Meet The Characters Bringing Channel 4’s Mostly True Story The Great To Life

At the beginning of every episode of Hulu’s The Great (now showing on Channel 4), just after we’ve seen the title card, we’re reminded that the series is occasionally based on a true story — occasionally being the keyword. The series follows Catherine (Elle Fanning) as she moves to Russia and marries the current emperor, Peter III (Nicholas Hoult). This part is all true. A lot of things that happen next in the series are only sometimes true. 
 
The Great weaves this fact and fiction together giving us a peek into the Russian monarchy and no one is safe from a little embellishment of their real-life character. Many players in The Great were actually real people and had ties to Catherine and Peter during their reign in Russia, while others are completely fabricated or a clear mashup of a few different people helping to pull the strings. If you’re using the show as a crash-course in history you might want to double-check everything a few times, as things that appear true are not, and things that are so outlandishly ridiculous did in fact happen. 
 
Along with Fanning and Hoult, the cast includes a lot of names and faces you might have seen before, and it’s clear they’re all having a very good time living it up in Russia in the 1700s. If you’re looking for a who’s who of the cast, along with some back story on their (maybe fake) character, here’s what you need to know.