Medusa cast and character guide: Who plays whom in Netflix's latest thriller series?

Netflix's latest Columbian thriller, Medusa, premiered on the network with Season 1 on March 5, 2025. The show is a riveting story about a woman's supposed death in a yacht explosion.

Co-created by Said Chamie and Claudia Sánchez, the story follows Bárbara Hidalgo (Juana Acosta), who has just been appointed the new CEO of a high-profile company, Medusa. Before she can assume her role, she is caught in a near-death experience when her luxury yacht explodes in the water.

While she miraculously survives the explosion, everyone in her family assumes she is dead. This allows her to investigate who orchestrated this attack on her, uncovering deep-seated family secrets, in the process.

The thriller series has a total of 12 episodes, which are available to binge-watch on Netflix.

Here is a cast and character guide to Medusa.

Main cast and character guide to Medusa

1) Juana Acosta - Bárbara Hidalgo

Columbian actress Juana Acosta plays the lead role of Bárbara in the thriller series. Bárbara is a fearful woman, who has recently been promoted as the CEO of a big company, Medusa. The show opens with Bárbara's yacht exploding in the middle of the ocean, nearly killing her.

While she is saved, she begins an investigation to find answers about the killer and their motives, for which she also returns to her hometown. She belongs to a dysfunctional family that seems to be hiding the truth about her disappearance from the detective assigned for her case.

Acosta is best known for her roles in Perfect Strangers, Anna and Carlos.

2) Manolo Cardona - Danger Carmelo

Danger Carmelo is the lead investigator hired to investigate the yacht explosion, which nearly killed Bárbara. After he learns the truth about her escape, he teams up with her to uncover the mysterious attack, while also protecting her from further danger in the process.

The duo tries to look into the mysterious Hidalgo family and their possible connection with Bárbara's attack.

Cardona is best known for his roles in Undertwo, Rubirosa, and My Brother's Wife.

3) Diego Trujillo - Damian Hidalgo

The patriarch of the mysterious Hidalgo family in Medusa, Damian, appears to be a grey character. Danger is suspicious of him. He is sure that Bárbara's disappearance and eventual attack are Damian's doings, and he tries to investigate the family for information about Barbara.

It also seems that Bárbara's attack might somehow be linked to Damian.

Diego has previously worked in Proof Of Life and Perro Amor.

4) Carlos Torres - Cristian Hidalgo

The character who gained the most from Bárbara's supposed death, Cristian, is made Medusa's new CEO after the yacht explosion. He also becomes the primary suspect in the attack because of his unbothered attitude toward Bárbara's whereabouts.

Carlos has previously worked in The Queen of Flow and Welcome to Eden.