Based on the eponymous novel by Matthew Quirk, the Shawn Ryan-created American conspiracy thriller series “The Night Agent” is one of Netflix’s most massive hits, having at one point been touted as one of the streamer’s top six most popular series of all time.

Following FBI Special Agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) as he runs against time to uncover a perilous conspiracy at the highest levels of U.S. government, “The Night Agent” is loved by Netflix viewers for the drama that gives it an addictive, bingeworthy quality — which would not be the case, of course, without the formidable contributions of its highly talented cast.

Naturally, too many actors have passed through the show across its four seasons to cover in a single article, so this list is focused on the careers and most notable roles of the 15 actors who have been series regulars. If you’re wondering where you’ve seen any of the main cast members of “The Night Agent” before, here are the most likely answers.

FBI agent Peter Sutherland, the protagonist and focal point of the series, is portrayed by American actor Gabriel Basso, who credits “The Night Agent’s” success to its escapism. Basso got his first big break playing Adam Jamison, the rebellious son of protagonist Cathy Jamison (Laura Linney), whom he played throughout all four seasons of Showtime’s “The Big C” from 2010 through 2013. In that stretch of time, Basso also had a visible role as Martin Read, one of the teenage friends in J. J. Abrams’ “Super 8,” and played one of the three protagonists of Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ coming-of-age indie “The Kings of Summer” alongside Nick Robinson and Moisés Arias.

Basso’s rise continued throughout the 2010s with a leading role in the indie horror “The Hive” and supporting parts in films like “Barely Lethal,” “Ithaca,” “American Wrestler: The Wizard,” and “The Whole Truth.” In 2020, he had a boost in visibility playing JD Vance — then known as an author and venture capitalist — in the Ron Howard-directed Netflix adaptation of Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” alongside Amy Adams and Glenn Close as Vance’s mother and grandmother, respectively. More recently, he had supporting roles in “The Strangers: Chapter 1” and “Trigger Warning” and a more substantial dramatic role as suspect James Michael Sythe in Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2.”

Cybersecurity prodigy Rose Larkin, whom Peter Sutherland endeavors to protect from the murderers of her aunt and uncle on “The Night Agent,” is played by New Zealand actor Luciane Buchanan. Born and raised in Auckland, Buchanan, who is of Tongan descent, appeared in several New Zealand productions throughout the 2010s. Those productions included “Billy,” a biographical television film about iconic New Zealand entertainer Billy T. James, in which Buchanan played James’ daughter, Cherie, and the single-season TV3 crime drama series “The Blue Rose,” on which she played the recurring role of Mosely & Loveridge receptionist Aroha Nash for 11 of the show’s 13 episodes. In 2016 and 2017, Buchanan had a more substantive role as Kennedy Truebridge, the teenage daughter of Brady Truebridge (Miriama Smith), on both seasons of the TVNZ 2 dramedy “Filthy Rich.”

Between 2018 and 2020, Buchanan continued her ascension as the star of the fantasy adventure series “The New Legends of Monkey,” co-produced between Australia’s ABC Me, New Zealand’s TVNZ 2, and Netflix. The series was inspired by the 1970s Japanese TV series “Monkey,” itself adapted from the 16th-century Chinese novel “Journey to the West” by Wu Cheng’en; Buchanan played Tripitaka, the “Monkey”-verse’s version of the monk Tang Sanzang. More recently, she played Jules, one of the main roles in the New Zealand supernatural horror thriller film “The Tank.”

U.S. Secret Service agent Chelsea Arrington, who leads Second Daughter Maddie Redfield’s (Sarah Desjardins) security detail and is later in charge of campaign security for Governor Richard Hagan (Ward Horton), is played by British actor Fola Evans-Akingbola. Born in London to an English mother and Nigerian father, Evans-Akingbola worked as a model before getting into acting full-time. She made her screen debut through small roles on the E4 series “Youngers” and the BBC One series “Holby City” before landing the more substantial, four-episode role of Rosey Fabrice on Season 5 of the BBC One/France 2 crime dramedy series “Death in Paradise.”

This was followed by a two-episode appearance as one of the wives of Khal Moro (Joe Naufahu) on Season 6 of “Game of Thrones.” Then, between 2018 and 2020, Evans-Akingbola landed a series regular role as Maddie Bishop, marine biologist and girlfriend of protagonist Ben Pownall (Alex Roe), on the Freeform mermaid fantasy drama “Siren,” appearing in every episode of the show’s three seasons. 2019 also saw her star on the “Black Mirror” episode “Striking Vipers,” playing Mariella, the girlfriend of Karl Houghton (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).

