Analysis

September 6, 2024

Dream casting: the actors we want to see play Europe’s top founders

Probably not coming to a theatre near you...


Who doesn’t love a good founder biopic? Daniel Ek, Travis Kalanick, Adam Neumann, Steve Jobs and Elizabeth Holmes have all had the Hollywood treatment in recent years. 

So we thought, wouldn’t it be great to see more founders on screen? Here’s an idea that started life on Sifted Slack and grew legs (to the extent that it put us all severely behind on our work one evening…).

Here’s our dream casting — tell us yours.

Jeremy Strong as Revolut cofounder Nikolay Storonsky

Graeme Hunter/HBO/Revolut

Strong brings an iron-wrought sincerity to every role, so we back him to do the same, retelling Revolut’s long journey to securing its banking licence.

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Joanna Scanlan as Starling Bank founder Anne Boden

Misan Harriman/Starling Bank

Boden released a book this year, so the screenplay’s halfway written already. And Scanlan’s brilliant in The Thick of It and many other things — she can pull this off.

Florence Pugh to play billionaire Harald Mix

Gabor Kotschy/A24/Mattias Ahlm/Sveriges Radio

Don’t watch the film Midsommar — it’s terrifying — but do admire these lovely flower crowns. 

Ray Winstone to play Cazoo founder Alex Chesterman

Ray Winstone’s instagram/Cazoo

We’ve always loved this picture of an unsmiling Chesterman in front of an advert urging you to smile. 

Home Alone’s Kieran Culkin as VC and podcaster Harry Stebbings 

20th Century Fox / 20VC

Culkin’s a scene stealer — he’s the right man to take on the podcast supremo.

Stanley Tucci as Babylon founder Ali Parsa

Tucci brings great reassurance and warmth to every role. We trust him.

Marion Cotillard as Sweep founder Rachel Delacour

Georges Biard/Sweep

Perfect casting — so long as Cottillard agrees to cut her hair.

Joseph Fiennes to play firstminute capital principal Michael Stothard

Greg2600/Sifted

Stothard, formerly of the Sifted parish, seems like perfect foil for Fiennes. The brother of Ralph recently played former England manager Gareth Southgate — here’s his chance to play another visionary. 

Willem Dafoe to play Look Up Ventures and Ganni founder Nicolaj Reffstrup

Georges Biard/Giant Ventures

One’s an expert on supply chain efficiency, the other is Nicolaj Reffstrup. 

Sarah Snook to play BetterMe CEO Victoria Repa

HBO/Victoria Repa

We’re showing our bias here by choosing our third Succession actor. But Snook seems like the right fit for Repa, the Ukrainian behind the very popular fitness app.

Rose Matafeo to play The Family CEO Alice Zagury 

BBC / Avalon UK / Mark Johnson/The Family

They’re hair twins — and that’s a fine foundation to build on.

Éanna Kelly

Éanna Kelly is a contributing editor at Sifted. Follow him on X and LinkedIn

Freya Pratty

Freya Pratty is a senior reporter at Sifted. She covers climate tech, writes our weekly Climate Tech newsletter and works on investigations. Follow her on X and LinkedIn

Tom Nugent

Tom Nugent is Sifted’s newsletter editor. Follow him on X and LinkedIn

Daria Dmytrenko

Daria Dmytrenko is a startup analyst in Sifted Intelligence, and can be reached on LinkedIn