Sit Down with Netflix’s The Witness Star Jordan Bolger

As Jordan Bolger continues to build a powerful screen presence, first turning heads in Peaky Blinders, then bringing grit to The 100 and The Book of Boba Fett, and delivering historical weight in The Woman King, he now steps into one of his most emotionally demanding roles yet. In Netflix’s upcoming drama The Witness, set for release in 2026, Bolger leads a harrowing and deeply human story.

The Witness is based on the true story of the 1992 murder of Rachel Nickell, who was killed while walking through Wimbledon Common. In the aftermath of the crime, which also saw an innocent man wrongly convicted before the real perpetrator was caught more than 15 years later, Nickell’s partner, André Hanscombe, was left to rebuild his life while protecting and guiding their son through a world forever altered.

In our conversation, Bolger opens up about stepping into such a layered character, the deeply personal preparation behind the role, and the vulnerability of his recent work in Christopher M. Anthony's film Heavyweight.

Witness is set for release in 2026. What can you share about your character or the world of the series without giving away too much?

It's a story that covers the experience of André and Alex Hanscombe, who lost the love of both of their lives, which was Andre's partner and Alex's mother, in a horrific murder. It was covered by the news to a ridiculous degree and sort of sensationalised into this story; you're not supposed to experience that [media scrutiny] in life anyway, but really, they just lost the most important person to them, Rachel.

It covers the time the incident happened, and Alex's growth from a 4-year-old into a man of 18, 19-years-old. And how difficult that is in a normal circumstance, but especially when you are covered by so many cameras, so many journalists, the whole world wanting to know what's going on with this and how you're doing. It kind of stunts what is really possible in terms of growth, so we are watching a father and son's relationship going through something so tumultuous.

You star opposite Max Fincham in this series. What was the dynamic like between you two on set?

It was great, Max is an amazing young actor, and there's about 10, 11 years between us, [Bolger being 31 years old, and Max 21 years old]. So it was really nice to sort of be able to work with someone that I can remember being, I came into the industry around that age too. We were kind of playing that role outside and on the set. Then, when we were in these characters, there was something really organic about the dynamic.

Although it's quite a fine line, just because Max is younger than me doesn't mean that he's not gonna be able to bring things to the table that I learned from. As humans, we've had so many different experiences, and I think we found a great dynamic where I was able to watch and appreciate his process, but he also knew that he could come to me about anything that he was struggling with or considering, or any questions.

Have you ever taken on a character who changed your perspective outside of work?

I think every character, sometimes it's the smallest experience in my own life, that gives me the ability to have empathy and put myself in their shoes.

I think with André, I really had to put myself into it. So I read his book, I read Alex's book, I watched everything I could watch, I emailed with them, I sat with them, I spoke on the phone with them, and they were on set! I tried to consume as much as I could, but there was also a real awareness that you have to let that go after.

I think through The Witness as well, I lost one of my best friends last year [the late musician Jevon Ellis], so it was something that was definitely over me. And while I was shooting, it was a lot of that emotion. It’s a strange process, but also motivated; it pushed me throughout this.

I think even for Alex and André, that's what the last 20-plus years have been. Trying to process and sit in a place where it doesn't negatively affect them, and they've reached that. I do believe that they have reached that. You don't expect anyone to be able to get over it, but they've come out of it with only wanting to bring positivity to the world. That was the main message they communicated to me: that they want people to watch the show and realise that no matter how bad things get, it will get better.

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Congratulations on Heavyweight. The reception's been amazing, you must be feeling very pleased.

I'm excited to see what people make of it. The response so far has been really positive. It's one film that required extreme vulnerability. I couldn't watch the film the first few times I tried; I'd get 20 minutes into it and then see myself so vulnerable. It was quite difficult because that's not something that I think we feel comfortable sharing with people. I'm glad that I did, but it's taken me probably a year to be able to watch it and go, okay, that's not me.