Agnes O’Casey to Reprise Stage Role in Series Adaptation of THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD

Agnes O’Casey is set to star in a new series adaptation of John le Carré’s ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,' for MGM+ and BBC. The performer will play the character of Liz Gold, reprising her role from the stage adaptation, which recently completed its West End run. Take a look at photos of O’Casey from the stage production. 

In the series, O’Casey will star alongside Matthew Macfadyen, who leads as intelligence officer George Smiley, alongside Charlie Hunnam as maverick field operative Alec Leamas, Daniel Brühl as methodical Stasi intelligence strategist Josef Fiedler, and Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu as the young and dynamic Doris Quinz.

Other newly announced cast includes Felix Kammerer as Hans-Dieter Mundt and an ensemble portraying the allies and adversaries who populate Smiley’s Cold War universe, including Dan Stevens as Bill Haydon, Jake Dunn as Peter Guillam, Safia Oakley-Green as Molly Gibson, and Ariyon Bakare as Cy Aflon, a seasoned US intelligence officer. From within the East German regime, Saskia Rosendahl is Lotte Gamp, Patrick Güldenberg is Dr Karl Riemeck, and Volker Bruch is Emmanuel Rapp.

Adapted from ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’, and drawing on material from 2017’s ‘A Legacy of Spies’, the series marks the first time either novel has been adapted for the small screen. Filming is now underway. The series will have its premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK and on MGM+ in the United States.

When Alec Leamas (Charlie Hunnam), a highly experienced Circus field operative, recruits Doris Quinz (Devrim Lingau Islamoğlu), a young and dynamic East German woman, to smuggle high-value Stasi documents into the West, it sets in motion a series of events that threaten to explode in the crucible of Cold War Berlin. Pursuing Leamas and Doris are Josef Fiedler (Daniel Brühl) and Hans-Dieter Mundt (Felix Kammerer), two Stasi operatives whose ferocious desire to shut down the intelligence leak is matched only by their internal rivalry and an iron will to outmatch each other.

Pulled into the action is Liz Gold (Agnes O’Casey), an idealistic young woman whose courage and conviction force Leamas to navigate a world where loyalties fracture and betrayal is inevitable. Behind the scenes, the brilliant and taciturn spymaster George Smiley (Matthew Macfadyen) orchestrates operations while the elusive Soviet mastermind Karla looms in the shadows, setting the stage for a conflict that will define a generation. Personal lives become collateral in a ruthless intelligence war, and as the lines between duty and love begin to blur, every emotion becomes a weapon.  

Legacy of Spies is produced by The Ink Factory, in co-production with Amusement Park Film and in association with 127 Wall Productions and Paramount Television Studios, for the BBC and MGM+. The executive producers are Stephen Cornwell, who will also serve as showrunner, Graham Yost (Justified, Silo), Simon Cornwell (The Pigeon Tunnel, The Night Manager), Michele Wolkoff, Malte Grunert (All Quiet on the Western Front), Chris Rice, Matthew Macfadyen, Charlie Hunnam, Michael Lennox and Joe Tsai. Susanne Bier and Mike Lesslie are also executive producers.

The executive producers for the BBC are Gaynor Holmes and Nick Lambon. Nick Cornwell is executive producer for the John le Carré estate. Sam Costin will serve as co-executive producer, and Nancy Bray will produce for The Ink Factory. Fifth Season is handling global sales.