Do you fancy donning some tweed and pointing a gun for your next TV role? Then you’ll probably be thrilled to hear Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen – the first two seasons of which have been a hit for Netflix – is all systems go for a third season. The witty criminal caper tells the story of hard-up aristocrat Eddie Horniman (Theo James), who discovers his estate is being used as a secret cannabis farm owned by local tough nut Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone). Add to that killer premise a cast that includes Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Joely Richardson, and Vinnie Jones (and almost Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex) and you’ve got quite the TV binge.
Fancy being a part of the action? Read on.
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Arriving on Netflix in 2024, The Gentlemen is set in the same universe as Ritchie’s 2019 film of the same name and expands that world by focusing mainly on Eddie Horniman, Duke of Halstead. When Eddie inherits his family’s estate somewhere in rural England, he’s shocked to discover his late father was also involved in building a very lucrative cannabis empire. Although initially not keen on being a drug-dealing duke, Eddie soon warms to the role and finds that he actually rather enjoys mixing with the criminal underworld. By the end of Season 2 (which landed in 2026), he’s fully embraced his new life, expanding his empire and getting his hands very, very dirty.
“The central conceit is that old-world Britannia is on its last breath, and the crumbling house – this crumbling dukedom – is underpinned by criminality,” James told the Guardian. “On the face of it, you have the upper class winning. But underneath that, ultimately, they’re controlled by organised crime, which is obviously the other end of the spectrum in terms of class. So it’s subverting that.”
The casting director for The Gentlemen is Dan Hubbard, whose credits also include The Bourne Ultimatum, Captain Phillips, and Ritchie’s films The Covenant, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, and Fountain of Youth. No matter whether Hubbard deems you right for The Gentlemen, he’s well worth getting in front of as an actor, given his industry influence.
Speaking to entertainment website Gold Derby, Hubbard likened the casting process for The Gentlemen to doing a jigsaw puzzle. “We had to get everyone to read, but the most important part of it was getting Theo to screen test with Dan Ings [who plays his brother] to make sure they had that dynamic,” Hubbard says. “Theo was so good for that because he’s so trustworthy and alpha and straight down the middle, whereas Dan is more of a wild card and certainly could come out there with all the out-there-ness of Freddy in the moment.”
Chemistry was also important when casting the female lead, drug queenpin Susie, played by Scodelario. Hubbard says he felt certain that she’d match James’ charisma, and that she had “that real-life experience to really empower that character.” Scodelario told Gold Derby she was just delighted to play a “real boss bitch.”
Hubbard told Casting Networks what he likes to see in the audition room. “I like people to be calm, with a sense of belonging and a sense of purpose, because I have called you in, and I’ve deemed you talented and up to the job,” he says. “What I’m interested in is the flow of the performance once the camera turns. I have faith in you because you’re here, so do me proud, but also, sometimes it’s knowing when to take that risk and make us all sit back and say, ‘Oh, my God, I didn’t see it like that.’ That breathes life into the piece, because the actor has the power to shock us with their intelligent choices. That’s the joy of my job – the choices the actor makes to fit the puzzle.”
James was no stranger to auditioning by the time the call came. “It was a steep learning curve,” he told V Magazine of his first ever TV audition. “I was shouting in the face of the casting directors as if it were a stage performance. They were…perturbed, shall we say.”
His advice for actors starting out is to try to be resilient. “Young actors take these wins and losses very personally, but it’s not personal. Producing taught me that even more – it’s almost never personal,” he told V Magazine. “It’s about finding the right piece for the puzzle.” He told the Guardian that even the most successful career remains a hustle. “Any career will have constant ups and downs. The idea of just being constantly upward and upward and upward until existential ecstasy-slash-orgasm – I’m not sure that exists.”
Scodelario told the Life In Film podcast about her own experiences. “I do think auditioning is its own skill. I think it’s all right to think you’re not very good at auditions, and that doesn’t mean you’re not a good actor. Because the audition room is nothing like it will be like on the day…when you’re just doing it in your mum’s kitchen and it feels a bit shit. That’s all right because it can never really be the best version of itself.”
“Even to this day, auditioning terrifies me,” she says. “It’s not a skill that I feel like I have. So every audition is terrifying and embarrassing.”
Her co-star Ings takes a different approach. “Acting should be fun. Be proud that you’ve chosen to try to make it as any kind of artist. It’s brave and stupid and completely brilliant,” he told Flanelle magazine. “But we’re not saving lives. If it doesn’t work out, or you decide you’d rather do something else, then as long as you have your priorities straight, you’ll be fine. Life is too short to make your acting career the sole overriding purpose of your existence. You’ll never be on your deathbed thinking, ‘Man, I really wish I’d nailed that audition for Fisherman Number 1.’ If you feel like things are heading that way, then you need to pause and rethink. Go for a walk. Call your mum. Watch an episode of Curb [Your Enthusiasm]. In fact, regardless, definitely do that. They should prescribe that final episode on the NHS.”
Which, when you think about it, is pretttty good advice.
It’s always important for actors to be prepared – and there’s no need to wait until you get called to audition to start prepping. Check out the following guides and you’ll have less to do when the all-important call comes.
