Irish actor Eoin Macken has landed his first US starring role in new NBC pilot ‘After Hours’, which is being helmed by ‘Taken’ director Pierre Morel.
The Dublin-born actor will fly to LA next week to film the hour-long pilot with Morel, who handpicked Macken for the lead role of former army member TC Callahan, after Macken sent over a series of test shots.
The role of Callahan will see Macken take on an American accent, in which his character returns from the army for a position at a San Antonio medical centre, where he locks horns with his superiors over his unconventional brands of medicine.
Speaking to IFTN, Macken said he was “really looking forward to it”, and admitted he signed up to the NBC show due to the “bloody good script” from ‘90210’ writers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah.
The ‘Merlin’ actor got the call last Friday, just two weeks after he was sent the script. Fresh from his stint as Gwaine in BBC series ‘Merlin’, Macken was shooting the final leg of his upcoming feature ‘Cold’ when the ‘After Hours’ process began.
The successful cinematographer and up-and-coming director will spend one month in LA and New Mexico shooting the NBC pilot, as post-production gets underway on ‘Cold’, his latest feature film which stars his ‘Merlin’ co-star Tom Hopper and ‘What Richard Did’ actor Jack Reynor.
‘After Hours’ will be directed by Morel (Taken, From Paris with Love), with writers Sachs and Judah also executive producing. Sony Pictures TV is producing.
It will be decided whether ‘After Hours’ gets picked up for series or not in pilot season in January.
