Leonardo DiCaprio to star in newly announced Midsomer Murders series 25
By Rebecca Carter |Leonardo DiCaprio will star in Midsomer Murders, as one of three unbelievable Hollywood guest stars.
ITV has today announced the return of long-running crime drama Midsomer Murders for a 25th season. More surprisingly, perhaps, is the announcement of three big name guest stars in the new season.
Starring alongside Neil Dungeon and Fiona Dolman will be Hollywood heavyweights DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey and Margot Robbie.
Who are the announced guest stars?
For cinema fans Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey and Margot Robbie need no introduction. According to reports, DiCaprio will portray a sleazy conman, McConaughey a Cumbrian cowboy and Robbie a world-famous influencer.
Leonardo DiCaprio first achieved Hollywood success in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) for his performance as a learning disabled teenager. Next, he portrayed the lead in Romeo and Juliet (1996) before cementing his place in cinema history with his role as Jack Dawson in James Cameron's Titanic, which became the highest grossing film ever. His big name roles thereafter came thick and fast: Catch Me if You Can (2002), Gangs of New York (2002) and The Aviator (2004), Inception (2010) Djanho Unchained (2012) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). He finally won a Best Actor Oscar for his efforts in 2015's The Revenant, in which he portrayed frontiersman Hugh Glass. DiCaprio took a break from acting to produce climate change documentaries including Before the Flood (2016) and Ice on Fire (2019), before returning with further Hollywood hits Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and Don't Look Up (2021), and the crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).
Texas-born Matthew McConaughey also achieved his breakout role in 1993, in the coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused. He dominated the romantic-comedy scene of the 2000s, with roles in hit movies including The Wedding Planner (2001), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Failure to Launch (2006), Fool's Gold (2008), and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009). He later appeared as a stripper alongside Channun Tatum in Magic Mike (2012), before hitting gold with a Oscar-winning performance in The Dallas Buyers Club (2013). In television, McConaughey starred in the critically-acclaimed first season of True Detective (2014).
Named the world's highest paid actress in 2023 by Forbes, Australian star Margot Robbie is the final Midsomer Murders guest star. She first appeared in Neighbours in 2008, before travelling to the US to star alongside DiCaprio and McConaughey in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). She portrayed Jane Porter in 2016's The Legend of Tarzan, before picking up the role of Harley Quinn in the DC Extended Universe. She has three Oscar nominations to her name, for her acting roles in I, Tonya (2017), Bombshell (2019) and also for her work as a producer on Barbie (2023). She played the titular doll in Barbie, which was the highest grossing film of 2023 and the 14th highest of all time.
What will the plot be?
ITV are keeping quiet about the precise storylines in which these stars will feature, but we do have some information.
The synopsis for episode 1 is "When a millionaire financier is found dead at the foot of a bridge in Midsomer, miles away from his home in Canary Wharf, local residents begin asking questions about whether the death is related to a rumoured lovechild."
DiCaprio will play the financier, Bob Johnson. Speaking of the role, he said:
"It's an honour to finally appear in an iconic British drama like Midsomer Murders. I've watched the series since the 1990s - in fact, Kate Winslet was the one who introduced me to it. We used to watch episodes during our downtime from filming."
There is no information yet on what roles McConaughey and Margot Robbie will play, although they are expected to star in later episodes.
When will Midsomer Murders season 25 air?
Midsomer Murders series 25 is currently filming in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Tokyo. While there is currently no confirmed return date, it is expected to release sometime in 2025.
It comprises six new episodes.
Midsomer Murders is likely to drop first on streaming platform Acorn TV in the US. It will then premiere on ITV1 in weekly instalments.
