Cast of The Phoenician Scheme: Full 2025 List & Stars

Wes Anderson’s films have always attracted remarkable ensembles, and The Phoenician Scheme pushes that formula further than most. The 2025 Cannes Competition entry brought together Benicio del Toro as a ruthless tycoon, Mia Threapleton as his estranged-daughter-nun, and a parade of A-listers who clearly relish the director’s particular brand of absurdity. Among the cast, Threapleton — Kate Winslet’s daughter — delivered a breakout performance that critics say will have audiences talking long after the credits roll.

Release Year: 2025 · Lead Actor: Benicio del Toro · Notable Cast: Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson · Supporting: Mia Threapleton, Riz Ahmed · Key Sources: IMDb, Wikipedia

Six attributes matter most when sizing up this cast: director, lead, family connection, supporting depth, ensemble breadth, and critical reception.

Is Kate Winslet’s daughter in The Phoenician Scheme?

Mia Threapleton indeed appears in The Phoenician Scheme — and in a central role that has drawn more attention than almost any other element of the film. Threapleton plays Liesl, also called Sister Liesl, the estranged daughter of Benicio del Toro’s character Zsa-zsa Korda. She is a nun who becomes entangled in her father’s high-stakes business dealings when he summons her back into his orbit.

Mia Threapleton’s role

Threapleton’s Liesl serves as the emotional fulcrum of the film. The character exists in a rigid convent world — led by Hope Davis’s Mother Superior — until her father’s scheming pulls her back into the eccentric Korda family orbit. Reviews have been unusually strong for a supporting performance; critics at Keith & the Movies noted that “it’s Mia Threapleton who will have most people talking,” describing her work as the standout turn in an already stacked ensemble (Keith & the Movies).

Family connection to Kate Winslet

Threapleton is Winslet’s daughter from her marriage to Jim Threapleton, and this is not her first film role. She appeared earlier in Wren: The Story of a Bird and the television series Trick. However, The Phoenician Scheme represents her most high-profile credit to date — one that immediately follows her mother through awards-season attention after Winslet’s own acclaimed performances. On December 19, 2025, Mia Threapleton received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress from the Florida Film Critics Circle, a recognition that places her in the same conversation as her celebrated parent (Wikipedia).

What will The Phoenician Scheme be about?

The Phoenician Scheme is a 2025 espionage black comedy thriller written, produced, and directed by Wes Anderson from a story with Roman Coppola. The film follows Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), described as a ruthless businessman and one of the richest men in Europe, who discovers he has fathered a daughter with a woman who died before he could meet her. That daughter — Liesl — is a nun living under a strict Mother Superior (Hope Davis). Korda dispatches his entourage, including a Norwegian entomologist-tutor (Michael Cera) and a crown prince of a fictional Phoenicia (Riz Ahmed), to retrieve her for a scheme that remains elusive even as the credits roll.

Plot summary

The father’s scheme involves reconciling with the daughter he never knew — or so it initially appears. Korda’s investors, including Tom Hanks’s mistrustful Leland from Sacramento, Bryan Cranston’s grouchy Reagan, Jeffrey Wright’s Marty from Newark, and Mathieu Amalric’s gangster Marseille Bob, all have stakes in whatever Korda is planning. The film intercuts Korda’s earthly schemes with a heavenly tribunal where Bill Murray’s God and Willem Dafoe’s Knave adjudicate his fate.

Connection to Liesl’s storyline

Liesl’s role is deliberately caught between two worlds. She arrives reluctantly from the convent, dressed in habits that clash with the opulent Korda family estate, and functions as both the innocent foil to her father’s cynicism and the narrative engine that drives the film’s resolution. Anderson, whose recent films have explored parent-child estrangement (Asteroid City, The French Dispatch), here pushes that theme into absurdist territory while keeping Liesl grounded in genuine emotional stakes.

Who is Liesl’s father in The Phoenician Scheme?

Liesl’s father is Zsa-zsa Korda, played by Benicio del Toro. Korda is depicted as a ruthless tycoon whose business empire spans multiple continents, funded by a network of investors who question his every move. He is estranged from his half-brother Uncle Nubar Korda (Benedict Cumberbatch), his second cousin and prospective wife Cousin Hilda Sussman-Korda (Scarlett Johansson), and his entire past — until circumstances force him to reach back toward the daughter he never acknowledged.

Character details

Del Toro’s Korda operates as both comedic absurdist and genuine threat. The character appears in scenes ranging from boardroom intimidation to heavenly courtroom drama, where Willem Dafoe’s defense attorney Knave argues his case before Bill Murray’s God. F. Murray Abraham appears as a prophet who speaks at Korda’s heavenly funeral, suggesting the film operates across both life and death. Charlotte Gainsbourg plays Korda’s first wife, adding another layer to his complicated romantic history.

Cast ties to plot

Every major cast member is connected to Korda’s orbit through business, family, or both. Tom Hanks’s Leland and Bryan Cranston’s Reagan represent the suspicious investor faction; Scarlett Johansson’s Hilda represents the family stake. Michael Cera’s Bjørn serves as the administrative bridge between Korda and Liesl, while Riz Ahmed’s Prince Farouk connects the scheme to geopolitical absurdity. Rupert Friend’s government agent Excalibur provides external threat, and Alex Jennings’s butler Broadcloth rounds out the domestic establishment.

