Rivals Season 2 Cast: Where You’ve Seen The New Stars Before

More larger-than-life characters have joined the cast of season two of Rivals, making things even more complicated for the scheming Rutshire residents played by the likes of Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner and David Tennant.

Set in the Thatcherite late 80s, against the backdrop of the Cotswolds countryside and the backstabbing world of British television, Rivals’ latest outing sees the return of the star-studded cast of the first series – alongside some brand new faces you may well recognise.

Here is a guide to the latest additions to series two of Rivals – and where you might have seen them before…

Hayley Atwell joins the cast of Rivals as Rupert Campbell Black’s frustrated ex-wife, and the mother of his children, Helen Gordon.

The British star has been a recognisable face to film and TV fans since she first found fame in 2008’s Brideshead Revisited alongside Ben Whishaw, and The Duchess with Keira Knightley.

Well-known for her work in period dramas, Hayley reached a whole new audience when she began playing Peggy Carter in Captain America, and other Marvel films, as well as portraying Grace in the most recent two Mission: Impossible movies.

On TV, she won acclaim for her work in 2010’s The Pillars Of The Earth, the Channel 4 adaptation of Any Human Heart and the 2017 adaptation of Howards End.

More recently, Hayley played Aunt Diane in Heartstopper, and appeared on stage as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing alongside Tom Hiddleston.

You may also recognise her dulcet tones as she has recently voiced Lara Croft in video games and in Netflix’s animated Tomb Raider series.

Rupert Everett feels like an obvious fit for Rutshire and the world of Rivals. He joins the cast as Helen’s new partner, and Rupert’s old polo coach, Malise Gordon.

Having been in the public eye since the 80s, Rupert first found fame when he played a student at a 1930s public school in 1984’s Another Country, a role that earned him his first Bafta nomination.

Following this, he would receive further recognition for his role in 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding alongside Julia Roberts, and for 1999’s An Ideal Husband, where he plays a government minister with a complicated past.

His other stand-out work includes voicing the slimy Prince Charming in the Shrek films, his joint roles as Camilla Fritton and Carnaby Fritton in the St. Trinians movies, the Harry Styles-led romance My Policeman and the ill-fated The Next Best Thing, which he starred in with his friend Madonna, who he would later describe as an “old, whiny barmaid”.

Maxim Ays appears in the cast of season two of the Jilly Cooper adaptation as one half of the polo-playing twins – which promises to be his biggest, and certainly most revealing, role to date.

He made his on-screen debut in 2021, starring in 12 episodes of the CBBC sitcom Still So Awkward, before appearing the following year in six episodes of the Regency-era drama Sanditon.

Following this, he landed a part in another cosy period drama, playing Reverend Candy in the second series of comedy drama The Larkins, alongside Joanna Scanlan and Bradley Walsh.

Maxim’s other TV credits include the privileged Felix in BBC’s boarding school drama Boarders and Lord Galpin in the Bridgerton-inspired episode of Doctor Who, Rogue.

Playing the other half of the polo twins alongside Maxim Ays is Bobby Lockwood.

Bobby’s breakout came in 2011, when he played Mick Campbell in Nickelodeon’s House Of Anubis.

Since then, he has starred in three series of the fantasy show Wolfblood as Rhydian Morris, alongside Sex Education’s Kedar Williams-Stirling, and has racked up credits in the ITV crime drama Unforgotten, Netflix’s political drama The Diplomat and Gemma Whelan police procedural The Tower. He also appeared alongside his Rivals co-star Emily Atack in her self-titled ITV2 comedy show.

On the big screen, Bobby has had minor roles in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, Will Ferrell’s Eurovision comedy and the cyberpunk action flick Outside The Wire.

Back in 2014, he also won the short-lived BBC celebrity gymnastics series Tumble, ahead of runners up Sarah Harding and Ian “H” Watkins.

Jonny joins the ensemble of Rivals as a new character called Ian, who is involved in the cut-throat world of British television.

Before Rivals, Jonny was best known for portraying Emma’s well-meaning boyfriend Ian in Netflix’s adaptation of One Day.

He has also had credits in House Of The Dragon, where he played Samwell, Sky comedy-drama Brassic and the BBC’s Beyond Paradise.

Eliot Salt plays a character called Muffy in season two of Rivals. She is best known to TV watchers for her roles as Joanna in Normal People and Sarah Dunn in the third season of Slow Horses.

She made her TV debut in Roisin Conaty’s 2019 sitcom Gamechangers and also appeared alongside Nick Mohammed in Sky comedy Intelligence, played Terra Harvey in Fate: The Winx Saga and had a minor appearance in the 2023 adaptation of Dalgliesh.

You may have recently seen her in Industry, playing Caedi McFarlane, the former assistant to Kit Harington’s Henry Muck.

Holly has been touted as one of the most exciting up-and-coming British actors thanks to her role in Rivals, as well as her recent turn in Young Sherlock.

Before landing the role of Sir Bucephalus Hodge’s unassuming assistant with a secret, Edie in Young Sherlock, she had minor credits in Sky drama COBRA, the BBC’s Mr Loverman and Channel 5’s Dalgliesh.

Amanda Lawrence plays Sally Menzies-Scott in season two, a character involved in the television broadcasting world of Corinium.

She is already a recognisable face on British TV, thanks to her guest appearances in pretty much any show you can think of, from Doctor Who to Casualty.

Her first regular TV credit was playing D.C. Joan Faulkland in Above Suspicion, before landing a regular role in Mr Selfridge, and starring in TV movies The Enfield Haunting, White House Farm and Chloe.

Amanda also has a successful career on the big screen, portraying Commander D’Acy in the Star Wars film The Last Jedi and its sequel, The Rise Of Skywalker. Her recent film credits include roles as the Cook in Matilda the Musical and appearing in the dark thriller Club Zero.

Olive joins her real-life dad, David Tennant, in Rivals as his character Tony’s on-screen daughter.

She follows in her family’s footsteps as an actor, as her mother, Georgia Tennant, and grandfather, Peter Davidson, are also in the business.

This isn’t Olive’s first credit, despite only just turning 15. She starred alongside her dad and Lucy Punch in the rom-com You, Me And Him, and had roles in the Oscar-nominated Belfast and the Romesh Ranganathan comedy Avoidance.

Olive isn’t the only famous offspring to join the cast of Rivals, though.

Judi Dench’s great nephew, Oliver Dench, was also added to the bonkbuster’s ensemble. Oliver made his theatre debut in 2012 and has since had multiple credits on stage and screen.

His TV debut came in 2016, when he landed the starring role in the Canadian Nickelodeon show, Ride. He later played the lead in Pandora, a short-lived science fiction show and starred as Lucien in Hotel Portofino.

Oliver also had minor appearances in Noughts + Crosses, the historical drama Domina, and, most recently, the cosy mystery Sister Boniface Mysteries.

Amelie Child-Villiers plays Olive Tennant’s on-screen sibling, Beatrice, in the second series of the popular adaptation.

She previously played a young Galadriel in the Amazon Prime prequel The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, as well as a younger version of Rebecca Ferguson’s lead character, Juliette Nichols, in the Apple TV+ science fiction adaptation of Silo.

In 2023, Amelie also played Tatiana in the comedy-action film The Machine, alongside Mark Hamill.

The first three episodes of Rivals will premiere on 15 May 2026, on Disney +, followed by one a week until 5 June. The second half of the season will premiere later in 2026.