Thought The Cast Of Legends Looked Familiar? Where You've Seen The Stars Before

The truth is often stranger than fiction, and when it comes to TV dramas, it’s repeatedly been proven that the best plots are plucked straight from real life stories.

And that’s certainly the case with Netflix’s new six-parter, Legends.

Based on the true story of a bunch of civil servants who went undercover to infiltrate the country’s most notorious drug smuggling gangs from the inside, the series is already being praised by critics and pulling in big numbers on the platform.

With more than a few familiar faces in the mix, here’s where you might have spotted them before…

Steve Coogan

Best known for his portrayal of delusional presenter Alan Partridge for the last 30 years, Steve Coogan has a string of other roles under his belt outside his comic creation.

Steve appeared opposite Judi Dench in the 2013 film Philomena, and has also had big-screen roles in movies like 24 Hour Party People, Around The World In 80 Days, Night At The Museum, Tropic Thunder, Stan & Laurie, Greed and Joker: Folie À Deux. 

On TV, he’s portrayed real-life figures including Jimmy Savile (The Reckoning), Brian Walden (Brian and Maggie), Stephen Lawrence case detective DCI Clive Driscoll (Stephen) and Samuel Pepys (The Private Life Of Samuel Pepys).

You might have also seen Steve in the likes of The Trip, What We Do In The Shadows, Happyish or Curb Your Enthusiasm.

He’ll next be seen alongside a star-studded cast in the long-awaited fourth season of The White Lotus.

Tom Burke 

You’re most likely to recognise Tom Burke from his roles in acclaimed BBC series like The Musketeers, War & Peace and Strike.

He’s also appeared in shows including The Crown (in which he starred as Derek “Dazzle” Jennings), Modern Love, The Lazarus Project, Great Expectations, Utopia, The Hour, Heading Out and Poirot. 

Tom is also a big name in the film world, having starred in indie flicks like The Souvenir and The Wonder, as well as big budget movies like Black Bag, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. 

Hayley Squires

Hayley Squires had her breakthrough as Katie in Ken Loach’s film I, Daniel Blake, which saw her pick up a Bafta nomination.

Since then, she’s appeared in TV series like The Night Manager, Great Expectations, The Essex Serpent, Inside No. 9, Adult Material and Collateral.

You might have also spotted her in Call The Midwife and Southcliffe.

Hayley’s film work includes Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid, Blitz, and True Things – where she starred opposite her Legends co-star Tom.

Tom Hughes 

Fans of historical dramas will recognise Tom for his performance as Prince Albert in ITV’s Victoria, in which he shared the screen with Jenna Coleman.

Since then, he’s played Kit Marlowe in Sky’s A Discovery Of Witches, and had prominent roles in The English, Those About To Die, Malpractice and The Gold, the latter of which was written by Legends creator Neil Forsyth.

Over on the big screen, Tom has appeared in movies like About Time, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Cemetery Junction and Madame.

Aml Ameen

Aml Ameen’s breakthrough moment came when he was cast as Trife in the British drama Kidulthood.

In the years that followed, he’s appeared in a wide variety of movies that includes everything from the political drama The Butler, the dystopian sci-fi movie The Maze Runner and Rustin, in which he starred as Martin Luther King Jr, to the British rom-com Boxing Day, which also marked his directorial debut.

He also played PC Lewis Hardy in The Bill, Capheus in Sense8, banker Simon in I May Destroy You and Malcolm Davies in Harry’s Law.

Douglas Hodge

Douglas Hodge has been working consistently on both stage and screen since the late 1980s, racking up credits that include the likes of Vanity Fair, Scenes Of A Sexual Nature and Diana, in which he played butler Paul Burrell.

More recently, he played another iconic butler, Alfred Pennyworth, in the Oscar-winning Joker, acted alongside Jennifer Lawrence in the thriller Red Sparrow and appeared in the films We Live In Time, G20 and Pillion.

His TV work has seen him land prominent roles in Red Cap, Skins, Penny Dreadful, Catastrophe, Lost In Space, I Hate Suzie, The Great and The Night Manager.

Numan Acar

Born and raised in Turkey, Numan’s first major international role saw him portraying Haissam Haqqani in Homeland.

After that, he went on to appear in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, Guy Ritchie’s live-action remake of Disney’s Aladdin and the thriller Point Break.

Besides Homeland, has TV projects have included Jack Ryan and Prison Break.

Charlotte Ritchie

In the early 2010s, Charlotte Ritchie rose to prominence as Oregon in the comedy Fresh Meat, leading to roles in Call The Midwife, Doctor Who and Siblings.

Now, she’s probably best known for her performance as Alison Cooper, but you might have also seen her in Netflix’s You and Feel Good, or Grantchester.

She also competed as herself on Taskmaster, and had a minor role in the big-screen musical Wonka.

Jasmine Blackborow

If you loved Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen, you might remember Jasmine’s performance as Charly, the on-screen sister of Theo James and Daniel Ings’ characters.

She’s also appeared in another popular Netflix show, Shadow And Bone, in addition to the BBC’s historical drama based on the life of Marie Antoinette, in which she starred as Lamballe.

Johnny Harris

Back in 2006, Johnny Harris played Derek in the critically-acclaimed British indie London To Brighton, before landing his Bafta-nominated role as Mick in the This Is England TV series.

He’s also appeared in two of Steven Knight’s grisly Charles Dickens adaptations,The Salisbury Poisonings and Without Sin, which reunited him with his former co-star Vicky McClure.

Gerald Kyd

Gerald Kyd will be known to long-time Casualty fans for his performance as Sean Maddox in the late 1990s.

After stepping away from the medical drama, he went on to appear in shows like Sherlock and Silent Witness, and portrayed Caiaphas in Jesus: His Life.

More recently, he’s appeared in a 2021 episode of Doctor Who, and acted in the TV shows The Split, Hostage, Malory Towers and The Assassin.

Joshua Samuels

Since his breakout in the web series Nate & Jamie, Joshua Samuels has appeared in the TV adaptation of Sexy Beast, Emerald Fennell’s film Saltburn and the short film On Loop.

Like co-star Tom Hughes, he also worked with Neil Forsyth in his previous hit series, The Gold, playing Jerren.

Thomas Coombes

Thomas Coombes is no stranger to a prolific Netflix show, having appeared in the award-winning Baby Reindeer as police officer PC Daniels, the Luther film The Fallen Sun as Archie Woodward and the spy drama Black Doves as Philip Bray.

Besides these projects, he’s also starred in Save Me, the Stephen Graham outing Boiling Point, the Star Wars spin-off The Acolyte and Neil Forsyth’s The Gold.

Kem Hassan

Legends is Kem Hassan’s biggest role to date, but you may well have seen him before that, too.

Some of his most notable past work includes an episode of the police drama Vera and the surreal Netflix drama The Sandman, in which he played a character named Phil back in 2025.

All six episodes of Legends are now streaming on Netflix.