Meet the cast of The Regime starring Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet stars in the bold new political drama.
It's almost time for the darkly comedic new series The Regime to hit screens in the UK – and fans are in for a treat with Kate Winslet's performance as Chancellor Elena Vernham.
Winslet's Chancellor is a paranoid and unstable figure who rules over an authoritarian regime in a fictional European country, with the series charting in year at the palace as things start to crumble.
Alongside Winslet, the series also features an absolutely star-studded supporting cast, including Andrea Riseborough, Hugh Grant and more. But who else stars in the show and who do they all play?
Read on for everything you need to know about the cast of The Regime.
Who's in the central cast of The Regime?
Here are the main cast members and characters in The Regime. Read on below for more info about who they are and where you've seen the actors before.
- Kate Winslet as Chancellor Elena Vernham
- Matthias Schoenaerts as Corporal Herbert Zubak
- Guillaume Gallienne as Nicholas Vernham
- Andrea Riseborough as Agnes
- Martha Plimpton as Senator Judith Holt
- Hugh Grant as the Leader of the Opposition
Kate Winslet plays Chancellor Elena Vernham
Who is Chancellor Elena Vernham? Elena is the Chancellor of an authoritarian European regime, who has become increasingly paranoid and unstable.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Winslet said: "I tried to make her someone who you really should not feel like you can trust at all. But yet she believes that they love her.
"It's a belief, she's trying to will herself into just believing that they do, because that's Elena, that's who she is, her whole existence is built on trying to make herself feel better all the time. You know, she wants approval from her dead father who's lying in a glass coffin in the basement. I mean, it is completely insane and totally absurd.
"I did love the fact that the creator, Will Tracy, chose to have this country be led by a woman and not a man. I thought that was very, very cool. But it also meant that my job was in many ways so much harder because I had to lean into the absurdity of her and how delusional she is and paranoid she is, but I did have to kind of give her a heart and a soul without also trying to make the audience love her."
What else has Kate Winslet been in? Winslet is perhaps most famous for her role as Rose in 1997's Titanic, but has also had major roles in films including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Holiday, The Reader, Steve Jobs, Avatar: The Way of Water and more. She has also starred in series such as Mare of Easttown and the TV film I Am Ruth, and has been nominated for seven Oscars (winning one) and eight film BAFTAs (winning three).
Matthias Schoenaerts plays Corporal Herbert Zubak
Who is Colonel Herbert Zubak? Herbert is a disgraced and brutal military man who the Chancellor hires and becomes drawn to.
Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com about his conversations with Winslet, Schoenaerts said: "We didn't talk everything through because we wanted to surprise each other and see what happens in the moments where we both have our specific journeys as characters.
"It's also fun not to know what what somebody's going to throw at you and what they're going to come up with. I think when we spoke, we mostly spoke about about a certain texture that that we envisioned for their relationship, but without being too specific or highlighting certain things before we got to do them."
What else has Matthias Schoenaerts been in? Schoenaerts is best-known for starring in films including Far From the Madding Crowd, The Danish Girl, Red Sparrow, The Old Guard and Amsterdam, and last year led the Sky series Django.
Guillaume Gallienne plays Nicholas Vernham
Who is Nicholas Vernham? Nicholas is the Chancellor's husband.
What else has Guillaume Gallienne been in? Gallienne is best known for starring in French language films such as Me, Myself and Mum and Yves Saint Laurent, although he has also had roles in Marie Antoinette and The French Dispatch.
Andrea Riseborough plays Agnes
Who is Agnes? Agnes is the manager of the Chancellor's palace.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Riseborough said of her character and Winslet's: "The relationship changed somewhat because in the because in the beginning, on the page there were allusions to the palace having been Agnes's previously, which would make Agnes very different character. It would make her of different birthright and heritage and all sorts of things.
"And actually, what she ended up representing was that she's really the voice of the people. She's the Proletariat."
What else has Andrea Riseborough been in? Riseborough has has roles in films including Never Let Me Go, Made in Dagenham, Oblivion, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), The Death of Stalin, Mandy, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical and To Leslie, for which she was nominated for an Oscar.
She has also appeared in series including National Treasure, The Witness for the Prosecution, Black Mirror and Alice & Jack.
Martha Plimpton plays Senator Judith Holt
Who is Senator Judith Holt? Judith is a US Senator who visits the Chancellor.
What else has Martha Plimpton been in? Plimpton rose to prominence for her role in The Goonies, while she has since appeared in films including Parenthood, Remember Me, Frozen II and Mass. She has also had roles in series including ER, The Good Wife, Raising Hope, The Real O'Neals, Brockmire, Generation and A Town Called Malice.
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Hugh Grant plays the Leader of the Opposition
Who is the Leader of the Opposition? The leader of the Opposition is the country's former leader, who was deposed.
What else has Hugh Grant been in? Grant rose to prominence in the '90s and 2000s with roles in romantic films and rom-coms, including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sense and Sensibility, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary, About a Boy and Love Actually.
More recently, he has starred in films including Florence Foster Jenkins, Paddington 2, The Gentlemen, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves and Wonka, as well as series such as A Very English Scandal and The Undoing.
Other supporting actors in The Regime
Other supporting characters appear in the series, played by the following actors:
- Danny Webb
- David Bamber
- Henry Goodman
- Stanley Townsend
- Louie Mynett
- Rory Keenan
- Karl Markovics
- Pippa Haywood
The Regime airs on Sundays at 9pm on HBO and Max in the US, and will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK in April. Sign up for Sky TV here.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
