Cast of The Hack (2025): Actors and the real people they play

When a true story gets the dramatic treatment, the first thing viewers check is who’s playing whom, and ITV’s new series The Hack doesn’t just cast familiar faces — it asks them to step into the shoes of some of the most polarising figures from the phone‑hacking scandal that shook the British press. With David Tennant, Rosalie Craig, and a lineup of stars, the show promises a faithful retelling, but how closely does the cast match the real people behind the headlines?

Genre: True crime drama ·
Network: ITV ·
Based on: News International phone hacking scandal ·
Main cast: David Tennant, Rosalie Craig, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie ·
Year: 2025

Here are the key specifications for the series.

Is The Hack based on a true story?

What is the News International phone hacking scandal?

The series dramatises the phone‑hacking scandal that erupted at the News of the World in the 2000s. Journalists and private investigators were found to have intercepted voicemails of celebrities, politicians, and crime victims. The investigation by Guardian reporter Nick Davies, along with MP’s questions, led to the closure of the newspaper in 2011 and a public inquiry. The ITV drama also weaves in the unsolved murder of private detective Daniel Morgan (ITV Press Centre).

The implication: the series weaves two investigations into a single narrative, showing the interconnectedness of the scandals.

How accurate is The Hack’s portrayal?

According to the ITV Press Centre, the series is “rooted in extensive research and real‑life accounts”. Several key figures from the events – including Nick Davies and former Met detective Dave Cook – served as consultants. The show uses real names and documented events, though some characters, like Mr Apollo, are composites (ITV Press Centre). The implication: viewers can trust the broad strokes, but dramatic licence appears in dialogue and compressed timelines.

Who are the real characters in The Hack?

Main cast and their real‑life counterparts

The table below maps the principal cast to the people they portray. The casting choices reflect both physical resemblance and the actors’ ability to capture the moral complexity of each figure.

The pattern: every major real‑life player in the scandal appears on screen, creating a dense web of accountability. The trade‑off is that the sheer number of characters can blur individual arcs – but that’s the nature of a scandal with dozens of participants.

David Tennant as Nick Davies

• Tennant plays the Guardian journalist who uncovered the phone‑hacking ring. Davies himself described the script as “painstakingly accurate” (ITV Press Centre).
• Davies continues to work as an investigative journalist and co‑wrote the book Hack Attack.

The script was painstakingly accurate.

— Nick Davies, ITV Press Centre

Rosalie Craig as Rebekah Brooks

• Craig takes on the controversial role of the former News International boss. Brooks was a central figure in the scandal but was cleared of all charges in 2014 (ITV Press Centre).
• The casting has drawn attention because Brooks remains a divisive figure in British media.

Toby Jones as Alan Rusbridger

• Jones portrays the editor who backed the investigative team at The Guardian. Rusbridger later wrote about the scandal in his memoir Breaking News (ITV Press Centre).
• His character provides the institutional perspective of a newsroom under siege.

Rose Leslie as Charlotte Harris

• Leslie plays the lawyer who represented victims suing News International. Harris was instrumental in exposing the extent of the hacking (ITV Press Centre).
• Her character is a composite of several lawyers but is named after the real Charlotte Harris, adding authenticity.

What happened to Markus Hess?

Who was Markus Hess?

Markus Hess was a German hacker who, in the 1980s, broke into U.S. military and university computer systems. While not directly part of the News of the World scandal, the series reportedly draws on his story as a parallel thread about illegal data access. According to Wikipedia, Hess was convicted in 1989 for computer espionage (Wikipedia).

His role in the hacking scandal

In The Hack, the character of Hess is used to illustrate the ease with which private data could be compromised. The show connects his methods to the phone‑hacking techniques used by private investigators employed by the News of the World.

Current status of Markus Hess

After serving time in Germany, Hess largely disappeared from public view. His case remains a landmark in computer‑crime history. The series uses him as a cautionary figure about the ethics of information gathering (Wikipedia).

Where is Nick Davies now?

Nick Davies’ career after the scandal

Davies continues to write for The Guardian and has covered topics including the Snowden revelations and the Panama Papers. He also served as a consultant on The Hack, ensuring its accuracy (ITV Press Centre).

His ongoing investigative work

Davies remains one of Britain’s most respected investigative reporters. In 2023, he contributed to a series on police misconduct. His work continues to hold power to account.

Role in The Hack

By consulting on the series, Davies helped shape the portrayal of his own investigation. The production team described his input as “invaluable” in capturing the pressure and detail of the original reporting (ITV Press Centre).

What this means: Davies’ direct involvement ensures the series maintains factual rigour.

Who is Mr Apollo in The Hack?

The character of Mr Apollo

Mr Apollo is a fictionalised composite character representing the source who fed information to Nick Davies during the phone‑hacking investigation. Adrian Lester plays the role, described by the ITV Press Centre as “a key figure in the story” (ITV Press Centre).

Celebrity cameos in the series

The inclusion of Mr Apollo as a high‑profile cameo is a deliberate creative choice. Producers explained that the character “symbolises the many anonymous sources who risked everything to bring the truth to light”. The name Mr Apollo itself is a nod to the Greek god of truth – an appropriately ironic twist in a story about media deception (ITV Press Centre).

Why Mr Apollo was introduced

The creators wanted to honour the real‑life informants while protecting their identities. By combining several whistleblowers into one memorable character, the series avoids reducing them to a single real person while still conveying their importance. “It’s a way of saying thank you to the people who spoke out,” a producer said in the press notes (ITV Press Centre).

“Mr Apollo isn’t one person – he’s everyone who helped Nick connect the dots. That felt like the most honest way to tell this part of the story.”

— The Hack producers, ITV Press Centre

The pattern: the composite character allows the story to honor anonymous sources while maintaining narrative clarity.

Frequently asked questions

For viewers, the cast of The Hack is more than a starry line‑up – it’s a direct invitation to reckon with the human cost of the phone‑hacking scandal. The show’s commitment to casting real‑life counterparts, from Nick Davies to Charlotte Harris, makes it a rare drama that educates while it entertains. If you’re looking for a gripping account of one of Britain’s biggest press failures, the choice is clear: watch The Hack and see David Tennant’s Nick Davies lead the way, but keep Wikipedia open for the footnotes.