Meet the ‘Mike’ Cast and Their Real-Life Characters

Mike, the extremely anticipated collection about Mike Tyson, is lastly right here.

The first two episodes of Mike will likely be accessible on August 25, with the remaining six dropping weekly on Hulu. In the U.Okay., audiences will have the ability to watch the collection from Thursday, September 8.

From Steven Rogers and the workforce behind I, Tonya, alongside showrunner Karin Gist—finest recognized for her work on the drama collection Our Kind of People—Mike explores the distinctive and controversial story of the previous undisputed world heavyweight champion.

But who’s within the forged bringing Tyson’s life to the small display? Newsweek has all the things you’ll want to know concerning the forged and their real-life counterparts.

Meet the ‘Mike’ Cast and Their Real-Life Characters

Mike Tyson—Trevante Rhodes

Trevante Rhodes portrays Mike Tyson, in Hulu and Disney+’s Mike.

The present goes by way of the ups and downs of Tyson’s boxing profession and private life, together with his 50 wins out of 58 fights (44 of them by knockout), in addition to his marriage to Robin Givens and his time in jail for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington.

BJ Minor stars as a teenage Mike Tyson in Hulu’s Mike.

Audiences will most certainly acknowledge Rhodes from his function as Chiron within the Oscar-winning movie Moonlight.

His different credit embrace Bird Box, 12 Strong, and The United States vs Billie Holiday.

Don King—Russell Hornsby

Russell Hornsby stars as American boxer promotor Don King in Mike.

During his profession, King labored with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Chris Byrd, John Ruiz, and George Foreman. However, he additionally confronted a number of controversies, together with a manslaughter conviction and civil instances towards him. He was confronted with allegations of corrupt enterprise practices by quite a few boxers.

Hornsby is finest recognized for taking part in Lyons in Fences and Carl Gatewood in The Affair.

Speaking to Pop Culture, Hornsby shared he was nervous to tackle the function of Don King.

He mentioned: “Well, first and foremost, I’m a little nervous. I can’t lie. The thing is, it’s not about getting it right or wrong. It’s about getting it true. And so as just for me as an actor, what I look to do, we know that there are aspects of Don King that is a showman, that he is a character and someone say a caricature in some standpoints and that’s all there.

“But for me, I’ve to have the ability to discover moments the place we may give humanity the place it doesn’t matter what our notion of him is, or what we predict or considered him, that we all know that he is a human being. And so the place did this habits come from? How did it come about? How did it manifest? And I look to ask these questions.”

Cus D’Amato—Harvey Keitel

Hollywood legend Harvey Keitel takes on the role of Cus D’Amato in Mike.

D’Amato was an Italian-American boxing manager who worked closely with the likes of Tyson, Floyd Patterson, and José Torres.

Alongside Camille Ewald, he secured legal guardianship over a young Mike Tyson after his mother died. D’Amato became a father-like figure to Tyson and taught him his famous peek-a-boo style of boxing, where a boxer holds his gloves close to his face.

Keitel is best known for his roles in numerous Martin Scorsese films including The Irishman, Who’s That Knocking at My Door, Mean Streets, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, and The Last Temptation of Christ.

Audiences may also recognize him from the films Blue Collar, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Desiree Washington—Li Eubanks

Up-and-coming actor Li Eubanks portrays Desiree Washington in Mike.

Desiree Washington, the previous winner of Miss Black Rhode Island, accused Tyson of rape in July 1991 in an Indianapolis lodge room when she was 18 years previous. Tyson has all the time denied all allegations of rape.

Tyson was discovered responsible of rape on February 10, 1992, by a jury and was sentenced to 6 years in jail together with 4 years of probation. He was launched in March 1995 after serving lower than three years of his sentence.

Eubanks’s credit embrace If Not Now, When? and All Rise.

Robin Givens—Laura Harrier

Laura Harrier portrays Mike Tyson’s ex-wife Robin Givens in Mike.

They started courting in 1987 and wed in February 1988.

Their marriage was not all the time straightforward and in October 1988 Givens filed for divorce, citing spousal abuse. She was granted a brief restraining order. Their divorce additionally performed out in public, with Givens suing Tyson for defamation.

The divorce was finalized on Valentine’s Day in 1989.

Harrier is finest recognized for her function as Liz Allan in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Patrice Dumas in BlacKkKlansman.

Bill Cayton—Kale Browne

Kale Browne stars as William D’Archy “Bill” Cayton in Mike on Hulu and Disney+.

Cayton was a boxing promoter and supervisor who was famously sued by Tyson within the Nineteen Eighties. At the time, Tyson wished to switch Cayton as supervisor with Don King.

Despite their variations, Tyson retained him as a supervisor as they labored to settle the lawsuit. The matter was settled out of court docket.

Clayton was additionally a movie historian and producer, working to protect boxing’s legacy. He additionally based or co-founded the businesses Cayton Sports, Inc., Reel Sports., Inc., Radio.

Browne is finest recognized for taking part in Michael Hudson on Another One and Sam Rappaport on One Life to Live.

Also starring in Mike are Kerry Sims, Laura Harrier, Scott MacDonald, Nathalie J. Alarcon, Garland Whitt, Johnny Alexander, and Dharma Moreau.

Mike airs Thursdays on Hulu.

Update 08/25/22, 5:42 a.m. ET: This article was up to date to incorporate an image.