Full Circle is a miniseries currently airing on Max and premiered on July 13, 2023, at this year's Triceba Festival. It’s directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Ed Solomon and has been acclaimed by audiences since its first episode.
The plot revolves around two families living in New York who get involved in a messy situation with fraud inspectors and a botched kidnapping. During the six chapters of Full Circle, various secrets will be revealed, and how the characters are related together in the story may come to light. Here's a guide to the characters and the actors that play them.
Happy Anderson as Joey
Happy Anderson is Joey in this series. His character is a former detective friend of Jeff's, who helps his family with the Jared/Nicky kidnapping. He’s known for his roles in Bird Box, The Knick, Gotham, and The Blacklist. He's also had guest roles in popular series like Law & Order, Blue Bloods, Smash, and Elementary.
Ilia Volok as Victor
Ilia Volok plays Victor in Full Circle. His character is one of Savitri's henchmen. He takes it upon himself to shoot one of her men, who was thought to be the one who had contacted Mel, as they had discovered the officer's card near her bed. Likewise, he also shoots the mannequin in front of Derek, who was originally supposed to be Nicky/Jared, during the rescue.
Volok is known for his roles in Minx and The American Connection. Audiences may also recognize him from Gemini Man, Scandal, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and The Last Ship.
Sheyi Cole as Xavier
Sheryi Cole plays Xavier. This character arrives in the United States along with Louis and helps Aked with the kidnapping of Jared (Nicky). Only to later have an interaction with Mel, the protagonist, and she incites him to admit what he did. Cole is known for his work in Atlanta and will be in the upcoming film The Beautiful Game.
Gerald Jones as Louis
Gerald Jones is Louis in Full Circle. His character is Natalia's brother, who accepts Savitri's job and arrives in the United States. Then, he learns about the nature of the operation, something that leaves him shocked. However, he continues to help Aked with the kidnapping, later agreeing with his sister to exchange the child for a mannequin. Jones was previously in Vampires vs. The Bronx and Blue Bloods.
Phaldut Sharma as Harry Garmen
Phaldut Sharma plays Harry Garmen in Full Circle. Garmen is Savitri's right-hand man. Also, he puts Xavier and Louis in contact with Aked and his boss to carry out the kidnapping plan. Sharma previously appeared in Unforgotten and Romantic Getaway.
Lucian Zanes as Nicky
Lucian Zanes stars as Nicky in the series. He meets Jared through Instagram, and they decide to meet in person. Nicky dresses exactly like Jared that day and is the victim of a family revenge kidnapping by mistake, since they were originally going to take Jared. Subsequently, he comes to lose a tooth at the hands of Aked when they recorded a ransom video. He’s later saved by Natalia when he’s exchanged for a mannequin before being killed during the ransom, as this was Savitri's final step to break the curse. Full Circle is Zanes' first credited role.
Ethan Stoddard as Jared
Ethan Stoddard plays Sam and Derek's son, Jared, in this miniseries. Jared is a boy who had a normal life until he gets involved in a vendetta by Savitri. He’s stalked by some people who wanted to kidnap him. However, they take the wrong kid, as they end up kidnapping Nicky, who’s a boy who had met Jared online and dressed just like him the day they met in person. Stoddard was previously in Mysteries at the Museum.
Jim Gaffigan as Manny Broward
Jim Gaffigan is Manny Broward in this miniseries. His character is that of a USPIS agent. In addition to being Mel Harmony's chief supervisor, who will try to solve the case without telling Manny, he turns down her request to take it. Then, his protective personality is shown when Mel has findings, contacts him, and passes on the information.
Gaffigan is known for having participated in My Boys and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. He’s also a well-known comedian and has his own show, which is The Jim Gaffigan Show.
