Who plays Dexter in Netflix’s One Day? Character and cast explored

One Day is a limited series on Netflix based on the novel by David Nicholls. The series was released on February 8, 2024. There is also a 2011 film adaptation of the book which stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturges.

Starring Ambika Mod as Emma Morley and Leo Woodall as Dexter Mayhew, the series revolves around these two characters who initially meet on the day of their graduation in Edinburgh, forming a long and enduring friendship.

Despite leading completely different lives, Emma and Dexter remain close. The series consists of 14 episodes, some featuring Emma and Dexter together, while others show their parallel storylines.

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Leo Woodall plays Dexter

Leo Woodall plays the role of Dexter Mayhew in the Netflix series One Day. Prior to this, he gained recognition for his portrayal of Jack in the second season of The White Lotus.

Woodall is a 27-year-old British actor born in Hammersmith, West London. His projects include an episode of Holby City and appearances in the Apple TV+ film Cherry and the Universal series The Vampire Academy as Adrian Ivashkov. In The White Lotus, Woodall's character, Jack is from Essex.

In a conversation with Tudum, Woodall said he felt a “a huge sigh of relief” to get the part of Dexter after a “rigorous audition process”. In the same conversation, Woodall talked about One Day, saying:

“It’s just a beautiful, beautiful story, and it has this legacy already. Both characters are so well-formed. There’s a huge [amount] of joyfulness.”

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Who plays Emma Morley?

Ambika Mod plays the role of Emma Morley in One Day. She gained recognition for her portrayal of Shruti Acharya in the BBC drama series This Is Going to Hurt (2022).

She appeared in multiple short films such as Fair Bnb (2018), Granddaughter (2019), The Sacrifice (2020), and Pet Name (2022). Ambika Mod is set to play a lead role in the upcoming Disney+ thriller series, Playdate.

Ambika, in a conversation with Tudum, revealed he had initially declined the role of Emma Morley but eventually ended up accepting it.

“I just didn’t see myself in that role, to be honest. It took well into the shoot for me to convince myself that it was the right call for me to be there doing that,” she said.

On playing the characters of Emma and Dexter who are older than Leo and Ambika in real life, Ambika said:

“We played so many years of Emma and Dexter's life that we haven’t lived yet [since] we’re obviously much younger than Emma and Dexter are in the last half of the series. It was weird.”

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Cast of One Day

• Leo Woodall as Dexter
• Ambika Mod as Emma
• Amber Grappy as Tilly
• Brendan Quinn as Callum
• Jonny Weldon as Ian
• Tim McInnerny as Stephen
• Eleanor Tomlinson as Sylvie

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The synopsis for One Day on IMDb reads:

"Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways."

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One Day is available to stream on Netflix right now.