Such Brave Girls cast and character guide: Who plays whom in the Hulu sitcom?

Such Brave Girls is a BBC Three sitcom created by Kat Sadler that initially premiered in late 2023. The initial series of the show was broadcast on November 22, 2023, and episodes continued throughout December, following the staggered release schedule of the channel.

Merging raw candor with dark humor, Such Brave Girls portrays family breakdown from the perspectives of solo mom Deb and her two grown-up daughters: Josie and Billie. Their battles with debt, abandonment, mental illness, and love are conducted in a trauma comedy atmosphere, which is unapologetic, uncomfortable, and hurtfully funny.

Such Brave Girls' realism is brought by its cast. Kat Sadler plays Deb's older daughter Josie, Louise Brealey plays the mother, Deb, and Lizzie Davidson plays Josie's younger sister Billie. Their genuine sibling chemistry brings an additional layer of realism to their on-screen relationship.

The cast that they are part of also includes Paul Bazely, Freddie Meredith, Sam Buchanan, Carla Woodcock, Amy Trigg, and Jude Mack, with a bit of added spice coming from the usual guest stars. Together, they offer a show that embraces the mess and authority of family life.

Here is the cast and character guide of Such Brave Girls

Kat Sadler as Josie Johnson

In Such Brave Girls, Josie Johnson is the elder daughter of the family, and her narrative is about identity, mental illness, and self-doubt for the most part. She is delineated with fly-tongued wit and acid sarcasm, with a sensitive soul, one of the most complex actresses on the show.

Kat Sadler's double act of playing actress and creator/writer means that Josie's voice sounds especially real because her problems often arise from life. This acting-into-character crossover provides Josie with a true, honest voice that is heard throughout the sitcom.

Louise Brealey as Deb Johnson

The mother, Deb Johnson, is played by Louise Brealey. Deb is a single parent left behind when her husband walked out on the family, leaving them in debt with no solutions. She is desperate, manipulative, and does things that end up bringing only further trouble for the family, but her vulnerability prevents her from being a straightforward antagonist.

Brealey's characterization captures Deb's complexity; she is frustrating and sympathetic, a desperate character struggling to stay alive, but one who all too often destroys herself and the people around her.

Lizzie Davidson plays Billie Johnson

Billie Johnson is the younger of the two sisters in Such Brave Girls, and her actions are explosive, emotional, and self-destructive. She attacks the people around her even as she yearns for their love and approval. It is this blend of insecurity and attitude that makes her both tragic and comical.

Davidson's Billie is performed with raw intensity, and the fact that she is Kat Sadler's sister is just the icing on the cake to the reality of Billie's relationship with Josie. Her character accounts for much of the show's main theme: dysfunction and love in equal proportions, existing together with each other in family life.

Supporting cast of Such Brave Girls

The supporting cast of Such Brave Girls adds depth to the Johnsons' universe and gives gravitas to their storylines. They are as follows:

Paul Bazely as Dev, Deb's boyfriend, a widower whose past track record of paintball heroism is his pride.
Freddie Meredith as Seb, Josie's boyfriend, whose relationship with Josie is ruined by Josie's lack of self-worth.
Sam Buchanan plays Nicky, Billie's volatile partner, seizing her continued battle with toxic relationships.
Carla Woodcock as Bianca and Amy Trigg as Claire have recurring roles with opposing personalities that respond to the family's disarray.
Jude Mack as Sid makes a later appearance in the first series, presenting still another aspect of interpersonal conflict.

The cast overall enhances the story and introduces various aspects of the dysfunction of the Johnsons.

Guest and minor characters

In addition to the key cast members and supporting cast, Such Brave Girls also incorporates a group of guest characters that add depth and comedy to specific episodes. They include Paul Casar as Clive, Eileen Davies as Nan, Jennifer Daley as Jen, Richard Cunningham as Reverend Peter, Haruka Kuroda as Pre-Natal Nurse, Donna Berlin as Hospital Nurse, and Bilal Zafar as Vicar.

Their roles range from foreground to decreased presence, but all help to build the sitcom universe larger than that of the Johnsons' own family issues.

Production and release context

Such Brave Girls is written by Kat Sadler and directed by Simon Bird, whose recent fame includes The Inbetweeners, and produced by A24 in association with Various Artists Limited. The first season was broadcast on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer from November 22, 2023, with a staggered release schedule through December.

On July 3, 2025, season 2 was made available to British viewers on iPlayer and BBC Three. Season 2 of the sitcom premiered on July 7, 2025, and it is also available to US viewers as an Original Hulu series. Such dual-release channels ensure that the show reaches both British and US viewers, with regionally split release dates slightly different.

The tone of Such Brave Girls has been called raw, cringeworthy, and dark humor by the critics. By virtue of its awkward realism and refusal to clean wrap things up, the series distinguishes itself from the classic sitcoms. The fact that it is categorized as a "trauma comedy" highlights how it combines humor with mental illness, abandonment, and dysfunctional family dynamics to a point that it is relatable, while also being uncomfortable.

Such Brave Girls' ensemble is a solid blend of lead and supporting acting that gives the sitcom its usual bite. Kat Sadler, Louise Brealey, and Lizzie Davidson ground the series with family on the brink performances, helped by actors like Paul Bazely, Freddie Meredith, and Sam Buchanan, who introduce more tensions into their lives.

Guest stars elicit the rest of the cast, placing the sitcom in everyday social situations. In its blend of comedy and emotional realism, Such Brave Girls has secured a distinctive niche within UK and US television, providing a kind of comedy that gains strength from embarrassment and emotional disarray instead of resolution.