Adia as Natalia
Adia plays the role of Natalia in this Max miniseries. Her character is Aked's ex-girlfriend and is a massage therapist. She helps him kidnap Jared to break Mahabir's family curse, along with Xavier and Louis (his brother). However, she is forced against her will. So, upon learning that Savitri plans to murder Jared, she replaces the boy with a mannequin of Aked while the kidnapping plan is still in progress.
The actress is known for having been in the Netflix series, The Midnight Club, which was canceled after its first season.
Jharrel Jerome as Aked
Jharrel Jerome plays Aked in Full Circle. His character is Savitri's nephew. He’s shown as someone with an unstable attitude and willing to do anything for his family's revenge. Aked is shown at Quincy's funeral asking Savitri to do something to avenge him, to which she tells him that she will and that Aked will help her.
The actor has been in several productions and has achieved success in a short time. Among his most notable projects are Moonlight and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, though audiences may also know him from When They See Us and I'm a Virgo.
Dennis Quaid as Jeff McCusker
Dennis Quaid plays Jeff McCusker in the miniseries. His character is a chef, who became famous for selling hot sauce, which has also made him a millionaire. He’s described as someone who’s selfish and cares more about money than anything else. Jeff is also Sam's father, Derek's father-in-law, and Jared's grandfather.
This actor has been active since 1975, so his resume is huge. He has been part of multiple series and movies, such as Bill, Soul Surfer, The Pretenders, Innerspace, and The Day After Tomorrow. Audiences may also recognize him from Come See The Paradise, Traffic, The Guardian, and Far From Heaven.
CCH Pounder as Savitri Mahabir
CCH Pounder plays the role of Savitri Mahabir. Savitri is an immigrant from Guyana who has only one goal, which is to avenge the death of her brother-in-law, Quincy. She’s a crime boss in Georgetown, and her personality is quite mysterious and, at the same time, intimidating. In the miniseries, Savitri carries out a plan to achieve her vendetta, which consists of kidnapping a child.
Pounder is an actress who has played numerous roles in series and movies since the last millennium. She has been involved in works such as RoboCop 3, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Avatar, and Batman: Assault on Arkham. She can also be seen in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The Shield, and NCIS: New Orleans.
Timothy Olyphant as Derek Brown
Timothy Olyphant is Derek Brown in this series. Derek is Sam's husband, overseeing the business of chef Jeff McCusker, his father-in-law. He is Jared's father, and serves as a solid support for him. Not only because he helps Jared overcome the difficulties of being an introvert, but because he is a father figure who truly believes in his son.
Olyphant's career is massive. While he may be most well-known for his roles in Scream 2 and The Crazies, the actor has also been a part of noteworthy projects such as Justified, Deadwood, The Girl Next Door, and Hitman.
Claire Danes as Sam Brown
Claire Danes plays the role of Sam Brown in Full Circle. In the miniseries, her character is a wealthy lawyer who works in a Manhattan corporation. She oversees the business of Jeff, who’s her father, and is the mother of Jared (Ethan Stoddard), the original kidnapping victim in the series. She’s also the wife of Derek Brown. At first, she and her husband think their son is at home, due to the fact that he tricked them by placing a makeshift body with pillows under the bed sheet. But then she receives a call from Aked, demanding a ransom of $314,159.
Danes has participated in several projects, such as Homeland, My So-Called Life and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. For her role in Homeland, she received five Emmy nominations, three Golden Globe nominations, and eight Screen Actors Guild award nominations.
Zazie Beetz as Mel Harmony
Zazie Beetz plays Mel Harmony in this series and occupies one of the leading roles in the story. Her role is that of a U.S. Postal Fraud Inspector. In her first appearance, she’s shown as someone frustrated with her work situation, as her boss doesn’t give her important cases nor does he assign her the "Guyana Case." Her central objective in the series becomes that of solving the kidnapping case in which the two families are involved.
Beetz is also known for having been in projects such as Deadpool 2, Joker, and The Bad Guys. On television, audiences may recognize her from History of the World, Part II, the Black Mirror episode "Mazey Day," and Atlanta.