a family of thieves, with her father and grandfather spending a number of years away from her in prison.
“When she gets the opportunity to actually do something exciting and adventurous with her talent, she goes for it because she’s a rebel,” said Mizouni.
She added: “She loves the thrill, and she wants to do something that is exciting with her life. After the crime, she just decides that she wants to live a safe life with her grandfather in a different country and she wants to start over. But that doesn’t really work out for her.”
Where have I seen Tara Abboud before? She’s appeared in 2022 film Rebel and 2021 film Amira.
Ned Dennehy plays ‘Devil’
Who is ‘Devil’? An assassin. “I am taking out these bank robbers one by one on a quest for something,” said Dennehy.
Where have I seen Ned Dennehy before? His credits include Peaky Blinders, Guns Akimnbo starring Daniel Radcliffe, Amazon Prime’s Good Omens, BBC drama Dickensian and fantasy series Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog.
Eddie/Suzy Izzard plays Vincent Hawkes
Who is Vincent Hawkes? A billionaire businessman. “I play him as someone who normally gets things to happen,” said Izzard. “And if they don’t happen by fully legal means, it moves into the grey area of legality; he’s even happy to go into a completely black area of Black Ops.
Izzard continued: “He will go to whatever extremes he has to, but still feel that he’s being a reasonable person or a reasonable businessman. Dianne Harewood, it becomes apparent, is the person who is the bane of his life. He is a big player in the story.”
Where have I seen Eddie/Suzy Izzard before? As well as her comedy and charity work, and launching her bid for Labour candidate for Brighton Pavilion, you might also have watched Izzard in Netflix’s Stay Close, FX’s The Riches and Victoria & Abdul.
Additional cast includes:
- Kevin Vidal (Workin’ Moms) plays Jules, Joe’s partner
- Maria Nash (Gen V) plays Frankie and Baeyen Hoffman (The Way Home) plays Bud, Jules’s kids.
- Kamel El Basha (The Insult) plays Youssef Mizouni, Azar’s grandfather, who’s also part of the crew
- Uriel Emil Pollack (Casualty) plays Malek Mizouni, Azar’s father
- Karl Collins (Hollyoaks) plays ‘Fixer’, who works for Dianne
- Vincent Riotta (Under the Tuscan Sun) plays ‘Driver’, a member of the crew
- Mark Field (Fortitude) plays ‘Fuse’, a part of the crew
- Amara Karan (Hope Street) plays ‘Doctor’, a medical professional brought onboard by Dianne
- Morgan Kelly (Being Erica) plays Kyle Bedrosian, a developer and councilman
- Nathan Walsh (Domina) plays Colin, Joe’s ex-partner
- Juliet Cowan (back to Life) plays ‘The Intermediary’, she works for Vincent
- Tom Mothersdale (Bodies)
- Laura Morgan (Clink)
- Colin Salmon (EastEnders)
- Jodie Mcnee (Britannia)
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