Premiering June 29, 2025, on AMC/AMC+, Nautilus reimagines Jules Verne’s timeless masterpiece 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a visceral origin saga. This sweeping series unveils the genesis of Captain Nemo, tracing his metamorphosis from a prince shattered by colonial brutality to the tormented genius commanding the revolutionary submarine Nautilus. Set against treacherous oceans and 19th-century geopolitical strife, the narrative weaves themes of vengeance, scientific ambition, and anti-imperial rebellion. Anchored by a globally diverse ensemble, the show merges Verne’s visionary spirit with gritty, character-driven drama—promising a plunge into the abyss of Nemo’s tortured soul.
Filmed across Fiji’s volcanic coastlines and Queensland’s coral reefs, Nautilus balances spectacle with intimate turmoil. Each character embodies a facet of Nemo’s fractured world: imperial hunters, oceanic rebels, and morally ambiguous allies. Below, explore the actors breathing life into this high-stakes odyssey—where every alliance is fragile, and the sea hides as many secrets as the human heart.
Nautilus: Cast & Characters
1- Shazad Latif as Captain Nemo
British-Pakistani actor Shazad Latif (Star Trek: Discovery, The Commuter) embodies the iconic antihero with searing intensity. Trained at London’s Webber Douglas Academy, Latif’s career spans complex roles like spy-turned-villain in Spooks: The Greater Good and the compassionate Dr. Jekyll in Penny Dreadful. His fluency in Urdu and Hindi, coupled with a mastery of physical transformation, made him the ideal choice to portray Nemo’s evolution from idealistic prince to brooding mariner. Off-screen, Latif advocates for South Asian representation in genre fiction, citing Nemo as “a revolutionary reclaiming his narrative from colonial erasure.”
Latif immersed himself in Sanskrit texts on naval warfare and trained in freediving to capture Nemo’s symbiotic bond with the ocean. “This isn’t a villain—it’s a man weaponized by grief,” he explains. His Nemo fuses Verne’s intellectual grandeur with raw vulnerability, particularly in flashbacks to his family’s massacre. Latif collaborated with historians to weave Indian philosophical motifs into Nemo’s quest, ensuring the character’s depth transcends the page.
2- Georgia Flood as Humility Lucas
Australian star Georgia Flood (Five Bedrooms, The End) brings sharp wit and emotional resilience to Humility Lucas, a cartographer fleeing her past. Flood’s stage roots (King Lear at Sydney Theatre Company) honed her ability to balance wit with pathos, showcased in indie films like Ellie and Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt). As Humility, she becomes Nemo’s reluctant ally after being stranded at sea, her survival instincts masking a scholar’s curiosity. Flood’s chemistry with Latif crackles with tension and mutual distrust.
To prepare, Flood studied 19th-century nautical charts and learned celestial navigation. “Humility is a woman rewriting her own map—literally and metaphorically,” she notes. Her character’s sketches become pivotal plot devices, revealing hidden ocean currents and imperial secrets. Off-camera, Flood worked with marine biologists to understand the era’s limited navigation tools, grounding Humility’s brilliance in authenticity.
3- Céline Menville as Loti
French Polynesian actress Céline Menville (The Eddy, Vortex) commands the screen as Loti, a fierce navigator from Tahiti who joins Nemo’s crew. A trained martial artist and fluent speaker of Tahitian, Menville infuses Loti with ancestral wisdom and physical prowess. Her breakout role in the Cannes-winning Vortex showcased her ability to convey depth through silence—a skill vital for Loti, who communicates as much through star charts as words.
Loti serves as the Nautilus’ moral compass, challenging Nemo’s ruthlessness. Menville drew on Polynesian oral histories to shape her character’s connection to the ocean. “Loti doesn’t conquer the sea; she listens to it,” she says. During filming, Menville performed her own underwater stunts, including free dives to 15 meters, embodying Loti’s aquatic grace.
4- Luke Arnold as Captain Billy Millais
Luke Arnold (Black Sails, Incredible Oceans) embodies imperial arrogance as Captain Billy Millais, a merciless East India Company enforcer hunting Nemo. Arnold’s swashbuckling pedigree and magnetic menace—honed as Long John Silver in Black Sails—make Millais a charismatic antagonist. The character’s obsession with capturing the Nautilus masks a personal vendetta against Nemo, rooted in their shared history.
Arnold researched the East India Company’s atrocities, citing Millais as “the face of empire—charming, cruel, and utterly hollow.” His sword-fighting sequences, choreographed by Pirates of the Caribbean veterans, contrast with Nemo’s technological warfare. Off-screen, Arnold’s passion for maritime history fueled Millais’ authenticity, particularly in scenes exposing the character’s psychological unraveling.
5- Jacob Collins-Levy as Youngblood
Jacob Collins-Levy (The White Princess, Danger Close) portrays Youngblood, an aristocratic spy embedded in the British Admiralty. With icy poise honed in period dramas, Collins-Levy crafts a villain whose loyalty to the crown masks a nihilistic streak. His character’s cat-and-mouse game with Nemo drives much of the season’s espionage intrigue, leveraging stolen blueprints of the Nautilus.
