The Cast and Characters of The Copenhagen Test, Peacock's New Spy Series
Get some intel on the amazing actors leading Peacock's espionage thriller show, The Copenhagen Test.
Peacock's new espionage thriller, The Copenhagen Test, revolves around Alexander Hale, a Chinese American intelligence analyst under duress.
Simu Liu stars as Hale, whose life is turned upside down when he finds out his brain is hacked, giving the hackers access to everything he sees and hears. The agency he works for tries to make the situation work in their favor.
"A hack is always two ways," Liu pointed out in the production notes for the series. "The most important thing in intelligence is a direct line to the enemy, so [Alexander] realizes that while he may be hacked, he can also play a part in controlling what the enemy sees."
All eight episodes of The Copenhagen Test will start streaming on Peacock on Saturday, December 27, 2025.
The series features an incredible cast of actors who populate this high-concept, cat-and-mouse thriller with gravitas.
Below, find Peacock Blog's guide to the talent on the show and who they play, so you're ready for the binge drop.
The Copenhagen Test cast
Simu Liu as Alexander Hale
Liu, who was born in China and raised in Ontario, Canada, is best known for playing the title superhero in Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He's also known for his multiple-season run on the hit CBC Television sitcom Kim's Convenience, his part as one of the Kens on Barbie, and for the recent underwater thriller, Last Breath.
In The Copenhagen Test, Liu stars as Alexander Hale, who the series centers on. Alexander is a former special forces sniper and current low-level analyst for an intelligence agency. His whole life is turned upside down when he discovers that his eyes and ears have been hacked by an unknown entity, and he has to figure out who he can trust and what's real or not in his life.
Melissa Barrera as Michelle
Born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, Melissa Barrera started her career by taking part in theater productions in high school and later, in college, at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. She then starred in several popular telenovelas before getting cast in English-speaking series like Vida, and in Jon M. Chu's film adaptation of In the Heights. Barrera reached global stardom when she was cast as Sam Carpenter in the fifth Scream film, a role she reprised in Scream VI.
In The Copenhagen Test, Barrera plays the mysterious Michelle. She's an operative assigned by The Orphanage intelligence agency to be Alexander's new girlfriend in order to keep up the illusion that the hack hasn't been discovered. She's been told to watch over and protect him, but to also take him out if it needs to be done. With both Michelle and Alexander aware of the roles they need to play to keep the illusion up, it's unclear to viewers — and maybe themselves — how much of their affection for each other is real.
Sinclair Daniel as Parker
Like Barrera, Sinclair Daniel is a graduate of the prestigious New York University Tisch School of the Arts. She first earned recognition playing Nella in the mystery thriller series, The Other Black Girl. The actress also co-starred in the 2023 Blumhouse horror film, Insidious: The Red Door.
In The Copenhagen Test, Daniel plays Parker, a recent addition to the intelligence agency that Alexander works for, who ends up being a major player when it comes to helping predict and orchestrate everything that happens in the reality that Alexander is now living in. Parker knows Alexander better than anyone, though he doesn't even know she exists.
Mark O’Brien as Cobb
A Canadian actor and director best known for his recurring role in the critically acclaimed series Halt and Catch Fire, Mark O'Brien has appeared in major feature films such as Arrival, Bad Times at the El Royale, Marriage Story and 2025's Nuremberg. His feature directorial debut, The Righteous, came out in 2021.
In The Copenhagen Test, O'Brien plays Cobb, Hale's frenemy and colleague. They're competitive with each other at work, so when Cobb begins to suspect that Alexander may be the mole their intelligence agency is looking for, he sets out to expose the truth.
Brian d’Arcy James as Peter Moira
A fixture in the New York theater scene, Brian d'Arcy James is a Drama Desk Award winner, Outer Critics Circle Award winner, and a Tony Award nominee for playing the title character Shrek in the Broadway musical adaptation of the DreamWorks Animation feature film. He also has a Grammy for his work on the musical theater album for Into the Woods, and was lauded for his work as Matty Carroll in the 2015 film Spotlight.
As Peter Moira in The Copenhagen Test, James plays the cool but ruthless director of operations for The Orphanage intelligence agency. He's ultimately responsible for protecting The Orphanage from the hack and stopping or taking out anyone standing in the way. Peter is Alexander's boss and has complete faith in Parker.
Kathleen Chalfant as St. George
A respected actress on Broadway and Off-Broadway in New York City, Kathleen Chalfant won several awards in 1999 for her role as Vivian Bearing in the play Wit. She's also known for her work in the plays A Walk in the Woods and Rose. In 2024, she won the Orizzonti Award for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her work in the drama film Familiar Touch. Chalfant has also appeared in series like Law & Order, and in films including Duplicity.
In The Copenhagen Test, Chalfant plays St. George, the codename of the steely head of The Orphanage. She oversees how the intelligence agency handles the problem of Alexander Hale and the hack. St. George built The Orphanage from the ground up and has managed to stay alive for decades by remaining a mystery, even to those closest to her.
Watch The Copenhagen Test, streaming in full on Peacock starting Saturday, December 27, 2025.
