The new Netflix crime mystery Bodies show depicts detectives in four different time periods investigating the appearance of the exact same naked body. Four sets of detectives all with their own colleagues, families and mentors equals a very large cast!
To help you get your head around all the main characters in Bodies — and the actors who play them — this cast guide will introduce you to our four main detectives and the important figures in each of the four time zones.
No spoilers ahead, so you can meet the Bodies cast without accidentally finding out what happens to them in the final episode! We'll only share their important defails that are important parts of their character from the get-go.
So let's find out who's in the Bodies cast.
Kyle Soller as Alfred Hillinghead
The earliest detective is one Alfred Hillinghead, a police inspector in 1890 who's at the forefront of many investigative techniques, including fingerprints. He's a by-the-book investigator who can't rely on previous body investigations, being the first in time. He lives with his wife and daughter... and a big secret that trips him up.
Kyle Soller is an American actor who's no stranger to British productions. He plays Francis Poldark in Poldark, Korsunsky in Anna Karenina and Syril in Andor, and has also been in the likes of Marrowbone, The Titan and quite a few BBC podcasts.
Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Charles Whiteman
Next up, Charles Whiteman is our World War II-era police detective sergeant living in 1941. A Jewish citizen, he has to face prejudice on a daily basis, but he balances his moral compass by getting up to no good and making money on the side for a shadowy organization. But is he a murderer?
A British actor, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd has been in quite a few period pieces. These include The Great, where he plays Grigory Petrov, See How They Run where he plays Gio and both entries of the 2023 movie duology The Three Musketeers, as he plays Duc de Buckingham. He's also been in Wolf Hall, Crooked House and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Amaka Okafor as Shahara Hasan
Our modern-day detective sergeant is Shahara Hasan, who sadly misses out on an opportunity to wear fancy period clothing. She's a thorough detective who gets to do a lot of investigating in the show, with help from her team of associates, but she also has a human connection to one important subject. Hasan lives with her dad and also her son.
Amaka Okafor is perhaps best known for her voice work, for several video games and podcast series, and also theater work for the British National Theatre. She's had screen credits too for series like Grace, Des, The Split and The Responder, and was also a main character in Take That musical Greatest Days.
Shira Haas as Iris Maplewood
Welcoming us to the future is Iris Maplewood, who's an investigator in 2053. Living in a utopian society means there's less crime to detect, and she wants a taste of the crime-fighting she's not been able to touch so far.
Shira Haas is an Israeli actress whose portfolio covers both film and TV. In the former she's been in Mary Magdalene, Asia and Broken Mirrors, and for the latter she's starred in Shitsel, The Conductor and Netflix Original Unorthodox. She's also set to feature in upcoming Marvel movie Captain America: Brave New World.
Stephen Graham as Elias Mannix & Julian Harker
Perhaps the most important character who isn't investigating the murders is Elias Mannix, the founder of 2053 authoritarian group The Executive. He insists he's built the perfect society, but was the cost worth it?
The same actor plays Julian Harker, a rich banker with a mysterious past living in the year 1890, who may be connected to all manner of shady dealings that he attributes his wealth to.
Stephen Graham is a popular British actor who's currently starring in the show Boiling Point, inspired by the movie from a few years prior. He's been in lots more though including several Pirates of the Caribbean movies, This Is England, Snatch, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Peaking Blinders, Line of Duty, Journey's End, The Secret Agent, Boardwalk Empire, Season of the Witch, Gangs of New York and a lot more.
Tom Mothersdale as Gabriel Defoe
An important figure in the story of Bodies is Gabriel Defoe, who lives in the year 2053. He works as a professor for the University of Greenwich Park (not a real uni) as their leader in quantum gravity theory, investigating a certain particle with curious properties. Given that this is a time-jumping mystery show, he could be the man with all the answers... or more questions.
Tom Mothersdale has a few screen credits which include A Discovery of Witches, Alex Rider, Treadstone, Peaky Blinders and War of the Worlds, but Bodies is his biggest role to date.
George Parker as Henry Ashe
One of the first people on the scene of the crime in 1890 is Henry Ashe. He's a journalist and photographer, who wants to work out the mystery of the body found in the alleyway. Plus his words are recorded for all to read, including the public in the 1800s... and police investigators years in the future.
George Parker is a young actor with relatively frew credits to his name. He was in two episodes of Netflix show Shadow and Bone as Prince Vasily and one episode of Batman spin-off Pennyworth as Sam Shay. Plus, he was in a 2022 episode of British soap Doctors as Jordan Belo and a 2015 short fiml called The Substitute.
