The series, based on Levin’s 1976 novel, follows Holocaust survivor turned Nazi hunter Yakov Liebermann as he tracks down fugitive war criminals
November 20, 2025 14:49
Israeli actress Shira Haas has been announced as part of an all-star cast for an upcoming Netflix adaptation of Ira Levin’s 1976 novel The Boys from Brazil.
Haas is set to play Anna Koehler, a gender-swapped version of Barry Kohler from the 1978 film adaptation, who locates infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, known for his horrific human experimentation in European concentration camps, in South America.
She joins an ensemble featuring Jeremy Strong, who has Jewish ancestry, starring as jaded Holocaust survivor turned Nazi hunter Yakov Liebermann, as well as Daniel Brühl and Gillian Anderson appearing in villainous turns as members of the fugitive group Kamaraden.
Jewish-American actress Lizzy Caplan also features as Hannah Liebermann, Yakov’s sister.
The limited five-part series will be adapted for the small screen by Peter Morgan, the award-winning showrunner for Netflix hit The Crown and screenwriter of celebrated films including The Last King of Scotland and The Other Boleyn Girl.
Filming is set to begin next month, with locations including the UK, Spain, Germany and Bulgaria. Each episode will be an hour long.
Announcing the project, Netflix said: “Are you ready for a moral reckoning?
“Creator of The Crown, Peter Morgan, is bringing Ira Levin’s 1976 classic novel, The Boys from Brazil, to the screen. The limited series tells a tale of obsession, vengeance, and the terrifying persistence of hatred.
"It asks: When the world chooses to forget its darkest history, who will fight to keep the memory –and the justice – alive?
"Set across three decades, from the immediate aftermath of the Second World War through the political turbulence of the 1970s, The Boys from Brazil follows Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter Yakov Liebermann in his lifelong crusade to bring Nazi fugitives to justice – a crusade that has cost him nearly everything.
“When one of his young protégées working undercover in Brazil learns of a shocking Nazi plan, Liebermann is in a race against time to expose an unimaginable truth: Doctor Johann-Friedrich Meinhardt, a sadistic Nazi scientist believed to be long-dead, is alive and orchestrating a diabolical project to spark the rise of a Fourth Reich.”
Suzanne Mackie, executive producing, added: “Building on his extraordinary work with The Crown, Peter [Morgan] continues to examine the political and emotional forces which, through the 20th century, have moulded the world we live in today.
"That he does so via the intimate human stories within the sweep of history makes his storytelling powerfully relatable.”
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