Here’s your guide to the full cast and characters in Tetris, Taron Egerton’s video game origin story on Apple TV+.
Are we entering a new age of the brand movie? One of April’s most anticipated movies is Air, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s biopic chronicling the deal-making that led to one of the most profitable shoe lines of all time: Air Jordan.
There’s also Blackberry, starring It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Glenn Howerton as the phone company’s CEO, and Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game, diving into how the ban on pinball was lifted in 1970s New York.
Tetris, however, isn’t the movie you think it is. This isn’t how the game was invented, nor is it an “epic sci-fi adventure” as earlier teased in a now-defunct project – it’s the bonkers story of how it was licensed from the Soviet Union.
Contents
- Henk Rogers: Taron Egerton
- Robert Stein: Toby Jones
- Alexey Pajitnov: Nikita Yefremov
- Robert Maxwell: Roger Allam
- Kevin Maxwell: Anthony Boyle
- Hiroshi Yamauchi: Togo Igawa
- Minoru Arakawa: Ken Yamamura
- Howard Lincoln: Ben Miles
- Akemi Rogers: Ayane Nagabuchi
- Mikhail Gorbachev: Matthew Marsh
- Larry: Rick Yune
- Nikolai Belikov: Oleg Stefan
Tetris cast and characters
Taron Egerton heads up Tetris’ cast, starring as the video game designer and salesman who saw worldwide potential of those falling bricks. “It’s the perfect game,” he says in the trailer.
The official synopsis reads: “Tetris tells the unbelievable story of how one of the world’s most popular video games found its way to avid players around the globe.
“Henk Rogers discovers Tetris in 1988, and then risks everything by traveling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with inventor Alexey Pajitnov to bring the game to the masses. Based on a true story, Tetris’ is a Cold War–era thriller on steroids, with double-crossing villains, unlikely heroes, and a nail-biting race to the finish.”
Here’s a rundown of the main characters in the cast of Tetris.
Henk Rogers: Taron Egerton
Taron Egerton plays Henk Rogers, a Dutch-American video game designer and the founder of Bullet-Proof Software. He stumbles on Tetris at a convention in Las Vegas, and soon finds himself embroiled in a Cold War battle for control of the game.
In a press release, Egerton said: “I really loved playing this part. Henk’s a big puppy. He’s battling his set of circumstances. Anything and everything that can go wrong does in his pursuit of this game. But hewants to help Alexey and bring this game to the world in a way that isn’t crooked. Henk has the biggest heart, but is also a go-getter and very calculated.”
Egerton is best known for playing Eggsy in the Kingsman franchise, as well as winning a Golden Globe for his performance as Elton John in Rocketman.
Robert Stein: Toby Jones
Toby Jones plays Robert Stein, an Andromeda Software business man who signed a deal to distribute Tetris outside of Russia and worked with Robert Maxwell’s Mirrorsoft.
Jones is a BAFTA-winning actor best known for his roles in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Girl, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Berberian Sound Studio.
Alexey Pajitnov: Nikita Yefremov
Nikita Yefremov plays Alexey Pajitnov, the original creator of Tetris. He came up with the game in his spare time, but it quickly became a free-to-play sensation across the Soviet Union and became a pawn of the Russian government.
Yefremov also starred in Offlayn, Gold Diggers, Syostry, Six Empty Seats, and Games People Play.
Robert Maxwell: Roger Allam
Roger Allam plays Robert Maxwell, the late, disgraced newspaper magnate who owned the group behind The Daily Mirror and software company Mirrorsoft, another party embroiled in the battle for Tetris.
Allam is best known for his role as Peter Mannion in The Thick of It, as well as starring in Endeavour, Game of Thrones, and Speed Racer.
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Kevin Maxwell: Anthony Boyle
Anthony Boyle plays Kevin Maxwell, Robert’s self-asserting, arrogant son and the CEO of Mirrorsoft.
Boyle rose to prominence playing Scorpius Malfoy in the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage production, as well as appearing in The Journey, Tolkien, and Danny Boy.
Hiroshi Yamauchi: Togo Igawa
Togo Igawa plays Hiroshi Yamauchi, the third president of Nintendo and the great-grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, the company’s founder.
Igawa has earlier appeared in Revolver, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Last Samurai, and A Matter of Size.
Minoru Arakawa: Ken Yamamura
Ken Yamamura plays Minoru Arakawa, the founder and former president of Nintendo America who also co-founded Tetris Online. We meet him earlier in his career in Tetris.
Yamamura earlier starred in The Wolverine, Godzilla, Earthquake Bird, and People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan.
Howard Lincoln: Ben Miles
Ben Miles plays Howard Lincoln, a lawyer and businessman who’d go on to serve as chairman of Nintendo America. In the movie, he’s directly involved with the release of the GameBoy.
Akemi Rogers: Ayane Nagabuchi
Ayane Nagabuchi plays Akemi Rogers, Henk Rogers’ wife.
Nagabuchi has also starred in Walking with My Grandma, The Final Departure, Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga, and Kiri: Shokugyô Koroshiya.
Mikhail Gorbachev: Matthew Marsh
Matthew Marsh plays Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union.
Marsh has also starred in The Iron Lady, Spy Game, Dunkirk, and An American Haunting.
Larry: Rick Yune
Rick Yune plays Larry, Henk Rogers’ bank manager who hesitantly gives him a huge loan to pursue Tetris.
Yune memorably played Zao in Die Another Day, as well as starring in The Fast and the Furious, Olympus Has Fallen, and Marco Polo.
Nikolai Belikov: Oleg Stefan
Oleg Stefan plays Nikolai Belikov, the former director of the Soviet Union’s Elorg was directly involved in the Tetris negotiations.
Stefan has also appeared in The Americans, Duplicity, The Good Shepherd, and The Apocalypse Code.
Tetris will be available to stream on Apple TV+ on Friday, March 31. Check out our review here.
