Meet the cast of Strangers
Discover who’s who in ITV’s new international thriller starring John Simm and Emilia Fox
Strangers on ITV is an ambitious new international thriller packed full of twists and turns.
It stars John Simm as a man trying to unravel the mystery of his wife’s death in Hong Kong. After he ventures across the world to identify her body, he discovers she is not the person he thought she was and his sheltered life is plunged into chaos and danger.
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Meet the whole cast and their characters below…
John Simm plays Jonah Mulray
Who is Jonah Mulray? Jonah is a mild-mannered professor of International Relations. His fear of flying means he never went to visit his wife Megan when she worked abroad in Hong Kong. His life begins to spiral after Megan is killed in a car crash over there, but he unearths some shocking truths when he travels to Hong Kong to take her body home.
Where have I seen John Simm before? Simm has had a prolific television career. He has played the Master in Doctor Who for the past ten years and had starring roles in Collateral, Trauma, State of Play, Exile, Prey, Life on Mars, The Village and Mad Dogs, to name a few.
Dervla Kirwan plays Megan Harris
Who is Megan Harris? Jonah remembers his wife Megan as loving, passionate, joyful and smart, but after her death, he discovers she was practically a stranger to him.
Where have I seen Dervla Kirwan before? Irish actress Kirwan is known for her roles in the TV series Strike Back, Blackout, The Silence, Material Girl and Ballykissangel.
Emilia Fox plays Sally Porter
Who is Sally Porter? Sally is a British consul in China who is trying to assist John in the unravelling of Megan's mystery life. She takes her job very seriously – and as the series continues we will find out how much she’s willing to risk for her loyalties.
Where have I seen Emilia Fox before? Fox is famous for playing Dr Nikki Alexander in Silent Witness for the last 14 years. She’s also starred in Home from Home, Delicious, The Tunnel, Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca, Fallen Angel and Merlin and is part of a family of actors which includes her father Edward Fox, uncle James Fox and brother Freddie Fox.
Anthony Wong plays David Chen
Who is David Chen? David is in many ways the polar opposite to Jonah. He’s a single-minded ex-cop with a short temper and a violent streak. He was involved in Megan's life in Hong Kong and is also endeavouring to understand her secret world.
Where have I seen Anthony Wong before? Anthony Wong is a Hong Kong actor best known in the West for his roles in the movies Hard Boiled, Infernal Affairs and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
Katie Leung plays Lau Chen
Who is Lau Chen? David's daughter Lau is the personification of Hong Kong’s rebellious youth-inspired political movement. After Megan’s death, Lau goes AWOL and her mutinous behaviour leads her to Becky – an American student with similar interests.
Where have I seen Katie Leung before? Harry Potter fans will recognise Leung as Cho Chang, the ex-girlfriend of The Boy Who Lived. She has starred in BBC drama One Child and also had small roles in the movies T2 Trainspotting and The Foreigner.
Anthony Hayes plays Michael Cohen
Who is Michael Cohen? Nope, not Trump's one-time lawyer. Michael is a fictional journalist who's hungry for a good story. He is tied up in a custody battle with his ex-wife Rachel Hargreaves over their daughter Mae, but has to juggle this with his quest to find out the truth about Megan Harris’s death.
Where have I seen Anthony Hayes before? Australian actor Hayes starred alongside Martin Freeman in Netflix's Cargo, and has also appeared in the movies War Machine, The Light Between Oceans and Animal Kingdom.
Kae Alexander plays Becky
Who is Becky? Lau first meets Becky in a jail cell after a protest. Becky is self-assured and flirtatious, and invites her to the Lei Club.
Where have I seen Kae Alexander before? She was Nicola Walker's Korean girlfriend Linh Xuan Huy in the TV series Collateral, and Angie Jones in Hard Sun. Kae Alexander's other credits include Ready Player One, Fleabag and W1A, as well as the character Leaf in Game of Thrones. She played Jing in Bad Education.
