Entertainment

Paapa Essiedu joins cast of BBC crime drama The Capture for season two

The Bafta and Emmy-nominated actor will star as Isaac Turner alongside returning series lead Holliday Grainger.
The Bafta and Emmy-nominated actor will star as Isaac Turner alongside returning series lead Holliday Grainger.

I May Destroy You star Paapa Essiedu is to join the cast of TV crime drama series The Capture for its second season, the BBC has announced.

The 31-year-old Bafta and Emmy-nominated actor will play Isaac Turner, a young rising star MP, alongside returning series lead Holliday Grainger, who plays Detective Inspector Rachel Carey.

The first series of the BBC One hit thriller followed a former British soldier trying to clear his name of a crime he claimed he did not commit.

While investigating the case, DI Carey uncovered a wider complex conspiracy.

Virgin Media BAFTA TV Awards 2021 – Arrivals – London
Paapa Essiedu was nominated for a Bafta for his role in I May Destroy You (Ian West/PA)

The six-episode second season will once again see Britain under siege, with hacked news feeds, manipulated media and interference in politics.

Of joining the show, written and created by Ben Chanan, Essiedu said: “I’m so excited to be coming on board with The Capture.

“Ben has written one of the freshest and most prescient scripts of recent times and I can’t wait to see what this incredible cast and crew can do with it.”

Essiedu’s standout performance as Kwame in Michaela Coel’s critically acclaimed TV series I May Destroy You received Bafta and Emmy nominations for best actor and outstanding supporting actor respectively.

He also recently starred in Channel 5 drama Anne Boleyn as the brother of King Henry VIII’s second wife.

He was previously part of the Royal Shakespeare Company and has played various roles, including the title character in Hamlet and Edmund in King Lear.

Chanan said: “I am thrilled to be working with Paapa Essiedu on The Capture series two.

“I’ve honed the story of Isaac Turner, a young, ambitious, idealistic British politician with Paapa in mind, and there’s no actor I’d rather collaborate with in bringing it to life.”

Game Of Thrones actress Indira Varma and actor Andy Nyman, who featured in the 2019 film Judy, also join the show for series two, which will explore deep-fake technology, the ever-growing tension between government and Big Tech, and corruption within the media.

Chanan added: “I also feel incredibly lucky to be welcoming Indira Varma and Andy Nyman to the show, where they join the brilliant Holliday Grainger, Ron Perlman, Lia Williams and the cast from series one.

“A dream cast, across the board.”