Vladimir stars Rachel Weisz, but there’s one detail the Netflix series never gives you: her character’s name.
Based on Julia May Jonas’ novel of the same name, Vladimir follows a middle-aged professor (Weisz) who becomes infatuated with a new colleague, played by Leo Woodall.
At the same time, she’s standing by her husband John (John Slattery), who’s been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple students.
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However, its main character (and narrator) doesn’t have a name.
What is Rachel Weisz’s character called in Vladimir?
The short answer: we’re never told. Across the entire season, her name is never spoken, written or revealed in dialogue.
But there is one clue. If you scroll deep into the end credits – past the main cast and into the international dubbing section – her character is listed simply as “M”.
Whether that means her name actually begins with M is unclear. It could be Mary, Madeleine, Michelle – or something else entirely. It could also just be a placeholder.
Either way, “M” is the only identifier the series offers.
Why doesn’t Vladimir give her a name?
The omission is deliberate. In the original novel, Julia May Jonas never named the narrator either.
Speaking on The Maris Review in 2022, Jonas explained she didn’t want readers to feel like they were observing the protagonist from the outside.
“I wanted us to feel inside of her head,” she said. Naming her would risk turning her into “an object that we’re looking at”.
She also pointed to a gothic tradition of unnamed narrators, which adds a subtle unease to the story.
In another 2022 interview at Harvard Book Store, Jonas admitted she still doesn’t have a name for the character “in my head”.
Even during the development of the novel, she resisted giving the character a shorthand name.
The point, she said, was to keep the focus on the character’s gaze, her desire, and her world – not her identity on paper.
So if you were pausing episodes, scanning emails and zooming in on paperwork looking for a name, you didn’t miss it. There isn’t one!
Read more: The best TV shows on Netflix you need to watch this month
Vladimir is available to stream on Netflix now.
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