Following her “Black Mirror” stint, Evans-Akingbola had two series regular roles in 2022; she played receptionist and aspiring actress Zoe Spencer on “Ten Percent,” and Harper, the new girlfriend of Freddy (Oliver Chris), on Season 2 of Apple TV+’s “Trying.” Recent years have also seen her appear in the streaming films “Upgrade” and “Back in Action.”

Maddie Redfield, the daughter of U.S. Vice President Ashley Redfield (Christopher Shyer), is played by Canadian actor Sarah Desjardins. Her first role was as the teenage version of Diane Rowling, younger sister of J.K. Rowling (Poppy Montgomery), in the 2011 Lifetime biographical film “Magic Beyond Words.” In the same year, she played spirited young activist Whitney Burrows on The Hub miniseries “Clue.”

Then, following guest roles on “Supernatural” as the young version of teenage Dean Winchester’s (Dylan Everett) former girlfriend, Robin (Erin Karpluk), and on “Wayward Pines” as Ben Burke’s (Charlie Tahan) classmate, Carrie, Desjardins acted in a number of TV movies on Lifetime and the Hallmark Channel. She also played Isabel Sullivan, one of the human protagonists in the 2016 American-Canadian direct-to-video kids’ sci-fi film “A.R.C.H.I.E.” Between 2016 and 2017, she had recurring roles on Syfy’s “Van Helsing” as Catherine and on Netflix’s “Project Mc²” as Maddy McAlister.

Since 2018, Desjardins’ profile has grown with a main role as Jenna Faith Hope on the two-season YouTube Premium sci-fi drama “Impulse,” a recurring role as Donna Sweett on The CW’s “Riverdale,” a memorable guest stint as Katie from Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” and, in what is probably her most visible role aside from “The Night Agent,” Callie Sadecki, the daughter of Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) and Jeff Sadecki (Warren Kole), on Showtime’s “Yellowjackets.” Originally a recurring star, Desjardins was upgraded to series regular with Season 3 in 2025.

Unpredictable professional assassin Ellen, conceived for “The Night Agent” alongside Dale (Phoenix Raei) because creator Shawn Ryan wanted the Netflix adaptation to feature two assassins instead of one, is played by Soviet-born actor Eve Harlow. She began acting in 2007 and has appeared in small roles on the Canadian series “The Guard,” “Flashpoint,” and “Lost Girl,” as well as the 2012 Canadian-French horror film “The Tall Man.”

She later played Mount Weather resident Maya Vie on The CW’s “The 100,” Taylor Kravid on NBC’s “Heroes Reborn,” Lighthouse inhabitant Tess on ABC’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” and had guest roles on “UnREAL,” “12 Monkeys,” “Ray Donovan,” “SEAL Team,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” and “The Rookie.” In 2020, she played FBI agent Gina Graham on the short-lived Fox sci-fi series “Next.” She’s also had supporting roles in films like “The Tomorrow Man” and “Trigger Point,” played Moll on Season 5 of “Star Trek: Discovery,” and currently stars as Dr. Ingrid Derian on the CBS hit “Watson.”

The role of Dale, Ellen’s hitman partner, is played by Iranian-born Australian actor and filmmaker Phoenix Raei. Born in Shiraz, he emigrated to Australia with his family at a young age, settling in Perth. He had roles in several independent and short Australian films before appearing as Lachy on two episodes of the ABC Me comedy-drama series “Mustangs FC” and then as Amir on three episodes of the Stan miniseries “Romper Stomper.”

These roles were followed by further recurring TV appearances as Lukas on Fox Showcase’s “Wentworth,” Ash Jafari on ABC TV’s “The Heights,” and Javad Shahrokh on ABC TV’s “Stateless.” In 2021, he starred in the popular Netflix thriller miniseries “Clickbait,” playing Oakland Police Department detective Roshan Amiri, in what was probably his most visible role prior to “The Night Agent.” In more recent years, he’s also had roles on the Australian series “Love Me,” “Apple Cider Vinegar,” and “The Twelve,” and on the Israeli series “Tehran.”

