The Doll (Original title: Lalka) Netflix cast is led by Tomasz Schuchardt as self-made merchant Stanisław Wokulski and Sandra Drzymalska as aristocrat Izabela Łęcka. Dariusz Chojnacki plays Wokulski’s friend Ignacy Rzecki, while Jacek Braciak plays Izabela’s financially ruined father. The six-episode Polish limited series is a modern reinterpretation of Bolesław Prus’s classic novel Lalka.

The Doll, titled Lalka in Polish, premieres on Netflix on September 16, 2026. It combines period drama and melodrama with mystery, irony and a sharper examination of class, obsession, wealth and personal freedom.

The Doll Netflix cast and character guide

Netflix’s official Polish announcement identifies the principal characters and explains how this version changes their emphasis. The cast extends well beyond the nine performers shown on the English-language title page, so the table below combines the global Netflix listing with the fuller official production announcement.

Tomasz Schuchardt as Stanisław Wokulski

Tomasz Schuchardt plays Stanisław Wokulski, a merchant whose wealth has not given him the acceptance he wants. He is a lonely social climber who sees Izabela as the key to the elite world that still excludes him. The series’ official description makes an important distinction: Wokulski mistakes his need for security and control for love, treating Izabela as a promise of his desired life rather than fully seeing her as a person.

That framing prevents Wokulski from becoming a straightforward romantic hero. His ambition is understandable, but his fixation is also possessive and destructive. Schuchardt is a major Polish screen actor whose credits include The Christening, Doppelgänger and High Water.

Sandra Drzymalska as Izabela Łęcka

Sandra Drzymalska plays Izabela Łęcka, the strong-willed aristocrat at the center of Wokulski’s obsession. Netflix describes her distance and independence as a consciously created image. She wants control over her own future, yet her position remains dependent on family capital and decisions made by other people.

Drzymalska will be familiar to Netflix viewers from Sexify and to international-film audiences from Jerzy Skolimowski’s Oscar-nominated EO. This adaptation gives Izabela more clearly stated agency, placing her desire for freedom alongside Wokulski’s hunger for status.

Dariusz Chojnacki as Ignacy Rzecki

Dariusz Chojnacki portrays Ignacy Rzecki, Wokulski’s friend and business partner. He comes from a rural background and remains attached to simple values and the possibility of sincere love. His idealism gives the story a useful counterweight: he can be loyal to Wokulski without sharing every one of his assumptions about class, money and affection.

Jacek Braciak as Łęcki

Jacek Braciak plays Łęcki, Izabela’s father. Once protected by aristocratic status, he is now bankrupt. His weaknesses, gambling and accumulated mistakes endanger his daughter’s future, making the family’s financial crisis one of the forces pushing Wokulski and Izabela into the same orbit.

Julia Wyszyńska as Florentyna

Julia Wyszyńska plays Florentyna, an impoverished cousin who survives by attaching herself to another family’s social position. She represents the fragility beneath aristocratic appearances: status can still shape how others treat someone even when the money supporting it has disappeared.

Maria Kania as Marianna

Maria Kania plays Marianna, a woman from a lower social class whose directness brings her close to Izabela’s circle. Her presence gives the series another perspective on the hierarchy its lead characters are trying to enter, escape or preserve.

Piotr Adamczyk as Krzeszowski

Piotr Adamczyk portrays Krzeszowski, a society player guided by self-interest. Adamczyk may be recognizable to international audiences as Tomasz in Hawkeye. In The Doll, he joins a social world in which charm, money and hidden motives are tightly connected.

Piotr Pacek as Starski

Piotr Pacek plays Starski, a decadent opportunist for whom money is the only dependable form of loyalty. He sharpens the series’ critique of a society where relationships can become transactions and affection can be indistinguishable from strategy.

Magdalena Cielecka as Wąsowska

Magdalena Cielecka plays Wąsowska, a charismatic woman who lives outside convention and other people’s expectations. She becomes an almost unreachable model of freedom for Izabela, showing her a form of adult independence that her own family circumstances make difficult to claim.

What is The Doll about?

The story follows the impossible relationship between Stanisław Wokulski and Izabela Łęcka. Wokulski has built wealth but still lacks the social legitimacy of the aristocracy. Izabela has rank but limited control, especially as her father’s finances collapse. Their attraction unfolds across a class divide and becomes tangled with obsession, the desire for freedom and the seductive power of money.

Netflix’s version expands the familiar plot with an investigation, family secrets and conflicts that reveal the characters’ hidden interests. Director Paweł Maślona combines costume drama with irony, grotesque humor, mystery and melodrama. The characters are not romanticized as symbols. They are people caught in social systems and damaged by ambition and money.

If you enjoy ambitious literary adaptations, our site also covers the East of Eden Netflix cast, the One Hundred Years of Solitude Part 2 cast and the mystery ensemble in Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials.

How is Netflix’s The Doll connected to Bolesław Prus’s novel?

The Doll is based on Lalka, the late-19th-century novel by Polish writer Bolesław Prus. The book is regarded as a central work of Polish literature and uses Wokulski’s frustrated rise and love for Izabela to explore social class, capitalism, idealism and a changing Warsaw.

The series keeps Wokulski, Izabela, Rzecki and other recognizable figures but describes itself as a contemporary reinterpretation rather than a line-by-line transfer. New plot threads, including the investigation and family secrets, give the six episodes a modern television rhythm. The official positioning also suggests a less idealized view of Wokulski and a more explicitly independent Izabela.

This approach resembles other Netflix adaptations that preserve a famous book’s central conflict while reshaping emphasis for a new format. Readers comparing recent book-to-screen projects can also see our Lord of the Flies Netflix cast guide.

How many episodes are in The Doll?

The Doll is a six-episode limited series. Netflix’s official announcement gives September 16, 2026 as the premiere date and identifies it as a Netflix-exclusive release. No weekly schedule was announced, so viewers should expect the available limited series to launch together unless Netflix states otherwise.

Who made The Doll for Netflix?

Paweł Maślona directs and co-wrote the series with Paweł Demirski and Jagoda Dutkiewicz. Jan and Michał Kwieciński of Akson Studio are the producers. Paweł Flis handled cinematography, Joanna Macha designed the sets, Dorota Roqueplo created the costumes and BAASCH composed the music.

The Polish title remains Lalka, while Netflix uses The Doll for English-speaking audiences. Including both names when searching is useful because Polish cast announcements, trailers and interviews are more likely to use Lalka.