Have you ever sensed the feeling that you may have done some thing, or met some person, or been at some time once before? If so, it is nothing unusual, as every person experiences a case of déjà vu at some point in their lives. For instance, if you plan on watching TNT’s latest series, you might find yourself wondering what other movies or TV shows you may have seen TNT’s The Lazarus Project cast in before.
Not to be confused with the 2015 horror movie, The Lazarus Effect, this new sci-fi drama from creator Joe Barton follows a man who becomes a part of the bizarre, earth-shattering missions of a secret organization that uses time travel to prevent tragedy after he proves to be sensitive to their time-loop technology. Already a hit in the United Kingdom as a SkyTV original in 2022, The Lazarus Project will make its U.S. debut on TNT tonight at 9 p.m./8c. Before you check it out for yourself, take a look at this breakdown of who plays who and why the talented ensemble may have left you feeling stricken with déjà vu.
Paapa Essiedu (George)
Leading the Lazarus Project cast as George — an ordinary man recruited into the extraordinary titular organization after uniquely noticing that his life has been put on repeat — is Paapa Essiedu, who is best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Kwame on star and creator Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You and for his smaller, but pivotal, part in writer and director Alex Garland’s bizarre 2022 sci-fi drama, Men, as the husband of Jessie Buckley’s character.
The theatre-trained actor, who has performed in several stage productions of classic William Shakespeare plays, also appeared on the original British version of the sci-fi drama, Utopia, had a small role in 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express as a police officer, and played George Boleyn in AMC’s limited historical fiction series, Anne Boleyn. Keep an eye out for him when Black Mirror Season 6 premieres on Netflix later in June 2023.
Anjli Mohindra (Archie)
The one who recruits George into the Lazarus Project after noticing his special sense of time loops is Archie, played by Anjli Mohindra, who is best known as Rani Chandra from the Doctor Who spin-off TV show, The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Coincidentally, she also guest-starred on a Doctor Who episode as an entirely different character named Queen Skithra in 2020 and also leant her voice to the animated series, Daleks!, as the Mechanoid Queen that same year. Audiences may also recognize Mohindra from a 2018 episode of the hit DC TV show, Legends of Tomorrow, Netflix’s hit miniseries from that same year, Bodyguard, and the sci-fi Amazon Prime original TV show from 2022, The Peripheral.
Rudi Dharmalingam (Shiv)
A fellow Lazarus Project agent by the name of Shiv is played by Rudi Dharmalingam, who last starred in a title about time travel when he appeared in the 2019 Netflix original sci-fi movie, In the Shadow of the Moon.
Before then, he made his feature film debut with a small, uncredited appearance in the 2016 Harry Potter movies prequel, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, before starring in an episode of Amazon Prime’s original, Phillip K. Dick-inspired sci-fi anthology TV show, Electric Dreams, the following year. He would later go on to lead the psychological thriller TV series, Wakefield (aired as a Showtime original in the U.S. in 2021) and joined the Great Expectations cast as Wemmick for FX on Hulu in 2023.
Caroline Quentin (Elizabeth "Wes" Wesley)
As Elizabeth “Wes” Wesley, who serves as the leader of the Lazarus Project, we have Caroline Quentin, who is something of a renowned British TV legend, especially in the world of humor. She has appeared opposite comic genius Rowan Atkinson in an episode of Mr. Bean, was a series regular on the sitcom British Men Behaving Badly, and went on to play the title role another comedy series called Kiss Me Kate.
She would later branch out to more genres, such as with crime TV shows (like Blue Murder) and period dramas (such as Dickensian and an episode of Netflix’s Bridgerton), and has also starred in a couple of holiday movies with Elizabeth Hurley — namely Father Christmas is Back in 2021 and Christmas in the Caribbean the following year.
Charly Clive (Sarah)
Starring as George’s lover, Sarah, is Charly Clive, who made her screen acting debut in the 2015 dramedy film, Never Better, before going on to lead the raunchy Max (formerly HBO Max) original TV series, Pure. In 2021, she starred in the wicked British horror-comedy movie, All My Friends Hate Me, and wrote, produced, and starred as a fictionalized version of herself in the 21-minute short film, Britney. She actually played another character named “Charly” in a more recent short film from 2022, called Green Space.
Tom Burke (Rebrov)
Former Lazarus Project agent-turned-criminal Rebrov is played by Tom Burke, who first started to make a big impression on Stateside audiences with his role in 2019’s The Souvenir and with his spot-on portrayal of Orson Welles in Mank for Netflix the following year.
He also gave a charming performance opposite Academy Award nominee Bill Nighy in 2022’s Living and, since 2017, has portrayed the title role on the mystery TV show C.B. Strike, which is inspired by a series of books by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. Some of his earlier most notable credits include the acclaimed 2003 miniseries State of Play (his first collaboration with Nighy), director Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives as the brother of Ryan Gosling’s character, and BBC’s Musketeers TV show from 2014 to 2016.
Now that you know why the talented members of the Lazarus Project cast look so familiar to you, you can see them in action disrupting the flow of time for the greater good (or for more treacherous purposes) when the drama becomes officially available for American audiences to witness, tonight at 9 p.m. EST (8 p.m. CST) on TNT.
