Mystery in Venice: the crazy casting of Kenneth Branagh’s film (photos)
Kenneth Branagh
Who is it ? Actor, director and screenwriter, Branagh has won an Oscar, four BAFTAS, a Golden Globe and has done almost everything a director can accomplish today: directing Shakespeare (A lot of noise for nothing, Hamlet…), Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) a Disney remake (Cinderella) and an episode of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Thor).
Who is he playing? Hercule Poirot, of course, “the world’s greatest detective”, with an incredible mustache. Oh, he’s directing the movie, too.
Tina Fey
Who is it ? Comic star born into Saturday Night Live’s new female wave, Tina Fey created the sitcom 30 Rockwriting Lolita in spite of myself and doubled the little soul 22 in Drunk from Pixar. Among others.
Who is she playing? Ariadne Oliver, an old friend of Hercule Poirot… and an author of very successful detective novels. Does this remind you of anyone? Normal, since Agatha Christie created this character with herself in mind. Except that Ariadne’s last three novels were flops and she is looking for a new subject to write a bestseller…
Kelly Reilly
Who is it ? Revelation with the entire cast of The Spanish inn (2002), Kelly has come a long way since then. On the English side, the superb Pride and Prejudice (2005), the two Sherlock Holmes films; USA side, Flight with Denzel Washington, the Yellowstone series since 2018… And in France, she continues to play Wendy for Klapisch and is part of the series Greek saladobviously.
Who is she playing? Rowena Drake, famous opera singer and owner of the palazzo Venetian where the drama of Mystery in Venice. After tragically losing her daughter, she organizes a spiritualism session to try to contact her.
Camille Cottin
Who is it ? If you need to be introduced to it, it’s because you’re not looking Ten percentthe phenomenon TV series, or that you missed the hidden camera of Asshole in 2013… In any case, Camille does not forget her international career: we saw her in House of Gucci with Adam Drive and Jared Leto, and we will see her soon, in golda with Helen Mirren. She even voices a character in an episode of season 2 of the animated series Star Wars Visions…
Who is she playing? Olga Seminoff, the faithful housekeeper of the palazzo of the Drakes, and guardian of the secrets of this family, more troubled than we think.
Michelle Yeoh
Who is it ? Michelle Yeoh didn’t really need an Oscar for Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once to assert her star status: since the 80s, she has been one of the greatest heroines of Hong Kong action cinema (Heroic Trio, Police Story 3…). She even joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Who is she playing? Joyce Reynolds, the pivot of Mystery in Venice. A medium who wants to convince the very rational Poirot that she can really communicate with the dead – and therefore with the ghosts who haunt the detective’s past. It is during one of his sessions that a crime will be committed…
Jamie Dornan
Who is it ? Becoming a star thanks to his role as Christian Gray in Fifty Shades of Gray and its two sequels, Jamie was also Kenneth Branagh’s fictional dad in his previous film, Belfast.
Who is he playing? Doctor Leslie Ferrier, attending physician to the Drake family, who suffers from severe psychological trauma since the war.
Riccardo Scamarcio
Who is it ? Riccardo was revealed internationally in Romanzo Criminale (2005), and since then he has been everywhere: he is notably Keanu Reeves’ main opponent in John Wick 2.
Who is he playing? Vitale Portfoglio, a retired Italian cop who is now Poirot’s bodyguard.
Ali Khan
Who is it ? We met Ali in 6 Underground by Michael Bay, in the TV series Halo and in the corridors of the fantasy film The School of Good and Evil (2022) by Paul Feig, already with Michelle Yeoh.
Who is he playing? Nicholas, young assistant of the medium and therefore at the forefront of the crime…
Emma Laird
Who is it ? This Scottish woman plays important roles in the series Mayor of Kingstown with Jeremy Renner, and The Crowded Room with Tom Holland.
Who is she playing? Desdemona Holland, sister of Nicholas and assistant to Joyce Reynolds. She must have also survived the war in Europe.
Kyle Allen
Who is it ? At 28 years old, Kyle has already played in a season ofAmerican Horror Story (Apocalypsethe eighth), a Peter Farrelly (The Greatest Beer Run Ever) and a Spielberg (West Side Story).
Who is he playing? Maxime, a young chef from Manhattan whose pretension hides a certain sensitivity… and a certain secret, too.
Jude Hill
Who is it ? Jude is only 13 but he has already played Kenneth Branagh himself – a younger version of the actor and director in his filmed autobiography, Belfast. Preview in Dungeons & Dragons: Thieves’ Honorwe will soon find it in Holland, Michigana thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Matthew Macfadyen.
Who is he playing? Leopold Ferrier, the son of Doctor Ferrier. A kid of around ten years old but very, very intelligent… Enough to discover the culprit instead of Poirot?
