Charlie Heaton Shifts Into a New Chapter With a Fresh TV Role and an Australian Rom-Com
Charlie Heaton is stepping into a busy 2026 schedule that looks designed to move him beyond the shadow of his long-running breakout role. After the final episode of his landmark sci-fi series aired on December 31, 2025, Heaton has pivoted quickly into a higher-profile drama turn and a feature project aimed at the international film-market circuit.
In recent promotional appearances this month, Heaton also opened up about family life, including the moment his son started watching the show that made his father a household name.
A post-finale reset, and a very different character on TV
Heaton’s first major move of the year is a new role in the finance drama Industry, where he plays Jim Dycker, a journalist who enters the story with an investigative edge rather than the quieter, outsider energy many viewers associate with him. The season premiered on Sunday, January 11, 2026, and continues with weekly Sunday-night episodes at 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
The tonal shift is the point. Industry is built around ambition, power, and reputational risk, and Heaton’s character fits into that world as someone who asks uncomfortable questions and follows people who do not want to be followed. It is a sharp contrast to the role that defined much of his last decade on screen, and it positions him for a broader range of work now that the earlier series has ended.
Further specifics were not immediately available about how long the character will remain central across the full season and whether the role was conceived as a one-season arc or something longer.
Twice Over puts Charlie Heaton on a film-market runway
Heaton’s other headline project is Twice Over, an Australian romantic comedy directed by Alena Lodkina and starring Heaton opposite Mia Wasikowska. The film’s premise centers on two people whose unexpected reunion stirs long-buried feelings and forces them to re-examine how time, choice, and reinvention can reshape a life.
What makes this project notable in the near term is its positioning. The film is slated to be introduced to international buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin, which runs from February 12 to February 18, 2026. That is the kind of event where distribution deals are often shaped, territory by territory, long before most audiences see a trailer.
Mechanism-wise, film markets work like a global matchmaking system for movies. Producers and sales teams present a project’s package, including cast, director, footage, and post-production status, to distributors who secure rights for specific countries or regions. Those agreements can determine when and where a film is released, what marketing support it receives, and whether it lands in theaters, on-demand, or through other channels. For an actor, a market-facing rollout can be a signal that the project is aiming for broad international reach rather than a quiet, local release.
Some specifics have not been publicly clarified, including the exact release strategy that will follow those buyer meetings and whether the film will pursue a festival premiere before a wider commercial rollout.
Personal life headlines, and who’s watching this transition
Heaton’s off-screen life has also resurfaced as part of this moment, largely because it connects directly to his on-screen legacy. He recently shared that his son, Archie, has only just started getting into the series that made Heaton famous, and that Archie visited the set last year. Heaton became a father in 2014 and has generally kept his son out of the public eye, even as curiosity around his private life has grown alongside his career. He is also widely known for his long-running relationship with co-star Natalia Dyer, a pairing that has remained relatively low-key despite years of attention.
The impact of this career turn is being felt by at least two groups. Fans who grew attached to Heaton’s earlier character are now watching to see whether his new roles reshape how he is perceived, especially in projects that lean more adult and contemporary. At the same time, distributors, producers, and casting teams are paying attention to whether he can convert longtime recognition into sustained range across different genres and markets. The Australian screen community connected to Twice Over also stands to benefit from the global visibility that comes when a film enters the international sales cycle with recognizable leads.
The next verifiable milestone comes in the form of an industry event: Twice Over is scheduled to be presented to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin from February 12 to February 18, 2026, a key window that can set the timeline for distribution announcements and eventual release plans.
