10 Things you probably didn’t know about the cast of Alex Rider on Amazon Prime.
The new Alex Rider television adaptation premiered on June 4. It is available to watch on Amazon Prime. The Alex Rider cast ranges from acting veterans to relative newcomers.
Among the ensemble are Game of Thrones’ Stephen Dillane & Brenock O’Connor. Also starring are Vicky McClure, Andrew Buchan and Thomas Levin. Meanwhile, newcomer Otto Farrant plays the title role.
Some of these faces may seem familiar. However, what exactly do you know about their careers? Read on to find out ten interesting facts about the cast of Alex Rider.
10: Dr. Grief’s Actor Was In EastEnders
The main villain of the series is Dr. Hugo Grief, played by Haluk Bilginer. Grief is the director of Point Blanc Academy, a school with questionable methods to “improve” troubled teenagers. He is assisted by his alcolyte, Eva Stellenbosch (Ana Ularu).
However, in real life, Bilginer is known for a much different genre: soap opera. The actor played EastEnders womaniser Mehmet Osman between 1985-1989.
9: George Sear Stars In Love, Victor
In Alex Rider, cast member George Sear plays Parker Roscoe, the heir to a media empire. Additionally, Sear plays another role: an evil clone pretending to be Parker.
As for the future? Sear has a starring role as Benji in Hulu’s Love, Victor. The series is a sequel to the 2018 film Love, Simon. By the way, the character is “Victor’s charming, confident classmate. A musician who also works as manager at the coffee shop”, per Popbuzz.
8: Alex Rider’s Actor Is 9 Years Older Than Him
In the Alex Rider books, the character is almost always 14. However, Alex celebrates his 15th birthday in the ninth novel, Scorpia Rising. Of course, this is when the series was originally intended to end, back in 2011.
Not unusually, Alex’s actor is older than his character. No longer a teenager himself, the star behind the teen spy, Otto Farrant, is 23 years of age.
7: The Alex Rider Cast Features 2 ‘Kings’
Amazon Prime recruited a cast of noted actors to play adults in Alex Rider. Whether they are on the side of good or evil, you’ve likely seen most somewhere. Uniquely, two main cast members have played on-screen royals.
Stephen Dillane (Alan Blunt) starred as Stannis Baratheon in Game of Thrones between 2012-2015. Meanwhile, Liam Garrigan (Martin Wilby) has played King Arthur twice – on ABC’s Once Upon A Time and in Transformers: The Last Knight.
6: Wolf’s Team Is Gender Balanced
In the 2000 Stormbreaker novel, Alex is trained by a four-strong SAS team. Unfortunately, this is not a pleasant experience. Using animals (Wolf, Fox, Snake and Eagle) as nicknames, this group only contained males.
As a matter of fact, screenwriter Guy Burt has modernised the story for 2020. The Alex Rider cast of the series features two women, Snake and Eagle. They are played by Rebecca Scroggs and Ky Discala, respectively.
5: Brenock O’Connor Auditioned For Alex
Game of Thrones alum Brenock O’Connor (aka Olly) has a major role in Alex Rider. He plays Tom Harris, Alex’s fun-loving, light-hearted best friend in his civilian life. However, if O’Connor’s original plans had worked out, things could be very different.
Originally, O’Connor had auditioned for the role of Alex. However, per Digital Spy, the actor revealed, “I read the scene, and it was this scene between Alex and this kid who was this nerdy kid who was into films, and wasn’t very good at all the action stuff… They liked me for Alex until the final day, and then on the final day, they were like, ‘Oh can you read Tom’s [lines]?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ve been saying that since the beginning!’
4: New Alex Rider Characters In The Series
As well as Alex, many familiar characters from the Point Blank novel appear in this series. Likewise, this includes Jack Starbright, Alan Blunt, Mrs Jones and Dr. Grief. However, Guy Burt has added new characters into the story.
For example, one of the major new additions is Kyra (Marli Siu). She is Alex’s classmate and accomplice at Point Blanc Academy. In the novel, all of these students were male. Another newcomers are Alex’s crush Ayisha (Shalisha James-Davis) and Martin Wilby (Liam Garrigan), a duplicitous agent for The Department.
3: Andrew Buchan Has Played The Opposite Side
Andrew Buchan plays Ian Rider, Alex’s uncle in this new series. Previously, Buchan starred in ITV’s Broadchurch. He portrayed Mark Latimer, the father of murdered Danny Latimer (Oskar McNamara).
In Alex Rider, Buchan’s Ian is the one killed off, leaving his sole surviving relative, Alex, to grieve the sudden loss of his uncle and guardian. Therefore, the opposite dynamic to Broadchurch plays out on-screen.
2: Otto Farrant Worked With A ‘Game Of Thrones’ Star Before
In his first leading role, Otto Farrant stars opposite two Game of Thrones alumni. Brenock O’Connor and Stephen Dillane separately starred on the HBO fantasy drama. However, Alex Rider is not the first time Farrant has worked with a Thrones actor.
Back in 2018, Farrant had a supporting role in the BBC drama miniseries Mrs. Wilson. In the role of Nigel Wilson, he appeared alongside Scottish actor Iain Glen, who played Jorah Mormont on Game of Thrones.
1: Multiple British Actors Use Foreign Accents
The eclectic cast of Alex Rider consists of characters from all over the world. Some of these nations, besides Great Britain, include the USA, Russia and Singapore. However, all is not what it seems, from a real-life point of view.
It turns out that the majority of actors in Alex Rider are, in fact, British. This includes Alex’s American housekeeper Jack Starbright (Ronke Adékoluejo), fellow Yank and media empire heir Parker Roscoe (George Sear) and Singaporean hacker Kyra Vashenko-Chao (Marli Siu).
Adékoluejo and Sear are English, while Siu is Scottish of Asian descent.
Alex Rider is streaming on Amazon Prime. Executive producers include Anthony Horowitz and Guy Burt.
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