Netflix confirms highly anticipated cast for The Gentlemen

An apparent friend of Meghan reportedly told the paper that the production had employed “the oldest marketing trick in the book” by getting “a big name to read a script” before “leaking” that discussions were taking place, when “in reality, nothing is particularly far along.”

The Times subsequently quoted a show insider who claimed that The Gentlemen “is not a show in need of stunt casting.”

Cameras are now rolling on the third series of Guy Ritchie’s crime saga, Netflix confirmed this afternoon. Production on The Gentlemen Season 3 is taking place across locations in both the United Kingdom and Morocco.

The streamer revealed a substantial wave of new talent joining the show, headlined by three major names. Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom and Robert Carlyle will all appear in the forthcoming eight-episode run.

Their casting marks the first occasion any of the three actors have collaborated with Mr Ritchie. Mr Wood and Mr Bloom, of course, spent years working alongside one another across Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, making their joint appearance in the series something of a reunion.

The renewal was first confirmed back in August, roughly a month before the second series launched in September.

Rounding out the fresh additions are Dexter Fletcher, Bruna Marquezine, Ed Speleers, Saffron Burrows and Bugzy Malone.

Mr Fletcher is among those with existing ties to Mr Ritchie, having appeared in his 1998 debut Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Bugzy Malone, whose real name is Aaron Davies, likewise previously worked with the director on Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, and also featured in the original 2019 Gentlemen film.

The remaining newcomers represent first-time collaborations with Mr Ritchie. Ms Marquezine’s credits include Blue Beetle, while Mr Speleers and Ms Burrows both appeared in Netflix’s You.

Comic Book Resources also listed Philip Arditti, known for The Day of the Jackal, among the new cast.

That brings the total number of fresh faces to eight, joining an already sizeable ensemble for what promises to be the show’s most expansive series yet.

Theo James and Kaya Scodelario return at the helm as Eddie Horniman and Susie Glass. They are joined by a strong contingent of familiar faces, including Ray Winstone as crime boss Bobby Glass, Joely Richardson as Lady Sabrina, Vinnie Jones as groundskeeper Geoff, Jasmine Blackborow as Eddie’s sister Charly, Harry Goodwins as Susie’s brother Jack, Benjamin Clementine as Charly’s husband, and Maya Jama reprising her second-series role as fixer Aisha.

Two notable names are absent from the returning roster. Daniel Ings, who portrayed Eddie’s cocaine-addicted elder brother Freddy across the first two series, will not be back. “I’m not in the next one, so that’s a fun sense of closure,” Ings recently told HATC Magazine. Giancarlo Esposito, who played American billionaire and drug kingpin Stanley Johnston, is likewise not listed as returning.