The job featured in The Night Agent seems pretty cushy for a federal agency: You just sit overnight in the basement of the White House, manning an emergency phone that never actually rings. But what happens when it does? For low-level FBI agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), it means his life becomes very complicated, very quickly as he’s thrust directly into the middle of a massive conspiracy at the highest levels of government.

Created by Shawn Ryan (The Shield, Timeless), the new thriller series is based on the novel by Matthew Quirk and has already been renewed for a second season. Find your footing in this dangerous plot by getting up to speed with the cast, which includes Hong Chau, Luciane Buchanan and more.  

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Gabriel Basso

Waiting for the phone to ring might’ve been a little boring for promising young FBI agent Peter, but once it does, he’s tasked with protecting a terrified civilian while they unravel a conspiracy that reaches all the way to the Oval Office. 

Peter was a particularly difficult role to cast, Ryan tells Tudum. “You're looking for that perfect underdog that you can sympathize with, but who can mix it up physically a little bit, who you believe was a former college athlete, you believe is an FBI officer, but need to believe is a protector of Rose," he says. "It was a really hard role to cast. A lot of guys either felt too young and too callow or too old and too mature.”

Ultimately, Basso rose to the top — which only makes sense because, without realizing it, he’s been training to play Peter for his entire life. Basso has studied martial arts since childhood, and now knows boxing, Taekwondo, Muay Thai and is learning grappling. “I enjoy conflict of any kind. I was raised by a trial lawyer,” he tells Tudum. “So I enjoy mental conflict as well as the physical.”

Still, Basso had to make one major adjustment to score the role of Peter. “He had this big, bushy beard when he auditioned,” Ryan recalls. “When he appeared for the Zoom callback, he was clean shaven and looked like he looks in the show.”

Basso is a member of the Netflix family, having starred in the Oscar-nominated film Hillbilly Elegy. Some of his other major credits include the film Super 8 and four seasons of The Big C.

You can follow Basso on Instagram.

Luciane Buchanan

Young tech entrepreneur and “rule breaker” Rose, as Buchanan calls her, is staying with her aunt Emma (Simone Kessell) and uncle Henry (William MacDonald) after falling on hard times. But things get worse when assassins come for her relatives and she barely escapes alive. After calling a mysterious phone number at her aunt and uncle’s urging, Rose uncovers some dark truths about her family as she and her newfound protector Peter are forced to run for their lives. 

While we don’t learn much about Rose’s parents in Season 1, the Night Agent team created an intricate backstory to explain her deep connection to Emma and Henry. “We imagined that Rose had a single mom who attempted to raise her, but just couldn’t,” Buchanan tells Tudum. For some structure, Rose spent summers with Emma and Henry. “And they became more of the parental figures for her,” she continues. 

Also a member of the Netflix family, the New Zealand born actor starred in two seasons of The New Legends of Monkey and appeared in an episode of Sweet Tooth, and has also been seen in an episode of Mr. Corman and two seasons of New Zealand show Filthy Rich.

Who stars in The Night Agent Season 2?

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Amanda Warren

Catherine is veteran of the top secret Night Action investigative program who trains and oversees various Night Agents, including new recruit Peter Sutherland. Smart, private, and determined, she’s a fierce defender of her agents, but finds it difficult to earn Peter’s trust when he struggles with betrayal issues from his experiences in Season 1.

You’ve seen Warren in series including The Leftovers, Dickinson, Jessica Jones, and more.

Bjorn Kadelke

Arienne Mandi

A low-level aide in the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York, Noor is looking to leverage her access to top secret information into a better life for her and her family.

Mandi is best known for her role as Dani Núñez in The L Word: Generation Q, and recently starred in the political thriller Tatami.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images

Louis Herthum

Jacob Monroe is an international businessman with powerful global connections which he uses to obtain valuable information.

Longtime actor Herthum broke through as Peter Abernathy in Westworld in 2016, but has appeared on plenty of series including What/If, All Rise, Hacks, Home Before Dark, The Peripheral, True Blood, and many more.

Peter Hurley

Berto Colon

A former marine, Solomon is now the right-hand man/fixer for a powerful businessman.

You’ll recognize Colon as Lorenzo Tejada in Power Book II: Ghost and Aleida Diaz’s boyfriend Cesar in Orange Is the New Black.

Sela Shiloni

Brittany Snow

Peter’s partner and mentor in his first assignment in Night Action is Alice.

Most recently seen in the horror film X, Snow is a TV and film vet best known for her work in the Pitch Perfect movies. (And let’s not forget her role in the iconic rom-com Someone Great.)

Rainer Hosch

Teddy Sears

A high-level intelligence officer, Warren becomes the subject of a Night Action investigation.

TV veteran Sears has had memorable roles in The Flash, The Politician, Masters of Sex, Chicago Fire, American Horror Story, Raising the Bar, and more.

Who stars in The Night Agent Season 1?

