The Agency cast and character guide: who plays whom in the thriller show?

The Agency arrived quietly, without much noise or fanfare. But that didn’t stop it from drawing attention. The show, streaming on Paramount+, walks slowly, with a quiet confidence, and something about that works. Maybe it’s the stillness. Or the discomfort. Or the way it refuses to explain everything right away. Viewers are left to observe, listen, and notice the shifts. It doesn’t rush to impress.

Based on the acclaimed French series Le Bureau des Légendes, this American adaptation avoids copying and instead builds something of its own. The tone is colder, more restrained. Emotions are buried deep, and much of the tension comes from what is not said. The characters don’t make big speeches. They hesitate, hide, or lie with a look. And the cast delivers exactly that kind of nuance.

Main characters built on tension

Michael Fassbender plays Brandon Colby, known by his codename Martian. Once a deep-cover CIA agent stationed in Africa, he's pulled out after years of silence. The return is rough. Something feels broken. His presence in London doesn’t quite fit anymore, and the discomfort shows in every gesture. Fassbender carries that weight quietly, letting the awkwardness stay. The Agency uses his silence as a narrative tool, making it feel less like a performance and more like a man trying to remember how to exist.

Jeffrey Wright takes on the role of Henry Ogletree, deputy chief of the CIA station in London and Martian’s former mentor. He operates under diplomatic cover, officially a foreign service liaison, but the truth is buried under that layer. Ogletree moves carefully, saying just enough, watching everything. It's a performance full of experience and caution.

Jodie Turner-Smith plays Samia Zahir, a Sudanese professor and former lover of Martian during his mission. She doesn't know the truth about who he was. That gap between them never closes completely. Their scenes feel tense even when nothing happens. The weight of what’s missing lingers in the air, and The Agency leans into that space between them, building tension not through what’s said, but what stays unsaid.

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Power, memory, and control in The Agency

Richard Gere returns to the screen as James Bradley, the London station chief. His character holds a quiet authority, making decisions with an edge that never softens. There's very little space for personal conflict in his world, though it still leaks through in the background. The Agency gives him just enough room to show what power looks like when it’s not loud, just deeply rooted.

Katherine Waterston plays Naomi, once a Martian’s handler, now guiding a new recruit. Her experience makes her cautious but not distant. She understands how the system works and the price that comes with it. She doesn’t seem surprised by anything, and that says a lot. In The Agency, Naomi’s calm is almost a kind of armor. One that never slips, even when everything else around her starts to.

Harriet Sansom Harris appears as Dr. Rachel Blake, a psychologist from Langley brought in to assess the mental state of the agents in London. Her questions are clinical, but her presence adds a layer of unease. She doesn’t push, but she sees more than she lets on. It’s a subtle performance, and like much of The Agency, it relies on what’s withheld rather than what’s revealed.

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Supporting roles that stay in mind

Saura Lightfoot-Leon plays Daniela Danny Ruiz Morata, a young operative disguised as a geophysics student. Still early in her journey, Danny represents the vulnerability of being new to the world of undercover work. She carries uncertainty, and that makes her relatable. The Agency doesn’t glamorize her role. It shows how the job chips away at confidence before it even has a chance to form.

John Magaro appears as Owen Taylor, the handler of an off-screen agent codenamed Coyote. His storyline unfolds slowly, but there’s a sense of emotional wear and tear behind his quiet demeanor. He’s just holding it together. Like so many in The Agency, Owen moves through scenes like someone trying not to be noticed, but revealing more than intended anyway.

India Fowler plays Poppy, Martian’s daughter, who comes in and out of the story during his attempt to reconnect with the life he left behind. Reza Brojerdi plays Reza Mortazevi, an Iranian academic connected to a risky agent exchange.

Others, including Bilal Hasna, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Sabrina Wu, Ambreen Razia, and Edward Holcroft, fill in the operational background as technicians, analysts, and support agents who keep things moving behind the scenes.

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How silence shapes the story in The Agency

The show avoids spectacle. It focuses on pressure, silence, and the slow erosion of identity. Espionage isn’t romanticized here. It’s portrayed as a job that consumes people.

Conversations are short. Trust is fragile. The camera stays still for long stretches. Sometimes nothing happens, and that becomes the point. The Agency builds its world in the quiet spaces where everything looks calm but isn’t.

This stylistic choice may make one feel distant from it at first, but it reveals a different kind of tension. It asks viewers to observe without being told exactly what to think. And slowly, the characters start to take shape, not through action, but through restraint. In The Agency, what matters most is often what’s left unsaid.

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What the critics are saying

Reception has been mixed. Some point towards the show's slow pace as a weakness; others praise the emotional depth hidden beneath it. Most agree that the performances are strong and the atmosphere feels grounded. It’s not about action scenes or chase sequences. The Agency cares more about the cost of espionage than the spectacle.

Fassbender and Wright receive special attention for their nuanced performances. They bring a sense of gravity to their roles. Every pause and hesitation suggests something unspoken. This restraint becomes the emotional core of the series.

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Release schedule and what’s next

Each episode of Season 1 is being released weekly. As of now, there’s no official confirmation regarding the renewal of a second season, but there’s already speculation. The way the story ends, or doesn’t quite end, leaves the door open for more. There are unresolved tensions, characters that could be explored further, and paths that have not yet been taken.

If there’s a second season, it might expand its spatial scope, maybe move beyond London. Furthermore, some characters, like Danny and Naomi, feel like they’re just starting to unfold.

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A quiet impact that stays longer

The Agency doesn’t ask for attention. It waits for it. This is not a show to watch in a hurry, but it slows things down on purpose. And for those who stay, there’s a strange payoff - not in resolution, but in the weight of the questions it raises.

The cast, with their carefully controlled expressions and layered silences, gives shape to a story that resists easy answers. In a world of loud thrillers, The Agency stands out by saying less and signifying more.