Now that we have all seen the trailer for Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole, you can consider our appetites thoroughly whetted. If you haven’t seen it, we’ve popped it below for you to check out. It looks grimy, violent and, perhaps most importantly, character-driven. So, while we count down the days until March 26, the team at Nordic Watchlist decided to offer you a deep dive into the cast of the hotly anticipated detective drama.

This feels like it could be one of the biggest Nordic shows to hit the streaming platform. To save you the bother of looking up a face you recognise halfway through a key plot point in episode three, we’ve pulled together the cast list (that we know of, so far).

The Trailer

The Cast

Casting Harry Hole is central to the success of this adaptation. He’s such a familiar figure to readers of the novels that the way he looks, sounds and acts is critical to how audiences will react to the Netflix series. (Spoilers, we think they’ve got it spot on this time.) He clashes with his colleagues, he takes risks, he drinks too much. He’s both a curmudgeon and a legend. He has to carry the whole show.

Tobias Santelmann – Harry Hole

Tobias Santelmann is exactly the same height as Hole is described in the novels (192cm or 6 foot 2) so we’re off to a good start. Because Harry should be physically imposing. Besides his height, Nesbø describes the detective as having an athletic build, short blond hair and blue eyes. So, physically, Santelmann ticks all of the boxes. As rigid as it might seem, it does feel important to have the actor match the descriptors in the book. This is an iconic detective, known around the world, after all.

Harry has something of an anti-authority swagger, charming but with a dark edge. We’ve seen that from Santelmann in his portrayal of Ragnar in The Last Kingdom. And we’ve also seen a softer, more empathetic side to him in the likes of Veronika, something that will come in handy as Harry’s relationship with Rakel develops.

From what we can see in the trailer, Santelmann has managed to capture Harry’s borderline aggressive attitude and his enthusiasm for a good drink. It is exciting to see how the character will evolve over the course of the series.

Joel Kinnaman – Tom Waaler

Well, well, well. They really have given Harry a proper nemesis in Tom Waaler. Swedish-American actor Joel Kinnaman is more than a match for Tobias Santelmann, physically, and we have no doubt he could give him a run for his money in the charm stakes, too.

In the novels, Waaler is described as outright dangerous: charming, manipulative, corrupt and criminal. We’ve seen all of these traits from Kinnaman in the likes of The Suicide Squad, Altered Carbon and Silent Night.

Pitting Kinnaman’s character against Tobias Santelmann’s interpretation of Harry Hole is set to be one of the greatest TV rivalries of the year.

Pia Tjelta – Rakel Fauke

Tobias Santelmann’s The Fortress co-star Pia Tjelta takes on the role of Harry’s love interest, Rakel Fauke. Within the novels, this character is seen as a stabiliser for Harry; she is resilient, independent, sensible and a good mother. She is capable of love in a way that our damaged detective simply is not.

Tjelta makes for interesting casting, with her work to date including the likes of Beck, Made in Oslo, Norsemen, State of Happiness and the thrilling 2025 drama, Don’t Call Me Mama. She is likely to bring a gentleness to the role but will also be no-nonsense. Rakel is not here simply to be a doormat for Harry.

We are unsure as to where the series picks up their relationship but we expect excellent chemistry.

So, that’s our lead trio. However, there are a host of well-known Nordic names listed in the cast on IMDb. These include: Josefin Asplund (The New Force), Ane Dahl Torp (Stayer), Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World), Eili Harboe (The Fortress), Jesper Christensen (Sentimental Value), Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (La Palma) and Simon J. Berger (To Cook A Bear). With such a stacked cast, we are very much looking forward to seeing how all of the pieces of the puzzle come together … even if Harry himself appears to be falling apart.

Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole drops on Netflix, globally, on March 26.