Thomas Chaanhing plays Felix Chong
Who is Felix Chong? A Hong Kong cop who is initially working on the Megan Harris case.
Where have I seen Thomas Chaanhing before? Born in Denmark, the actor's credits include Gabriel Klint, 30° i februari, and The Bridge.
Tim McInnerny plays Arthur Bach
Who is Arthur Bach? Sally Porter's boss at the Consulate in Hong Kong.
Where have I seen Tim McInnerny before? A prolific TV actor, Tim McInnerny has featured as Lord Percy and Captain Darling in Blackadder, Robett Glover in Game of Thrones, Lord Repton in Harlots, Karl in National Treasure, and Father Bain in Outlander. On the big screen he's played Max in Notting Hill and Dustin Target in Eddie the Eagle.
Jason Wong plays Kai Huang
Who is Kai Huang? First seen when he met Faraz after the burglary of Jonah's hotel room, Kai is involved in Hong Kong's criminal underworld.
Where have I seen Jason Wong before? The actor played Fitzpatrick in the TV series Missing. He also made an appearance as a Weapons Check Enforcer in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Kenneth Tsang plays Xo Xiaodong
Who is Xo? A top businessman in the running for Chief Executive of Hong Kong. He's also the target of the huge student protests Lau and Becky have joined.
Where have I seen Kenneth Tsang before? The actor's career spans five decades, with recent roles including Freddie in Stan Lee's Lucky Man, Xu Fu in Weapon&Soul, and Patrick Seton in Parental Guidance. He was General Moon in 2002's Die Another Day.
Andrew Knott plays Conrad Davis
Who is Conrad Davis? Kai Huang's "lawyer" appears to be some kind of middle-man or fixer for the shadowy organisation behind this whole conspiracy.
Where have I seen Andrew Knott before? The actor starred as Dickon Sowerby in the 1993 film The Secret Garden, Joe Green in Black Beauty, and Liam Shepherd in Coronation Street. More recent credits have included Black Mirror episode The National Anthem, TV series Drop Dead Gorgeous, Black Work, Banana, and Casualty.
Raquel Cassidy plays Rachel Hargreaves
Who is Rachel Hargreaves? Xo's invaluable right-hand woman. She is divorced from journalist Michael, with whom she has a daughter, and also tells Jonah that she was (at one time) a good friend of Megan's.
Where have I seen Raquel Cassidy before? Downton Abbey fans will recognise her as lady's maid Phyllis Baxter. Since then she's starred as Miss Hardbroom in The Worst Witch and made appearances in Silent Witness, Uncle, and W1A.
Tom Wu plays Daniel Tsui
Who is Daniel Tsui? An extremely shifty Hong Kong detective, who seems to have an interest in passing Megan's death off as an accident.
Where have I seen Tom Wu before? The actor played Hundred Eyes in the TV series Marco Polo, and Quon Shan in Da Vinci's Demons. A martial arts expert, he's also made appearances in Kick-Ass 2, Skyfall, and Batman Begins.
Ryan McKen plays Faraz Reza
Who is Faraz Reza? The man who nicked Jonah's passport and laptop and gave him a black eye. He is a migrant who wants to get to Europe.
Where have I seen Ryan McKen before? He recently starred in The State, the ISIS drama from Wolf Hall's Peter Kosminsky. In Lennie James's Save Me he played DC Leo Rainsford, and in Bancroft he starred as Daanish.
Christian Contreras plays Ben Torres
Who is Ben Torres? Sally Porter's fiancé, who we meet in episode 2. He's American and works in Hong Kong as a hotel manager.
Where have I seen Christian Contreras before? You may have seen him in Halo: Nightfall, Zero Dark Thirty, or American Odyssey. He's also married to Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker.
Daniel York plays Thomas Leng
Who is Thomas Leng? The editor of the Hong Kong Chronicle, where Michael Cohen works.
Where have I seen Daniel York before? The actor's previous projects include Jade Dragon, Stan Lee's Lucky Man (as a voice actor), Waking the Dead, and Doom.
This article was originally published in August 2018
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