Full Cast of The Phoenician Scheme

The ensemble spans Anderson regulars, prestige-drama veterans, and a few genuine surprises. Here is the complete breakdown of principal roles as listed across Wikipedia, IMDb, and additional verified sources.

Lead actors

• Benicio del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda — the film’s central businessman and tycoon
• Mia Threapleton as Liesl / Sister Liesl — Korda’s estranged daughter, a nun
• Michael Cera as Bjørn Lund / Bjørn Karlsen — Norwegian entomologist, tutor, and Korda’s administrative assistant
• Bill Murray as God — in the film’s heavenly sequences

Supporting cast

• Riz Ahmed as Prince Farouk, crown prince of Phoenicia
• Tom Hanks as Leland, a mistrustful Korda investor from Sacramento
• Bryan Cranston as Reagan, Leland’s grouchy brother and business partner
• Mathieu Amalric as Marseille Bob, gangster, nightclub owner, and Korda investor
• Richard Ayoade as Sergio, a revolutionary guerilla
• Jeffrey Wright as Marty, a Korda investor from Newark
• Scarlett Johansson as Cousin Hilda Sussman-Korda, Korda’s second cousin and prospective wife
• Benedict Cumberbatch as Uncle Nubar Korda, Korda’s estranged half-brother
• Rupert Friend as Excalibur, a government agent charged with destroying Korda’s empire
• Hope Davis as Mother Superior, Liesl’s boss at the convent
• Alex Jennings as Broadcloth, Korda’s butler
• Stephen Park as Korda’s pilot
• Willem Dafoe as Knave, Korda’s heavenly defense attorney
• F. Murray Abraham as a prophet who speaks at Korda’s heavenly funeral
• Charlotte Gainsbourg as Korda’s first wife
• Jason Watkins as the notary, Korda’s attorney

Notable cameos

The extended cast includes Tonio Arango, Imke Büchel, Imad Mardnli, Jaime Ferkic, Aysha Samuel, and Sabine Hollweck, with Antonia Desplat listed as Korda’s second wife on additional databases (MovieMeter). Anderson regulars Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson are notable absences from the credited cast — Murray’s God role is significant precisely because it is such a departure from his usual Anderson appearances.

Is Phoenician Scheme a good movie?

Critical reception has been warm without being universal. Rotten Tomatoes hosts a mix of audience and critical responses, with general agreement that the film represents a strong addition to Anderson’s catalog — though whether it ranks with his best remains contested. The PG-13 rating for “nude images, bloody images, smoking, sexual material, violent content” suggests Anderson pushed further than his usual family-friendly boundaries (Rotten Tomatoes).

Early reviews

A Rotten Tomatoes user wrote that “Benicio del Toro is great as well as Mia Threapleton who plays his estranged daughter,” capturing the dual lead dynamic that most critics have identified as the film’s strongest element.

Cast performance highlights

The cast performances cluster into three tiers of recognition. Threapleton’s nomination for Best Supporting Actress from the Florida Film Critics Circle is the most concrete validation, confirmed by Wikipedia on December 19, 2025. Separately, the film earned nominations for Best Production Design from both the Florida Film Critics Circle and the Seattle Film Critics Society, and for Best Costume Design from the Seattle Film Critics Society on December 15, 2025 — indicating that the film’s visual world, which reflects Anderson’s most elaborate productions, registered strongly with critics.

“While Benicio del Toro is a pitch-perfect lead… it’s Mia Threapleton who will have most people talking.”

— Keith, Keith & the Movies

“Benicio del Toro is great as well as Mia Threapleton who plays his estranged daughter. The cast is great!”

— User review, Rotten Tomatoes

What distinguishes this cast from typical ensemble films is not merely the star power — it is the degree to which Anderson gives each performer something specific and strange to do. Hanks plays a suspicious investor, Johansson plays a prospective wife with dynastic ambitions, Murray plays God, Dafoe plays a heavenly attorney. None of these roles could exist outside Anderson’s tonal universe, and the cast appears to understand that completely. The film premiered at Cannes on May 18, 2025, in Competition — Anderson’s fourth such entry after Asteroid City, The French Dispatch, and Moonrise Kingdom — and the reception confirmed that audiences and critics are still willing to follow Anderson into his most idiosyncratic territory.

For viewers who have followed Threapleton’s career, The Phoenician Scheme represents a threshold moment. The nomination from the Florida Film Critics Circle places her alongside award-season heavyweights while she is still early in her career — a trajectory that mirrors, and may eventually surpass, the kind of early acclaim her mother received decades ago. Whether the film itself endures or fades, Threapleton’s performance is the element most likely to be remembered from it.

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Wes Anderson’s ensemble in The Phoenician Scheme features stars like Benicio del Toro and Mia Threapleton, where Nottingham Wires full cast guide breaks down every role and backstory.

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