The Girl Before cast
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Meet the star-studded cast of BBC One’s thriller ‘The Girl Before’

They found love on set!

The Girl Before on BBC One has a plot to die for – quite literally – and a cast to match.

So who stars in the upcoming thriller?

The tense series is coming soon, and promises to be THE most nail-biting four hours of the TV schedules.

Here’s everything you need to know about the cast of BBC series The Girl Before.

Jessica Plummer David Oyelowo The Girl Before
Jessica Plummer stars as Emma, opposite David Oyelowo’s Edward in The Girl Before (Credit: BBC One)

Read more: Jessica Plummer and Ben Hardy ‘confirm’ romance after meeting on set of The Girl Before

The Girl Before cast – Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Jane

Viewers are introduced to Jane, played by Loki actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

She stumbles on the rental opportunity of a lifetime – the chance to live in a beautiful ultra-minimalist house designed by an enigmatic architect.

However, Jane must promise to abide by a long list of very exacting rules set by the controlling architect…

Oxford-born Gugu Mbatha-Raw, 38, is perhaps best known for playing Dido Elizabeth Belle in the 2013 film Belle, based on a true story.

Gugu is also famous for her role as Jenny in Spooks, Tish Jones in Doctor Who, and Samantha Bloom in Undercovers.

Most recently, she portrayed Ravonna Renslayer in the Marvel series Loki, and Hannah Shoenfeld in The Morning Show.

Gugu, who also acts as an associate producer on the series, said: “I’m so excited to work with this amazing team on such a compelling story in my debut role as actor/producer.”

David Oyelewo stars as Edward

Actor David Oyelowo portrays the enigmatic architect Edward.

Edward is the designer of the stunning house, which forces its occupants to obey his very specific rules and minimalist ideas of life.

David says: “This story is mind-bending in its clever construction and intricacy. I can’t wait to see it, let alone be in it.”

Oxford-born David, 45, is known for his roles in theatre, film and TV.

He’s portrayed Martin Luther King Jr in the film Selma, Seretse Khama in A United Kingdom, Louis Gaines in The Butler and Emerson in Jack Reacher.

On TV, he famously played Danny Hunter in Spooks, Matt Wellings in Five Days, Gilbert in Small Island, and the hateful Javert in Les Misérables.

He’ll soon appear in the UK version of Call My Agent! on Netflix.

Jessica Plummer David Oyelowo The Girl Before
The Girl Before has an all-star cast including David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, but when is the start date? (Credit: BBC One)

Read more: Jessica Plummer stars alongside two other ex-EastEnders stars in trailer for The Girl Before

The Girl Before cast – Jessica Plummer plays Emma

The BBC has revealed that there’s FOUR former EastEnders cast members in the cast of The Girl Before.

Jessica Plummer portrays the house’s previous inhabitant Emma.

Soap fans will recognise London-born Jessica as Chantelle Atkins in EastEnders.

Daughter of Karen Taylor and Mitch Baker, Chantelle was killed off in September 2020 by her abusive husband, Gray.

And we’re worried she may meet a similar fate in The Girl Before!

Since leaving her role on EastEnders in 2020, Jessica has appeared as a contestant on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

Before acting, Jessica, now 29, was part of the girl band, Neon Jungle.

Ben Hardy plays Simon

Ben Hardy stars as Emma’s love interest Simon.

The actor is also a former EastEnders star.

He portrayed Peter Beale from 2013 to 2015, before moving into films.

Dorst-born Ben, 30, appeared as Angel in X-Men: Apocalypse, and Roger Taylor in Bohemian Rhapsody.

On TV, he’s appeared as Walter Hartright in The Woman in White.

The Girl Before
Jessica Plummer and Ben Hardy star in The Girl Before (Credit: BBC One)

The Girl Before cast – Mark Stanley plays Saul

Other key cast members in The Girl Before episodes include Mark Stanley as Saul.

TV viewers will almost definitely recognise Mark from a number of roles, not least Colin Caffell in White House Farm.

Colin Caffell is, of course, the ex-husband of Sheila Caffell and the father of twins Daniel and Nicholas who were all gunned down in the family’s farmhouse by Jeremy Bamber.

Recently, actor Mark has also portrayed Henry VIII in Anne Boleyn, Ed Harrigan in Small Axe and DC Andy Craig in Honour.

Leeds-born Mark, 33, is also known for playing Hugo Duffy in Criminal: UK, Lord Babington in Sandition, and PC Andrew Powell in Broken.

He famously played Grenn in Game of Thrones, and has appeared in films including Run, Dark River and Hellboy.

The Girl Before – who else stars in the cast?

Meanwhile, Amanda Drew – aka deranged May Wright in BBC soap EastEnders – also appears in the thriller.

The Lincolnshire actress, 51, stars as Carol.

As well as EastEnders, Amanda has also played Ruth in The Outlaws, Julie in The Trial of Christine Keeler, Kremlin Aide Female in Chernobyl, and Cate Gillespie in Broadchurch.

Elsewhere Daniela Pasquini stars as Amanda, Kayla Meikle plays DS Liz Willan, Antonia Clarke portrays Alyssia, and Ian Conningham stars as DCI James Clarke.

The trailer (below) also shows a brief glimpse of Rakhee Thakrar who played Shabnam Masood in the BBC soap EastEnders.

YouTube video player

The Girl Before premieres on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm on Sunday December 19 2021.

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Helen Fear
TV Editor