Roald Dahl’s ‘The BFG’ RSC Adaptation Casts Title Role

The Royal Shakespeare Company has tapped John Leader to play the title role in its upcoming stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “The BFG.”

The production, adapted by Tom Wells (“The Kitchen Sink,” “Jumpers for Goalposts”), represents a collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company, Chichester Festival Theatre and the Roald Dahl Story Company.

The production follows Sophie, a young orphan who’s whisked away to Giant Country by the Big Friendly Giant, where she discovers that other giants are terrorizing children worldwide. Together, Sophie and the BFG devise a plan to stop the human-eating giants and save children everywhere. The story was previously adapted by Steven Spielberg as a film in 2016.

Leader, who previously appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “The School for Scandal” in 2024, brings extensive theater credentials to the role. His resume includes “Wuthering Heights,” “Peter Pan” and “War Horse” at the National Theatre, “A Monster Calls” at The Old Vic and “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” at the Bridge Theatre.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be playing such an iconic character who means so much to so many people,” Leader. “Everyone has their own picture of the BFG, so it’s really exciting (and a bit surreal!) to help bring him to life on stage.”

Royal Shakespeare Company co-artistic director Daniel Evans, who’s directing the production, called the casting process “a giant undertaking in so many ways,” noting that finding the right actor was “an essential piece of the puzzle.”

“John Leader brings immense warmth, generosity and humility to the role — all essential qualities for our BFG,” Evans added. “He also has a gleaming and vivid imagination. John will be working alongside a highly skilled team of puppeteers as part of a cast of eighteen.”

The creative team includes puppetry designer and director Toby Olié, set designer Vicki Mortimer, costume designer Kinnetia Isidore, lighting designer Zoe Spurr, video designer Akhila Krishnan, illusions designer Chris Fisher, composer Oleta Haffner, sound designer Carolyn Downing, and choreographer and movement director Ira Mandela Siobhan.

The show will bow at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon for a 10-week run from Nov. 25, 2025, through Jan. 31, 2026, before transferring to Chichester Festival Theatre from March 9-April 11, 2026.