Netflix just handed Grace Bernard her murder victim number one and a very famous face to go with it. Clive Owen is joining Anya Taylor-Joy in How to Kill Your Family, the streamer's adaptation of Bella Mackie's bestselling revenge-thriller novel, playing the ruthless billionaire father whose rejection sets the entire bloody plot in motion.

Owen will star as Simon Artemis, the wealthy businessman who denies ever having an affair with Grace's mother and abandons the pair to fend for themselves. When Grace's mother later dies, Grace turns her grief into a meticulously plotted campaign of revenge, working her way through Simon's extended family before, the novel implies, coming for the man himself.

Word of Owen's casting broke via Deadline, which reported the eight-episode drama has now rounded out its principal cast, adding Orlando Norman and David Shields alongside him. Taylor-Joy has been attached to play Grace since the project was first unveiled at the Edinburgh TV Festival, and she is also serving as an executive producer through her LadyKiller banner.

A book that sold a million copies for a reason

Mackie's 2021 novel became a word-of-mouth sensation, moving more than a million copies and topping bestseller lists with its pitch-black comic voice. Sid Gentle Films, the production company behind Killing Eve, is producing the series, with Emma Moran, creator of Extraordinary, writing and serving as showrunner. Mackie herself is on board as an executive producer, alongside Sally Woodward Gentle, Lizzie Rusbridger and Lee Morris.

The pairing of Taylor-Joy and Owen has generated instant buzz among fans of the book, many of whom have spent years imagining who could play Simon Artemis opposite the Oscar-nominated star of The Queen's Gambit and Furiosa. Deadline's report notes the casting gives the long-in-development series fresh momentum after a relatively quiet stretch since its initial announcement.

Screen Rant's write-up of the news frames Owen's addition as rounding out a cast built to carry the show's tonal high-wire act, balancing dark comedy with genuine menace as Grace works her way through a family tree of victims.

Neither Netflix nor representatives for Owen or Taylor-Joy have released a statement beyond confirming the casting to trade outlets, and no premiere date has been set. Filming has not yet been officially scheduled, though industry chatter points to production ramping up later this year.

For readers who devoured Mackie's novel, the casting answers one of the book fandom's longest-running questions, while newcomers now have two awards-caliber leads to watch as the story of Grace Bernard's very personal reckoning finally heads to screen.