Paul Cole finds himself stranded in a mysterious small town with no memory of who he is or how he got here. As bits and pieces of his past slowly emerge, he attempts to find his way home, but time is slippery, appearances can't be trusted, and it's unclear which of his identities is real.
The Actor is a 2025 American crime mystery film directed by Duke Johnson from a screenplay he co-wrote with Stephen Cooney, based on the 2010 novel Memory by Donald E. Westlake. The film marks Johnson's solo directorial debut and his first live-action film. The film follows a New York actor with amnesia in 1950s Ohio, who becomes stranded in a mysterious small town and struggles to get back home and reclaim his life and identity. It stars André Holland and Gemma Chan in the lead roles. The supporting cast includes May Calamawy, Asim Chaudhry, Joe Cole, Fabien Frankel, Olwen Fouéré, Edward Hogg, Toby Jones, Youssef Kerkour, Simon McBurney, Tanya Reynolds, Tracey Ullman, and Scott Alexander Young.
