‘Deadly Class’ Cast Introduces Teen Assassin Characters Before Jan. 16 Premiere

Teenagers can be vicious, but on “Deadly Class,” they’re lethal. Syfy’s punk rock-inspired series is set in the 1980s and follows the students at King’s Dominion, where kids are trained to be assassins. So who ends up in school for killers? Let the stars of the Russo Brothers-produced drama introduce themselves.

Benjamin Wadsworth is recognizable from “Dad vs. Lad” and the “Teen Wolf” series finale. On “Deadly Class,” he plays Marcus, the newest King’s Dominion student. The orphan is recruited because he is believed to have killed several people when escaping his boys home.

“I would say he’s kind of your basic archetypal hero, naïve child,” Wadsworth told International Business Times. “He’s a homeless teen on the streets of San Francisco in 1987. He’s alone, he’s isolated, he’s depressed. All he really wants is a family and friends, and then he gets inducted into a secret academy for assassins. He finds a bit of family and friends and also some enemies.”

Maria Gabriela de Faria is well known in the world of Spanish-language television. Her 15-year career has included projects like “La Virgen de la Calle” and “Yo Soy Frankie.” “Deadly Class” is her first English-language project. Her character, also called Maria, is a member of the Mexican cartel and takes an interest in Marcus right away.

“Maria is part of the Soto Vatos, part of the cartel. She was kidnapped by the cartel when she was 7 years old, and she’s been performing assassinations for them ever since,” the actress told IBT.

The character also struggles with mental illness. “She is bipolar. She medicates secretly because she doesn’t want people at King’s Dominion to know her quote-unquote weakness,” she explained. “One minute, she’s happy, beautiful, funny, and the next, she’s just filled with rage. At King’s Dominion, that is treated like a superpower. So there’s a lot going on there for sure.”

Liam James has also been working for over a decade. The actor was in 2013’s critical darling “The Way Way Back” and has more recently starred on TV shows like “The Killing” and “The Family.” “Deadly Class” has him playing one of Marcus’ first friends at school, Billy.

“Everybody comes from these crazy families of assassins, but Billy, he’s just kind of what they call a rat. First generation at the school, they call them rats and so he is kind of a total fish out of water,” James explained. “Everyone picks on him and when they’re picking on you at this school, they really pick on you and they torture you.”

James says that Billy’s best survival tool is laughter. “The way he deals with a lot of it is through humor,” James added. “He sees the humor in the fact that people are so cruel and that’s the only way he kind of survives is by kind of accepting the circumstances he’s in.”

Billy isn’t the only rat, though. Marcus is also considered a rat by most, but Billy sees an ally. “So when he meets Marcus, he immediately runs to him because, I think, while he likes to pretend he’s always fine and nothing bothers him, I think he needs a crew,” James explained. “He needs a group of people, and Marcus is another rat. And he cares about bringing Marcus in to help him, but he also wants to have a friend.”

Luke Tennie appeared in FX’s “Snowfall” last year, but this is a much bigger role for the actor. He plays Willie on “Deadly Class,” an assassin who has to deal with having a moral side.

“I see Willie as this guy with a strong moral compass and he’s uncompromising in his ideals, but the thing is he takes no pride in them. He hides them,” Tennie explained to IBT. “They’re his secret and because they’re a secret, they’re his weakness instead of his strength. … He allows his perspective on that to feed into this idea that he needs to maintain a façade and maintain his reputation, which is this violent stone cold, cold-blooded killer.”

Willie develops a reputation as a guy no one tries to challenge. No one realizes that it’s because he is avoiding killing anyone. “Since he’s the guy no one wants to mess with, he doesn’t have to get into altercations, but at the same time what are you playing at? Doesn’t the truth set you free? Not to Willie,” the actor teased.

“Deadly Class” fans will probably recognize the remaining cast members as well.

Benedict Wong is probably most known for his role as Wong in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Doctor Strange.” He’s also been in “Annihilation,” “Black Mirror,” “The Martian,” “Prometheus” and “Marco Polo.”

His character Master Lin runs King’s Dominion. He recruits the teenagers to attend and learn how to be killers.

Lana Condor made waves a few months ago in a very different role. She played Laura Jean Covey in Netflix’s hit rom-com, “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before.” This isn’t her first action role, though. She was Jubilee in “X-Men: Apocalypse” and will be in “Alita: Battle Angel” next month.

Her character Saya is a member of the Yakuza. She is a perfectionist who is assigned the task of recruiting Marcus. The new kid quickly develops feelings for her.

Michel Duval previously appeared on “Queen of the South” and “Lady of Steel,” and now he plays Chico, a gang leader at King’s Dominion. He is Maria’s controlling boyfriend, and he has a real problem with Marcus right away.

“Deadly Class,” based on the graphic novels by Rick Remender, debuts Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST on Syfy. The first episode is available now on Syfy’s website.