British spies and intelligence officers played a key role in the Allied victory during World War II by cracking German codes to learn about troop movements, but they also used clever tactics to conceal their own plans. Shakespeare in Love director John Madden’s Operation Mincemeat tells the story of one of the most dramatic deception operations ever, a scheme to convince the Nazis to act on false information about a planned Allied invasion of Greece. The film’s star-studded cast play the spies that made the mission happen, impacting not just the war but also the way we think about espionage.

Giles Keyte/Courtesy See-Saw Films/Netflix

Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) Ewen Montagu is a judge and intelligence officer who comes up with a key component of Operation Mincemeat: the ambitious idea to use a corpse stashed with invasion plans to wash ashore in Spain. Montagu would go on to write The Man Who Never Was, which was turned into a film in 1956. He’s played by Colin Firth, who won an Oscar for playing King George VI in The King’s Speech, also set during World War II. Firth has a long history of playing British spies, appearing in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and two of the three Kingsman films.

Giles Keyte/Courtesy See-Saw Films/Netflix

Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) British intelligence officer Charles Cholmondeley is a member of the Twenty Committee, an elite counter-espionage group in charge of handling double agents during World War II. He works closely with Montagu to plan Operation Mincemeat, which Cholmondeley originally named Trojan Horse. English actor Matthew Macfadyen, who plays Cholmondeley, was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Succession. You can also see him on Netflix in the first episode of The Last Kingdom.

Giles Keyte/Courtesy See-Saw Films/Netflix

Jean Leslie (Kelly Macdonald) Jean Leslie is a secretary at MI5 who provides a photo of herself to plant on the corpse to make the ruse more realistic. She helps come up with the character of Pam, the fiancée of the fictional fallen Royal Marine Major William Martin. Scottish actor Kelly Macdonald, who starred in Boardwalk Empire and the Black Mirror episode “Hated in the Nation,” plays Leslie.

Robert Viglasky/Courtesy See-Saw Films/Netflix

Hester Leggett (Penelope Wilton) Hester Leggett is the matronly head of the MI5 secretarial unit who uses her own lost love as inspiration to write love letters from Pam to develop the ruse. Prior to playing Leggett, English actor Penelope Wilton played the widow Isobel Crawley in Downton Abbey and appeared in Netflix’s After Life.

Robert Viglasky/Courtesy See-Saw Films/Netflix

Ian Fleming (Johnny Flynn) Ian Fleming is a young naval intelligence officer who helps plan Operation Mincemeat. Like many of the spies involved, he decides to write about his experiences, turning those covert dealings into inspiration for the James Bond series. British actor Johnny Flynn, who plays Fleming, starred in the comedy series Lovesick. He is the lead singer and songwriter of the folk rock band Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit.

Robert Viglasky/Courtesy See-Saw Films/Netflix

John Godfrey (Jason Isaacs) Admiral John Godfrey is dubious of Operation Mincemeat and aims to create divisions between Cholmondeley and Montagu by questioning Montagu’s judgment and loyalty. Fleming is said to have based Bond’s boss M on his interactions with Godfrey. Prior to playing Godfrey, English actor Jason Isaacs played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series and has appeared in Netflix’s The OA and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

Ivor Montagu (Mark Gatiss) Ewen Montagu’s youngest brother Ivor is a dilettante who has traveled to Russia and is suspected of having Communist sympathies. Ivor stays with Ewen after Ewen sends his Jewish wife and children away to protect them from the threat of a Nazi invasion of England. The role is played by English actor Mark Gatiss, who co-created Sherlock with Steven Moffat and played Sherlock’s brother Mycroft Holmes. Gatiss and Moffat also worked together on the miniseries Dracula.

Interested in more World War II dramas? Read about the true story behind Munich: The Edge of War and meet the film’s cast.