Who is in the cast of Breeders?

Paul - Martin Freeman

Leading the cast as Paul, described in a press release as, “a caring father who discovers he is not the man he thought he was” is Martin Freeman, known to viewers from series like Sherlock and the U.K. version of The Office as well as The Hobbit trilogy of movies.

In an interview with The Times, Freeman, who started creating the show after its opening scene came to him in a dream, revealed that this sweary but well-meaning character is far closer to him than the everymen he is known for playing. He said, “A few times I’ve been the audience proxy, and it’s Pavlovian. Once people saw The Office, where Tim was this likeable character, they thought they had a handle on me. People carry that with them.

“Paul is as close to me as I’m likely to play. There’s so much of me in there, for good and bad. Mainly for bad, actually.”

Ally - Daisy Haggard

Paul’s partner is Ally, who actor Daisy Haggard said in an interview with Build is a slightly calmer parent than her partner Paul. “She rolls with things a bit more, she’s less of a stress head,” the actress said. The FX synopsis for Breeders says of her character, “Ally (Daisy Haggard), who runs a recording studio, makes Paul laugh and has the ability to read a story to their children while she’s technically asleep.”

Best known for Showtime series Episodes, Haggard is also the star and creator of another Showtime series, Back To Life. She has also starred in the “Nosedive” episode of Black Mirror, and provided the voice for the lift in the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

Michael - Michael McKean

If their two kids were not enough to deal with, Ally and Paul also have to deal with the reappearance into Ally’s life of her estranged father Michael, who has his own childish streak.

Jim and Jackie - Alun Armstrong and Joanna Bacon

Jim and Jackie are Paul’s parents, who try their best to help out but, as the show synopsis revealed, “their generation does parenting a little differently.” Starring in the roles are Alun Armstrong, seen in films like The Mummy Returns and Krull as well as popular British drama New Tricks, and Joanna Bacon, who has previously appeared in Love Actually (as the mother of Martine McCutcheon’s character Natalie) and Guy Ritchie film RocknRolla.

Darren - Patrick Baladi

Martin Freeman’s former The Office U.K. co-star Patrick Baladi, who has also starred in movies such as Rush and The International, plays Darren, Ally’s recording studio coworker prone to oversharing about his struggles with fertility.

Leah - Stella Gonet

Ally’s self-obsessed mother is Leah, as played by Stella Gonet of the 2002 adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby and the recent Sundance series The Cry.

Luke and Ava - George Wakeman and Jayda Eyles

The main source of Paul and Ally’s frustrations are their young children Luke and Ava, played respectively by newcomers George Wakeman (who previously appeared in British documentary series The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6 Year Olds and spin-off The Secret Life of Brothers and Sisters) and Jayda Eyles, who made her debut in 2019 in British TV drama The Confession.

Breeders airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on FX.