U.S. Secret Service director Ben Almora is portrayed by prolific American actor Enrique Murciano. He had his screen debut in 1997’s “Speed 2: Cruise Control,” followed by a handful of small TV roles. He also made appearances in Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic” as an unnamed DEA agent in 2000 and in Ridley Scott’s “Black Hawk Down” as Sgt. Lorenzo Ruiz in 2001.

Also in 2001, he starred in a total of 36 episodes of the MTV soap opera “Spyder Games,” playing Francisco Torres. Then came what is arguably his best-known role: Special Agent Danny Taylor on CBS’ long-running police procedural “Without a Trace.” Murciano played the role in every one of the show’s 160 episodes across seven seasons. Following roles on “CSI,” “Medium,” “NCIS,” “666 Park Avenue,” and “Power,” Murciano then starred as Detective Marco Diaz on Netflix’s “Bloodline.” His subsequent roles include recurring stints on “Hap and Leonard,” “The Blacklist,” and “Briarpatch,” regular roles on the short-lived 2021 Prime Video series “Tell Me Your Secrets” and “Panic,” and a supporting part as Aster’s (Alexxis Lemire) father, Deacon Flores, in Alice Wu’s “The Half of It.”

U.S. Secret Service agent Erik Monks is played by American actor D.B. Woodside. He began his career in 1996 as part of the main cast in Season 2 of the ABC legal drama “Murder One,” playing Aaron Mosely. He then played Melvin Franklin on the 1998 two-part miniseries “The Temptations.” In 2000, he played Colin, the son of Isaak O’Day (Delroy Lindo), in the Jet Li and Aaliyah-starring action film “Romeo Must Die.”

Woodside was part of the recurring cast of “The Division” in Season 1 as Daniel Reide and in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s” Season 7 as Sunnydale principal Robin Wood. He joined “24” in 2003 as Wayne Palmer, a role that eventually saw him get upgraded to series regular. His many, many other guest, recurring, and regular roles on American television throughout the years notably include the key characters of Dr. Joseph Prestridge on “Parenthood,” Jeff Malone on “Suits,” and a main role as Amenadiel, the older angelic brother of Lucifer (Tom Ellis), on Fox’s — and later Netflix’s — “Lucifer.”

White House Chief of Staff Diane Farr is played by arguably the biggest star in “The Night Agent’s” cast, Hong Chau. Born in Thailand in 1979 as the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Chau’s family emigrated to the U.S., where she grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, and became a highly prolific actor in the 2010s. Following a number of guest appearances on television series, she recurred as Sonny’s (Michiel Huisman) girlfriend Linh on Seasons 2-4 of HBO’s “Treme,” starred as Lora on the NBC romantic comedy series “A to Z,” and had a small but significant role as Jade in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Inherent Vice.” In 2017, she once again recurred on an HBO show, this time as Jackie on “Big Little Lies.”

2017 was also the year in which she drew raves for her performance as Ngoc Lan Tran in Alexander Payne’s “Downsizing,” garnering significant awards attention. From there on out, Chau has been a highly sought-after talent in film and TV. On the small screen side, she had a memorable guest role as Sarah on Prime Video’s “Forever,” played villains Audrey Temple on Prime Video’s “Homecoming” and Lady Trieu on HBO’s “Watchmen,” and guest starred as Marge on Peacock’s “Poker Face.” In film, Chau has become an auteur favorite, starring in Andrew Ahn’s “Driveways,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” Mark Mylod’s “The Menu,” Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness.” Her work in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” in which Chau worked with Brendan Fraser, landed her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

The role of Noor Taheri, the aide to Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Abbas Mansuri (Navid Negahban) who cooperates with the CIA and the FBI in exchange for asylum in “The Night Agent” Season 2, is played by American actor Arienne Mandi. Born in Los Angeles, Mandi is of Chilean and Iranian descent and has been acting in television and film since 2014.

Her roles prior to “The Night Agent” include a series of one-off guest-starring TV roles, including on El Rey Network’s “Matador,” CBS’s “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “NCIS,” and “Hawaii Five-0,” and TNT’s “Agent X.” Her most popular role by far, however, was on “The L Word: Generation Q,” Showtime’s 2019 sequel to “The L Word.” Mandi played main cast member Dani Nùñez, the former PR manager of Bette Porter-Kennard (Jennifer Beals) and ex-fiancée of Sophie Suarez (Rosanny Zayas), appearing in all of the show’s three seasons and 28 episodes.

