1. Alina Starkov played by Jessie Mei Li

This 25-year-old actor was born to an English mother, who is a nurse, and a Chinese-born, Hong Kong-raised father. Shadow and Bone marked debut on-screen and we were blown away by her performance. 

2. General Kirigan / Aleksander played by Ben Barnes

He stole our hearts back in 2008 with his titular role of Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Since then, he has starred in various TV shows and movies like Dorian Gray, The Big Wedding, Seventh Son, Westworld, The Punisher and Gold Digger.

3. Malyen Oretsev / Mal played by Archie Renaux

This 23-year-old actor has previously worked in movies like Body of Water, Voyagers, Morbius and the mini-series, Gold Digger. His mother’s side of the family is Anglo-Indian and he has an adorable daughter with his girlfriend. 

4. Kaz Brekker played by Freddy Carter

From playing a soldier in Wonder Woman, to starring in the show, Free Rein and now playing Kaz, the actor has come a long way. 

5. Inej Ghafa played by Amita Suman

Born in Nepal and fluent in Bhojpuri, this actor moved to Brighton at 7 and shot to fame with her appearance in Doctor Who. Her role as the knife-throwing bad-ass in Shadow and Bone has definitely won us over. 

6. Jesper Fahey played by Kit Young

The 26-year-old actor of Scottish and Ugandan descent, was a playful, dangerous and yet loveable character on this show. We are excited to see him in his upcoming series, The Origin and Netflix’s adaptation of The School for Good and Evil. 

7. Baghra played by Zoë Wanamaker

From Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to Killing Eve and My Week with Marilyn, this iconic actor’s roles have always been impactful. 

8. Zoya Nazyalensky played by Sujaya Dasgupta

This actor is actually quite private about her personal life, but it is known that she is of Indian heritage. She became a crowd favourite after her role in the show, Guilt. 

9. Ivan played by Simon Sears

This actor has been a part of many award-winning Danish shows and movies like Vinterbrødre and Herrens Veje. 

10. Fedyor Kaminsky played by Julian Kostov

Julian is a Bulgarian actor, filmmaker, and a former professional swimmer (he holds 60 medals). He has been a part of several movies and TV shows including Leatherface and London Has Fallen. 

11. Arken played by Howard Charles

Known for his work in The Musketeers and Alex Rider, this actor was also a part of the video game, Need For Speed as Manu. 

12. Nina Zenik played by Danielle Galligan

played by Danielle Galligan

This actor was actually a part of Game Of Thrones where she played Sarra, but her role as Nina has been the most impactful one so far. 

13. Matthias Helvar played by Calahan Skogman

This 27-year-old actor is one of the few Americans in the show and this is his first major role. 

14. Genya Safin played by Daisy Head

This 30-year-old actor has been a part of several TV shows and movies including Guilt, Syndicate, Underworld: Blood Wars and Harlots. 

15. The Apparat played by Kevin Eldon

This actor and comedian has been seen in several shows and movies including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Hugo, Game Of Thrones and Criminal: UK. 

16. David Kostyk played by Luke Pasqualino

played by Luke Pasqualino

Known for winning hearts with his role of Freddie in Skins, Luke has been in many shows and movies like The Musketeers, Snowpiercer and Drunk History. 

Who was your favourite character?