Rhys Ifans (Earl of Oxford), Vanessa Redgrave (Königin Elizabeth I.), Sebastian Armesto (Ben Jonson), Rafe Spall (William Shakespeare), David Thewlis (William Cecil), Edward Hogg (Robert Cecil), Xavier Samuel (Earl of Southampton), Sam Reid (Earl of Essex), Jamie Campbell Bower (der junge Earl of Oxford), Joely Richardson (die junge Königin Elizabeth I), John Keogh (Philip Henslowe), Julian Bleach (Captain Richard Pole), Mark Rylance (Condell), Ned Dennehy (Verhörer), Paolo De Vita (Francesco), Robert Emms (Thomas Dekker), Tony Way (Thomas Nashe), Trystan Gravelle (Christopher Marlowe), Vicky Krieps (Bessie Vavasour), Alex Hassell (Spencer), James Garnon (Heminge), Lloyd Hutchinson (Richard Burbage), Jasper Britton (Papst), Michael Brown (Sly), Sir Derek Jacobi (Prologsprecher)