Whiskey on the Rocks on Hulu: Full list of cast

Whiskey on the Rocks is a Swedish satirical miniseries that premiered on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ in select countries on January 22, 2025. The series is based on a story by Jonas Jonasson, author of The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared and has been adapted for screen by Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, known for Thicker Than Water and Supersede.

Directed by Björn Stein, whose credits include Shed No Tears and Midnight Sun, the series is a co-production between SVT and The Walt Disney Company Nordic & Baltic.

The producer is Jan Marnell, with executive producers including Patrick Nebout, Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, Magnus Bimberg, Sonja Hermele, Anna Croneman, and Nanna Mailand-Mercado. Its six episodes aired on SVT1 during Christmas, debuting globally on Disney+ and Hulu on January 22.

Whiskey on the Rocks dramatizes the 1981 incident when a Soviet submarine, U-137, ran aground in Swedish territorial waters, leading to an 11-day standoff between Sweden and the USSR.

The main cast includes Rolf Lassgård as Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin, Kęstutis Stasys Jakštas as Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, and Mark Noble as U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Cast and characters of Whiskey on the Rocks

1) Rolf Lassgård as Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin

In Whiskey on the Rocks, Rolf Lassgård portrays Swedish Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin, who becomes a key figure in dealing with the political crisis following the running aground of a Soviet submarine in Swedish waters. He must go through tense diplomatic negotiations with all the complexity of Cold War incident leadership.

Rolf Lassgård was born on March 29, 1955, in Östersund, Sweden. He began his career on stage, performing in productions that included works by Shakespeare and Brecht.

His breakthrough in cinema came with his performance in Min Store Tjocke Far (My Great Big Daddy) in 1992, which earned him the Guldbagge Award for Best Actor. Lassgård is widely recognized for his portrayal of Kurt Wallander in adaptations of Henning Mankell's crime novels, a role that established him as a prominent figure in Scandinavian television.

In 2015, he gained international recognition for his role in A Man Called Ove, which earned him his second Guldbagge Award and a nomination for Best Actor at the European Film Awards.

2) Mark Noble as U.S. President Ronald Reagan

In Whiskey on the Rocks, Mark Noble portrays U.S. President Ronald Reagan in a manner that brings out the diplomatic men of the American leader at the height of the Cold War tensions. His character is caught up in the international fallout when a Soviet submarine breaks into Swedish waters, showing Reagan's efforts at balancing strategic alliances with Sweden while keeping the Soviet Union at bay.

The series explores Reagan's role as a key global actor, concentrating on his communication with Swedish and Soviet officials in an attempt to defuse the situation.

Mark Noble was born in 1959 in the United Kingdom. He is well known for Secret Invasion (2023), where he played a Lieutenant Commander, and All Creatures Great & Small (2020–2022), where he played Henry Dinsdale. He has also appeared in The Borgias (2011–2012) and Emmerdale Farm (2003–2023).

3) Niklas Engdahl as Swedish Chief of Defence Börje Lagercrantz

In Whiskey on the Rocks, Niklas Engdahl plays Börje Lagercrantz, the Swedish Chief of Defence. His character manages Sweden's military in the event of the 1981 Cold War crisis where a Soviet submarine entered Swedish waters.

Lagercrantz is portrayed as a very significant decision-maker, dealing with the problems of defending national sovereignty while being amid international diplomacy. His role underlines the strategic challenges Sweden faced in dealing with an issue that captured the world's attention.

Niklas Engdahl was born on September 9, 1974. He hails from Stockholm, Sweden. He is a renowned Swedish actor known for his television work and film. Niklas found fame playing Henrik in the television show Bonusfamiljen. The series was on the air from 2017 to 2021 and referred to the lives of blended families.

Some other popular shows he has acted in include Rebecka Martinsson, from 2017 until 2020 as Måns Wenngren and Fallet (2017) as Hannes Josefsson.

Other cast and characters of Whiskey on the Rocks

Whiskey on the Rocks features the following actors:

Anders Mossling as Minister of Foreign Affairs Ola Ullsten
Filip Berg as Håkan Martinsson
Per Lasson as Anders Karlsson
Rolf Lydahl as Gustav Jansson
Per Ragnar as Harry Jansson
Artur Svorobovich as Andrei Bortnik
Oskar Vygonovski as Dimitrij Tarasenko
Elsa Saisio as Aleksandra Kosygina
Vytautas Kaniusonis as Admiral Valerij Kalinin
Daniel Hansson as Radio Operator Lundin
Adam Lundgren as Captain Hammarberg
Albinas Keleris as Yuri Andropov
James Studdert as General D. Cooper
Andrius Bialobzeskis as Vladimir Peskov
Katrin Sundberg as Barbro Hultén
Cissi von der Esch as Monika Björk
Anton Lundqvist as Hultman
Andrew Lowery as CIA Agent
Andrius Žiurauskas as KGB Agent

This ensemble cast brings depth and authenticity to the series, portraying the various political and military figures involved in the 1981 incident.

More about Whiskey on the Rocks

The official storyline for the series on IMDb reads:

"Whiskey on the Rocks is an alternative take on what truly happened during the dramatic days at the turn of the month in October and November 1981, when the Soviet submarine U-137 ran aground in the Karlskrona archipelago, just a stone throw away from Swedens largest marine base.

It continues:

Never before has the world been closer to full-scale global conflict and all responsibility now rests on the shoulders of one man, Sweden's Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin."

The series' premise aligns with the unofficial Soviet explanation that the submarine's grounding was caused by a wild drinking party on board, a claim dismissed by Swedish authorities as highly unlikely. In terms of accuracy, the real-life captain, Anatoly Gushchin, was in his 30s, contrary to the elderly depiction in the series.

Similarly, GRU officer Vasily Besedin, portrayed differently, was also in his 30s. Additionally, the series omits the presence of Chief of Staff Josef Avrukyevich (or Avsukyevich), who served as a supervisor aboard the submarine, though his exact role in the incident remains unclear.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Edited by Sreerupa Das