Keeley Hawes Is Killer in the First Trailer for 'The Assassin'

Future Dame Keeley Hawes only just graced American television in May 2025 with her performance as Cassandra Austen in Masterpiece's Miss Austen. The production studio behind the period drama is working on creating a second season (which may or may not get picked up for production), but even if it doesn't, Hawes has already moved on to a new role that's about as far from Victorian England as one can imagine. Her next role is as the titular lead in The Assassin, about a woman who retires from a life of professional killing, only to have her son (Freddie Highmore) track her down.

The project reunited Hawes with the Williams Brothers, Jack and Harry, whom most PBS viewers will know from their two-season series Baptiste. Hawes starred in the series that preceded it, The Missing, which initially introduced Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo). Hawes starred opposite Karyo in Season 2, much in the same manner as Jessica Raine and Fiona Shaw did in Baptiste's two seasons.

The Williams' Two Brothers Pictures have been on a tear lately; the company's other U.S. hits over the last decade include Fleabag, The Tourist, and Boat Story. Notably, these are shows that manage to attract an audience despite being on Amazon's Prime Video, so we should expect the same for The Assassin once it has an American streaming home.