(from left to right: Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley)
Kiran Sonia Sawar (Black Mirror: Crocodile), Elizabeth Berrington (Sanditon, Vanity Fair), Ella Smith (Hoff the Record, Ray & Liz), Viola Prettejohn (Counterpart) and Anna Devlin (12 Monkeys) have also joined the cast of The Nevers, per
Deadline, in series regular roles, whilst Martyn Ford (Kingsman: The Golden Circle) will recur in the HBO drama series.
Kiran Sonia Sawar will play Harriet Kaur. A young Scottish Sikh, Harriet lives with the Orphans, but is accepted by both her family and her betrothed. Optimistic without being naive, Harriet is determined to live her life as she planned, despite its increasing weirdness.
Elizabeth Berrington will play Lucy Best. Dirt poor, adaptive, streetwise. There's nothing delicate about Lucy, though she's given up thieving to live with the Orphans. Her quick-wit and high spirits mask the pain of a tragic past.
Ella Smith will play Desirée Blodgett. A whore, and an increasingly popular one: her power makes men tell her everything on their minds, and they come away relieved in more than one sense. Unfortunately, what she's heard may get her killed, even though she honestly doesn't listen to most of it. She's devoted to her six-year-old son, who, bless him, never speaks.
Viola Prettejohn will play Myrtle Haplisch. A middle-class girl rescued from a family who cannot understand her – literally, as she can no longer speak English, or anything resembling speech. She's thrilled to be living at the orphanage, where she's everyone's favorite weird little mascot.
Anna Devlin will play Primrose Chattoway. All 16-year-old Primrose wants is to be a proper, ordinary girl, and not take up too much space. Which, at ten feet tall, is hard. Most everything is either dreamy, unfair, or too embarrassing to live through.
Martyn Ford will play Nicolas Perbal, aka Odium – The quintessential henchman. He looks as unpleasant as he smells – a side-effect if his rather surprising "turn". Will do any kind of work for anybody's money.
Olivia Williams (Counterpart), James Norton (Grantchester, Little Women), Tom Riley (Da Vinci's Demons, The Collection), Ann Skelly (Death and Nightingales), Ben Chaplin (Press), Pip Torrens (The Crown, Preacher), Zackary Momoh (Seven Seconds), Amy Manson (Once Upon a Time), Nick Frost (Into the Badlands), Rochelle Neil (Episodes), Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark, The War of the Worlds) and Denis O'Hare (American Horror Story, This Is Us) have joined the cast of
HBO's The Nevers, an upcoming sci-fi drama series from Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Avengers) per
Deadline.
The drama will be co-written by Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson and Doug Petrie and directed by Whedon. Whedon also serves as the showrunner on the HBO drama. These 12 new actors join previously announced lead
Laura Donnelly (Outlander).
The Nevers is an epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world.
Olivia Williams will play Lavinia Bidlow. A wealthy spinster and champion of the "Touched", Lavinia funds the Orphanage (where Amalia and many of the Touched live) through her vast family fortune. She is stern and old-fashioned, but as strong-willed and clever as anyone she confronts.
James Norton will play Hugo Swan, a pansexual posh boy whose charm has about five years left on its lease. He runs a secret club and a side trade in blackmail. He's devoted to fulfilling everyone's worst impression of him – and fascinated by the Touched.
Tom Riley will play Augustus "Augie" Bidlow, a sweet, disarming nerd and Lavinia's younger brother. A keen ornithologist, Augie is happy to let his older sister take the reins of the family fortune. He finds the Touched unnerving, but is drawn to them by his increasing infatuation with Miss Adair, and by the schemes of his nefarious best friend, Hugo.
Ann Skelly will play Penance Adair, Amalia's (Donnelly) dearest friend, and one of the first women to join her cause. A devout – yet heretically progressive – Irish girl, Penance has genius for invention. She is delighted by her power, and her default is love and acceptance. But she’s firm in her moral sense, and will be guided by what's right over what's expedient every time.
Ben Chaplin will play Detective Frank Mundi. Big, gruff, and deeply moral, Detective Mundi trusts no one, least of all himself: his reputation for sudden violence (and excessive drink) is not unwarranted. Frank finds himself caught between the powerful, who ignore the the laws of the land, and newly empowered, who ignore the laws of physics.
Pip Torrens will play Lord Massen – Staunch, unflappable and merciless in his defense of the British Empire, this former General, now Peer, may be the only man who sees clearly what havoc these few strange people can wreak upon the established order. Which he will protect, one way or another.
Zackary Momoh will play Doctor Horatio Cousens. One of the few successful West Indian physicians in London. Married with a young son, Horatio's fortunes took a dark turn when he met Amalia and discovered his own ability. Now he works with her, and with the Beggar King, those who don't care who is or isn't "different."
Amy Manson will play Maladie. Committed by her husband (and genuinely unstable), she's been warped by a power she can't understand, and tortured by doctors intent on finding its source. She now lives underground, runs a gang and is on an infamous murder spree. She affects a theatrical parody of a bedlam waif, but mad as she is, she's a woman with a purpose.
Nick Frost will play Declan Orrun, aka The Beggar King. Charismatic and brutal, Declan runs – or has a piece of – most of the low-level criminal activity in the city. He's perfectly happy to help Amalia and her cause – and equally happy to sell them out. He backs winners, and the Touched are long odds.
Rochelle Neil will play Annie Carbey, aka Bonfire, Annie is a career criminal who landed the ability to control fire and is happy to hire it out. Came up rough, stayed that way, but she's neither impulsive nor cruel – just looking out for herself. No matter who she works with or for, Annie trusts only Annie, and the fire.
Eleanor Tomlinson will play Mary Brighton. Gentle but surprisingly resilient, Mary pursued her dream of singing on stage. A disappointing career and a broken engagement haven't diminished her spirit. She's going to be great. She's going to be very surprised how.
Denis O'Hare will play Dr. Edmund Hague. A gifted American surgeon, he uses his skills in the coldest, most brutal way possible. But it's all in the name of progress!
