Pia Tjelta Joins ‘The Day of the Jackal’ Season 2 (Exclusive)

Norwegian star Pia Tjelta (Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole, No Comment, Don’t Call Me Mama) has joined the cast of the second season of the international spy thriller hit series The Day of the Jackal, THR can exclusively reveal. The Sky original, airing in the U.S. on Peacock, stars Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne as the titular assassin, who is a master of disguise and makes his living carrying out hits for high fees.

In what is her first English-language role, Tjelta will add further international flair to the second season of Jackal, which is set to premiere in the spring of 2027. Previously unveiled as joining the cast for the return of the show have been Matt Bomer, Pablo Schreiber and Weruche Opia. Details of Tjelta’s role are not know for now.

The first season of Jackal became Sky’s biggest-ever original series launch, and its biggest launch in more than two years, with 3 million viewers in its first week.

On Netflix, audiences have this year been able to watch Tjelta starring as Rakel Fauke in hit series Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole opposite Tobias Santelmann and Joel Kinnaman. The serial killer mystery show, produced by Working Title, was created by Nesbø based on his hit Nordic Noir series of novels.

Tjelta has been keeping busy across film, TV and theater. Also coming up with her next year is The Strain (Grønne Fingre) from Lars Gudmestad and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, the writers of Netflix’s La Palma and directed by Eva Sørhaug (Your Honor, Tokyo Vice). In the Rubicon TV event drama for Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Tjelta stars as Karla, a gardener forced into a criminal network to save her child, who is played by the actress’ real-life daughter, Sofia Tjelta.

For her role in Nina Knag’s 2025 film Don’t Call Me Mama, Pia Tjelta won the best actress honor at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the best actress award at the 2026 Amanda Awards, Norway’s big film honors.

Universal International Studio’s production banner Carnival Films produces The Day of the Jackal. The series is based on a 1971 novel by Frederick Forsyth, which was previously adapted into a 1973 feature film. Ronan Bennett (Top Boy) has adapted the novel and executive produced the show with Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant of Carnival Films, Sam Hoyle of Sky Studios, Sue Naegle, Brian Kirk and Redmayne.

“We really like to make a couple of big, massive, often IP-based, franchises,” Meghan Lyvers, managing director, scripted originals, Sky U.K., recently told THR. “The Day of the Jackal is a really great example. I’ve just seen a couple of cuts of [season] 2, and it’s going to be fantastic. We can’t wait to bring that back next year.”