Collins-Levy trained in historical fencing and studied Victorian codes to capture Youngblood’s calculating precision. “He’s a predator in silk gloves,” the actor remarks. The role required mastering subtle gestures—like adjusting a cufflink mid-threat—to convey menace. His scenes with Latif crackle with intellectual dueling, symbolizing empire versus innovation.
6- Kayden Price as Blaster
Māori actor and MMA fighter Kayden Price makes his screen debut as Blaster, a bomb-making expert with a volcanic temper. Price’s background in combat sports informs Blaster’s raw physicality, while his Ngāi Tahu heritage grounds the character’s reverence for ancestral lands threatened by colonizers. Blaster’s loyalty to Nemo stems from shared trauma, making him the crew’s emotional wildcard.
Price performed all his own stunts, including underwater explosives rigging. “Blaster fights like the land is his whānau [family],” he explains. His character’s bombs incorporate traditional Māori designs—a detail Price advocated for to honor Indigenous resistance. Off-set, he consulted with elders to ensure cultural accuracy.
7- Benedict Hardie as Edward Cuff
Benedict Hardie (The Great, True History of the Kelly Gang) brings sardonic flair to Edward Cuff, a disgraced surgeon turned Nautilus medic. Hardie’s Shakespearean training (notably Macbeth at Sydney Theatre Company) illuminates Cuff’s moral ambiguity—a man trading scalpels for redemption. His wry humor provides levity amid the crew’s darkest moments.
Hardie shadowed trauma surgeons and studied 19th-century medical texts, learning archaic techniques like leech application. “Cuff heals others to outrun his own demons,” he notes. The character’s addiction to laudanum becomes a haunting subplot, reflecting era-specific medical horrors.
8- Arlo Green as Turan
Arlo Green (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) embodies Turan, Nemo’s childhood friend turned conflicted informant. Green’s background in psychological thrillers (The Gloaming) shapes Turan’s duality—torn between loyalty to Nemo and fear of imperial retribution. His fluency in Hindi and English mirrors the character’s cultural limbo.
Green drew on Indian Partition histories for Turan’s trauma. “He’s a ghost in two worlds,” Green says. The actor’s haunting performance peaks in a rain-soaked confrontation with Latif, where betrayal and brotherhood collide.
9- Tyrone Ngatai as Kai
Tyrone Ngatai (The Panthers) portrays Kai, Loti’s fiercely protective brother and a warrior navigating colonial violence. Ngatai’s real-life Māori activism (he’s a spokesperson for Indigenous land rights) infuses Kai with authentic rage and resilience. His prowess with traditional taiaha (fighting staff) electrifies battle scenes.
Ngatai collaborated with Tongan choreographers to blend Polynesian martial arts with naval combat. “Kai fights to preserve whakapapa [genealogy],” he states. His character’s subplot explores Indigenous kinship, contrasting Nemo’s isolation.
10- Ling Cooper Tang as Suyin
Ling Cooper Tang (Mr. Corman, The Wilds) shines as Suyin, the Nautilus’ genius engineer. A former child prodigy in Shanghai, Suyin’s inventions—including the sub’s iconic pipe organ—stem from her quest to outpace Western industrial theft. Tang’s background in robotics (she studied STEM at UCLA) lends technical authenticity.
Tang designed functional miniatures of Verne-esque gadgets, later displayed in AMC’s promo exhibits. “Suyin turns trauma into turbines,” she says. Her character’s friction with Millais underscores themes of stolen innovation.
11- Pacharo Mzembe as Boniface Adamu
Pacharo Mzembe (Harrow, The Portable Door) delivers warmth as Boniface Adamu, a liberated diver from Ghana who becomes Nemo’s moral anchor. Mzembe’s stage work in The Tempest (as Caliban) inspired Adamu’s poetic connection to the ocean. The character’s backstory—forcibly enslaved as a pearl diver—fuels his advocacy for the crew’s exploited members.
Mzembe trained in freediving with Fiji’s traditional breath-hold hunters. “Adamu sees the sea not as a grave, but a garden,” he reflects. His subplot highlights African contributions to maritime history, often erased in colonial records.
12- Ashan Kumar as Ranbir Lodhari
Ashan Kumar (Justice League, Neighbours) smolders as Ranbir Lodhari, Nemo’s vengeful cousin and a prince corrupted by British alliances. Kumar’s physicality—honed in Bollywood action films—fuels Ranbir’s lethal elegance. Their clashes symbolize the fracturing of Indian royalty under colonial rule.
Kumar studied Mughal court protocols and collaborated with linguists to blend Hindi with archaic Persian. “Ranbir is a peacock with poisoned feathers,” he quips. The actor’s duel with Latif in a monsooned palace courtyard is a season highlight.