Dan Power/Netflix

Hong Chau

Diane Farr is the White House chief of staff and ultra loyal to her longtime friend, President Michelle Travers. Diane takes Peter under her wing as he investigates what happened to Rose’s aunt and uncle — and figures out who he can trust. Ryan describes Chau as “an actress of extraordinary range. I just am in awe of her talent. She did a tremendous job for us.”

While preparing for the role, Chau realized Farr should have silver hair and sent Ryan a photo of her friend and novelist Trust Exercise author Susan Choi to illustrate what she meant. “[Choi] has this beautiful striking hair. I think Shawn was a little taken aback when I sent that photo,” Chau tells Tudum. “Far has a certain gravitas to her. I needed to do something that would serve the character.” 

Nominated for an Oscar for her role in The Whale, Chau has turned heads in films The Menu and Downsizing, plus series Homecoming, Watchmen, Big Little Lies, Treme and BoJack Horseman.

Fola Evans-Akingbola as Chelsea Arrington (left) and D.B. Woodside as Erik Monks (right) in Season 1 of The Night Agent. 

Fola Evans-Akingbola

Hardworking Secret Service agent Chelsea Arrington is in charge of the vice president’s daughter’s detail and trying to make her mark in a male-dominated field. While Peter might be The Night Agent's fearless FBI agent, showrunner Ryan believes people like Chelsea — and her charge Maddie Redfield (Sarah Desjardins) — are also the “heroes” of this story. “I always like stories about teamwork,” he says. 

British actor Evans-Akingbola has popped up in two episodes of Game of Thrones, as a marine biologist in three seasons of mermaid drama Siren, and in the “Striking Vipers” episode of Black Mirror.

You can follow Evans-Akingbola on Instagram.

D.B. Woodside

Secret Service agent Monks is returning to his beloved job after a long hiatus, and hoping to earn back the trust and respect of his superiors.

Woodside has done Washington intrigue before: He played Chief of Staff Wayne Palmer across three seasons of 24. He’s also known for his role as angel Amenadiel in Lucifer, Sunnydale High principal Robin Wood on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and many other films and shows through the years, includingThe Temptations, Parenthood, Single Ladies, Suits and Romeo Must Die. 

You can follow Woodside on Instagram and Twitter.

Phoenix Raei as Dale (left) and Eve Harlow as Ellen (right) in Season 1 of The Night Agent. 

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Eve Harlow

An unpredictable killer with high-risk impulses, Ellen’s actions come at a cost.

A staple of genre television, Harlow’s appeared on sci-fi series like Star Trek: Discovery, The 100 and Next, plus comic book series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Titans.

You can follow Harlow on Instagram and Twitter.

Phoenix Raei 

Dale is a professional killer and Ellen’s partner in both violence and love.

Netflix fam unite: Persian-Australian actor Raei can be seen in dramas Stateless and Clickbait.

You can follow Raei on Instagram.

Kari Matchett

Travers is the president and a no-nonsense leader. She, like many individuals in Night Agent world, is desperate to unravel the secrets of the Metro bombing.

The Night Agent isn’t Matchett’s first time dealing with political intrigue. She previously starred in the spy thriller Covert Affairs as CIA division leader Joan Campbell. Matchett has also appeared in Season 6 of 24 as Lisa Miller, the VP’s personal assistant — and maybe something more.

You can follow Matchett on Instagram and Twitter.

Christopher Shyer

On the subject of Veeps, meet Redfield, Travers’s vice president. He’s a dubious character and single father with a tragic past. 

Like Matchett, Shyer is used to portraying political animals. He played President Richard Nixon in 2011’s J. Edgar and FBI Director Frank Meredith in Madam Secretary. 

Dan Power/Netflix

Sarah Desjardins

The daughter of the vice president is a college student looking to escape her powerful father’s shadow. 

Catch Desjardins as Shauna’s daughter Callie in Yellowjackets, murderous secret society member Donna Sweett in Riverdale and supersmart Jenna in Impulse. She also appeared on Netflix’s teen spy show Project Mc2.

You can follow Desjardins on Instagram and Twitter.

Robert Patrick

The gruff director of the FBI doesn't fully trust Peter and doesn't enjoy sharing him with the White House of Chief of Staff Diane Farr.  

You undoubtedly recognize Patrick from one of the many roles he's played in his 36 year long career. Patrick is most recognizable as the T-1000 in 1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day. His other TV credits include The Sopranos, The X-Files, Peacmaker and most recently 1923. 

Ben Cotton 

Assassins like Ellen and Dale require a wealthy benefactor. Enter Wick, the CEO of mysterious government contractor Turn Lake Industries.

Canadian actor Cotton has made a career out of popping up in Vancouver-filmed series including Riverdale, Bates Motel and Van Helsing. 

You can follow Cotton on Twitter.

Dan Power/Netflix

Enrique Murciano

The head of the Secret Service, Ben manages his team with a measured, steady hand.

In addition to some of your favorite action movies (Black Hawk Down, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Murciano is a major TV veteran: Without a Trace, Power, Bloodline, Panic and streaming film Father of the Bride.

You can follow Murciano on Instagram and Twitter.