Netflix and Working Title have found their Harry Hole.
German-Norwegian actor Tobias Santelmann will play the lead in the Jo Nesbø adaptation, which will be officially titled Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole.
Santelmann is joined by Joel Kinnaman (Altered Carbon, The Suicide Squad) playing Tom Waaler and Pia Tjelta (Made in Oslo, State of Happiness) as Rakel Fauke. The casting has been announced in the past few minutes at the iconic restaurant Schrøder in Oslo, Norway, which also serves as Harry Hole’s ‘second home’ in the novels.
Created by the much-loved Scandi crime fiction author, Nesbø’s Harry Hole is a whodunnit serial killer mystery led by the famed anti-hero. Underneath the surface, it is a nuanced character drama about two police officers – and supposed colleagues – operating on opposite sides of the law. Throughout the first season, Harry goes head-to-head with his long time adversary and corrupt detective Tom Waaler.
The series led a Netflix Nordic content slate in March. It comes from Exit and So Long, Marianne creator Oystein Karlsen and is based on Headhunters scribe Nesbø’s novel The Devil’s Star about the titular detective. Working Title is producing ahead of a 2026 debut and Nesbø is writing the script.
“I am incredibly grateful for the trust I have been shown in getting to play Harry Hole,” said Santelmann. “I am very much aware of the huge global fan base and the millions of readers who love the character.”
Nesbø added: “I’m guessing that all readers of the book series have their own vision of what Harry Hole would look like, and they should be allowed to keep that. We will create a Harry that is based not only on the books but someone based on the actor Tobias Santelmann and everyone involved in this project – both in front of and behind the camera.”
The show is being produced by Working Title with EPs Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Katy Rozelle, Rene Ezra, Karlsen, Nesbø and Niclas Salomonsson. Tor Arne Øvrebø is producing. Universal International Studios is the studio.