On October 4th, NBC’s The Blacklist returned to our screens with a bang. Now in its seventh season, the tense, nail-biting crime thriller has been keeping legions of fans on the edge of their seats since 2013… and if the season opener is anything to go by, season 7 is set to do just the same. At the center of the show is James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington, a former US Naval intelligence officer and fugitive who agrees to work with the FBI on two conditions: one, he’s guaranteed complete immunity, and two, he works exclusively with rookie profiler Elizabeth Keen. Over the last few seasons, we’ve learned more about Reddington’s mysterious interest in Keen… and more about the “blacklist” of criminals both he and the FBI have a mutual interest in taking down. With season 7 promising more revelations and more action-packed drama than ever, hold onto your hats as we take a look at who we can expect to see as part of the all-star cast.
James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington
Despite some stiff competition from his castmates, the star of the new season of The Blacklist is, as always, the inimitable James Spader, whose intensely brilliant portrayal of the former fugitive turned FBI informant Raymond “Red” Reddington has won him some of the best accolades of his already distinguished career. Prior to landing the role, Spader was best known for playing the titular character of Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Alan Shore in Boston Legal and The Practice, Robert California in The Office, Steff in Pretty in Pink, Egyptologist Daniel Jackson in the sci-fi film Stargate, car accident fetishist James Ballard in the controversial film Crash, and assassin Lee Woods in 2 Days in the Valley. His choice of oddball characters has been well noted over the years, with Spader himself admitting to Rolling Stone, “It can never, ever, ever get weird enough for me.”
Megan Boone as Elizabeth “Liz” Keen
FBI agent and profiler Elizabeth “Liz” Keen is played by 36-year-old Megan Boone, an actress who’s proved herself more than capable of holding her own against the extraordinary talents of Spader over the last 6 seasons. Bonne’s love of acting was inspired when her grandparents took her to see a Broadway play when she was 7 years old: after deciding there and then that her future lay on the stage (or, perhaps more accurately, on TV), she started studying her craft with a zeal. After graduating from Florida State University’s School of Theatre with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Acting, she made her TV debut as Rae on the A&E TV series, The Cleaner. Since then, she’s made an award-winning star turn on the independent drama Leave Me Like You Found Me (2012), enjoyed a recurring role on the CBS police drama series Blue Bloods and featured as a regular on Law & Order: LA. Off-screen, Boone is a committed environmentalist and has even launched her own charity, the CarolineAgnes.org Foundation, to help inspire parents to choose environmentally safe gift options for their kids.
Diego Klattenhoff as Donald Ressler
Special Agent Donald Ressler is played with aplomb by the 39-year-old Canadian actor, Diego Klattenhoff. After leaving his native Nova Scotia to pursue an acting career in Toronto at the age of 19, Klattenhoff spent several years combining theatre studies with bartending gigs. After launching himself as a fulltime actor, he landed a breakthrough role as Shane Oman in Mean Girls (2004). Since then, he’s enjoyed notable roles in TV Shows such as Smallville, Stargate SG-1, Mercy. and Men in Trees, and in films such as Pacific Rim (2013), After Earth (2013), Lavender (2016), and Radius (2017).
Harry Lennix as Harold Cooper
Harold Cooper, the Assistant Director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, is played by Harry Lennix. Since landing his TV breakthrough as Daniel Holbrook on the CBS drama series The Client in 1995, Lennix has established himself as one of the small screen’s most dependable stars, with career highlights including playing General and then-Secretary of Defense Calvin Swanwick in the DC Extended Universe, Terrence “Dresser” Williams in the Robert Townsend film The Five Heartbeats (1991), Boyd Langton in the Joss Whedon TV series Dollhouse, and as Muslim civil rights activist Walid Al-Rezani the sixth season of 24.
Amir Arison as Aram Mojtabai
FBI cyber expert Aram Mojtabai is played by Amir Arison Since making his TV debut as an extra on the soap opera Guiding Light, Arison has appeared in shows such as Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Gossip Girl, True Justice, Girls, and The Mentalist, and enjoyed recurring roles in Zero Hour, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and H+. Adding to his TV credentials are a host of film roles in features such as Day Zero (2007), Jane Wants a Boyfriend (2015), Before the Sun Explodes (2016), and 20 Weeks (2017).
Hisham Tawfiq as Dembe Zuma
Reprising his role as Dembe Zuma, Reddington’s bodyguard and confidant, is 49-year-old actor Hisham Tawfiq. Tawfiq was inspired to act after being chosen to perform “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou in high school. It would, however, take several years and several different career changes (including a stint in the US Marines and a period as a corrections officer in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York) before he finally decided to pursue his dreams in showbiz. After studying at the Negro Ensemble Company (whose past graduates include Denzel Washington and Ossie Davis), Tawfiq launched his TV career in 2007 with an appearance in 2 episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He subsequently appeared in Kings (2009), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2010), Lights Out (2011), Golden Boy (2013), and Ironside (2013). Alongside his TV work, Tawfiq has built up an extensive repertoire as a stage actor, perming in such productions as A Raisin in the Sun, Intimate Apparel, A Soldiers Play, Offspring, Bow Wow Club, and Shaka Zulu. Tawfiq initially joined the cast of The Blacklist as a recurring character but proved so popular in the role he was upgraded to a series regular in season 3.
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