Clandestine intelligence broker Jacob Monroe is played by veteran American actor Louis Herthum, who has been acting on screen and stage since 1978. He had his first major screen appearance playing multiple different roles across seven seasons of CBS’s “Murder, She Wrote” between 1989 and 1996, with the latter five seasons featuring him in a recurring capacity as Deputy Andy Broom.

Herthum’s several decades of screen credits have also included guest stints on shows like “Columbo,” “JAG,” “Men of a Certain Age,” “Treme,” and “Breaking Bad.” In the 2010s, he became a procedural mainstay, popping by on “CSI,” “Criminal Minds,” “NCIS,” “CSI: Miami,” “CSI: NY,” “Law & Order True Crime,” “Hawaii Five-0,” and other series. Among his recurring roles are stints as JD on “True Blood,” Omar on “Longmire,” Foster on “What/If,” Sheriff Frank Briggs Sr. on “Home Before Dark,” and, perhaps most notably, Peter Abernathy, the host whose malfunction first signals that things are about to go haywire on the timeline of HBO’s “Westworld.”

Solomon Vega, a Marine veteran working under Jacob Monroe, is portrayed by Puerto Rican actor Berto Colon, whose acting roles date all the way back to 2005. Colon appeared as two different characters on the CBS soap opera “As the World Turns” in 2007 and 2008 and had multi-episode runs on the ABC soap operas “All My Children” (playing Dean) and “One Life to Live” (playing a hitman) in 2008.

Later, Colon pivoted to primetime with several guest roles; first, some small unnamed ones on shows like “Person of Interest” and “The Good Wife,” and then more substantive parts on the likes of “White Collar,” “Blue Bloods,” “Elementary,” and “Nurse Jackie.” Between 2013 and 2019, he recurred as Cesar Velazquez, boyfriend of Aleida Diaz (Elizabeth Rodriguez), on Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black,” and, from 2020 through 2024, he had another substantive role as Lorenzo Tejada, patriarch of the Tejada family, on Starz’s “Power Book II: Ghost.”

Iranian counterintelligence officer Javad Rahmani, head of security for the Iranian mission at the United Nations, is played by Canadian actor Keon Alexander. He has been acting since 2009, and, in addition to a number of guest appearances on Canadian and American television, his early years were marked by his role as Joey in Maryam Keshavarz’s Tehran-set Persian-language 2011 film “Circumstance.”

Between 2015 and 2016, he appeared as Abuddinian General Ramy Said on FX’s “Tyrant,” and, in 2018, he recurred as teleporter Dominick Baptiste on YouTube Premium’s “Impulse” alongside his eventual “The Night Agent” co-star Sarah Desjardins. Alexander’s most notable non-“Night Agent” role, however, was arguably on the cult sci-fi series “The Expanse,” which featured him in the initially recurring and later regular role of Belter rebel leader Marco Inaros; he played the character for a total of 19 episodes.
Markus Dargan, the nephew of deposed dictator Viktor Bala (Dikran Tulaine), is played by British-American actor Michael Malarkey. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, and raised in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Malarkey began his acting career in London theater but has been a prolific film and TV star since the early 2010s.

In addition to recurring roles on Sky Atlantic’s “Mr. Sloane,” Crackle’s “The Oath,” ABC’s “Big Sky,” HBO’s “Westworld,” and NBC’s “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” Malarkey notoriously played Lorenzo “Enzo” St. John, an old vampire friend of Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder), on The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” — a recurring character upon his introduction in Season 5 who was later upgraded to series regular. He also starred as Captain Michael Quinn on both seasons and all 20 episodes of the History period sci-fi series “Project Blue Book.”

Peter Sutherland’s new Night Action handler in Season 2, Catherine Weaver, is played by American actor Amanda Warren. A mainstay of American television throughout the 2010s, Warren appeared in numerous guest roles across a wide variety of shows in that decade. The most notable of them may have been her turn as Angelica, the mother of protagonist Nish (Letitia Wright), on the “Black Mirror” Season 4 installment “Black Museum.”

Warren’s biggest television role prior to “The Night Agent” was probably Lucy Warburton, the foul-mouthed mayor of Mapleton, New York, and former girlfriend of Kevin Garvey, Sr. (Scott Glenn), on Season 1 of HBO’s “The Leftovers.” In addition to “The Leftovers,” Warren has also had regular roles on other series, including Jane Barbour on USA Network’s “The Purge” and dressmaker Betty on Apple TV+’s “Dickinson,” initially introduced as a recurring character before the role expanded into a series regular.