The Actor: release date, trailer, cast and everything we know about the André Holland movie

Key art from The Actor
(Image credit: Neon)

There are only a few things more terrifying than the idea of waking up in a strange place with no recollection of where you are, or, worse yet, who you are. With no options, a man is forced to reinvent himself, but that means trusting that the reality he sees is, in fact, real. That's the premise behind the new André Holland noir thriller The Actor.

Based on Donald E. Westlake's novel Memory, written in 1963 but published posthumously in 2010, The Actor hails from Neon Studios, the same studio behind Academy Award nominee Anora and the upcoming thriller The Monkey (based on Stephen King's iconic horror story).

Here's everything we know about The Actor.

The Actor release date

The Actor arrives in select theaters in the US on March 14.

We don't have a UK premiere date but as soon as one is available, we'll have it for you right here.

The Actor premise

Here's the official synopsis of The Actor: "Based on the novel Memory by Donald E. Westlake, The Actor finds Paul Cole stranded in a mysterious small town with no memory of who he is or how he got here. Without a sense of identity or purpose, he starts from scratch and begins courting a local costume designer Edna. As bits and pieces of his past slowly emerge, he attempts to find his way home, but time is slippery, appearances can’t be trusted, and it’s unclear which of his identities is real."

The Actor cast

The Actor features André Holland (Moonlight, Selma, 42) as Paul Cole and Gemma Chan (The Creator, Crazy Rich Asians) as Edna. The movie also features Toby Jones, Tracey Ullman, Simon McBurney and Asim Chaudhry.

The Actor trailer

Take a look at the trailer for The Actor below.

The Actor - Official Trailer - In Select Theaters March 14 - YouTube The Actor - Official Trailer - In Select Theaters March 14 - YouTube
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Director Duke Johnson

The Actor marks Duke Johnson's solo directorial debut. Johnson was the supervising animation director for Cosmos: Possible Worlds and the producer of animation on I'm Thinking of Ending Things. He also co-directed Anomalisa, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film in 2016.

The Actor behind the scenes

The Actor is executive produced by Charlie Kaufman and Ryan Gosling. This isn't the first time Johnson and Kaufman worked together, as they co-directed Anomalisa.

Movie poster for The Actor

(Image credit: Neon)
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Sarabeth Pollock
Editorial Content Producer

 

Sarabeth joined the What to Watch team in May 2022. An avid TV and movie fan, her perennial favorites are The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, true crime documentaries on Netflix and anything from Passionflix. You’ve Got Mail, Ocean's Eleven and Signs are movies that she can watch all day long. She's also a huge baseball fan, and hockey is a new favorite.  

When she's not working, Sarabeth hosts the My Nights Are Booked Podcast and a blog dedicated to books and interviews with authors and actors. She also published her first novel, Once Upon an Interview, in 2022. 

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