ITV’s A Cruel Love cast: who plays Ruth Ellis in the show - and where have you seen actors before?

ITV brings to life the story of the last woman to be hanged in Britain. A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis story is set to debut on TV in a few hours.

The historical drama “tells the hidden story of Ruth Ellis and exposes the timeless British obsessions of class, sex and death”, according to the broadcaster. The four-part series will start on ITV today (March 5) at 9pm.

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But who plays the titular character and which other actors are in the cast? Here’s all you need to know:

Who plays Ruth Ellis in ITV’s A Cruel Love?

British-American actor Lucy Boynton is playing the lead role in ITV’s new four-part series. She made her on-screen debut in 2006 playing a young Beatrix Potter in the film Miss Potter.

Boynton went on to appear in such TV shows as Ballet Shoes (2007), Sense and Sensibility (2008) and Mo (2010). She also had guest roles on Endeavour, Law and Order: UK and Lewis.

She also played Proust Barbie in the smash-hit 2023 blockbuster Barbie. Boynton had a lead role in ITV’s 2022 drama The Ipcress Files.

Full cast of ITV’s A Cruel Love

Lucy Boynton plays the lead role of Ruth Ellis in the show, but she is not the only actor to feature in the drama. The cast for the ITV series includes:

• Lucy Boynton -Ruth Ellis
• Toby Jones - John Bickford
• Laurie Davidson - David Blakely
• Mark Stanley - Desmond Cussen
• Joe Armstrong - DCI Davies
• Arthur Darvill - Victor Mishcon
• Juliet Stevenson - Dr Charity Taylor
• Toby Stephens - Melford Stevenson
• Amanda Drew - Bertha, mother of Ellis
• Nigel Havers - Cecil Havers

Where have you seen the cast of A Cruel Love before?

In the previous section I mentioned the roles that Lucy Boynton is best known for, but where else have you seen the other actors? Let’s take a look:

Toby Jones

One of the most recognisable actors working right now, Toby Jones has been extremely prolific since making his film debut in the early 1990s. He played the titular character in Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which became a major hit for ITV last year.

He is also known for voicing Dobby in the Harry Potter films, playing Claudius Templesmith in the Hunger Games films and playing Arnim Zola in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You may have also seen him in shows like Doctor Who, Sherlock and BBC’s Detectorists.

Laurie Davidson

Playing Ruth Ellis’ lover and victim David Blakely in the show is actor Laurie Davidson. He is best known for playing a young William Shakespeare in the 2017 series Will.

He was also part of the cast for the 2019 film Cats, playing Mr. Mistoffelees. Laurie also appeared in Netflix’s 2023 film The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die.

Mark Stanley

The Yorkshire born actor is best known for playing Grenn in HBO’s Game of Thrones in 22 episodes. He was Bill Sikes in the BBC drama Dickensian which ran from 2014 to 2015.

Mark also appeared in two series of ITV’s Trigger Point, playing DI Thom Youngblood. He was part of the cast for the final season of Happy Valley - as Rob Hepworth.

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