This week saw Irish actors Sarah Bolger, Andrew Scott and Brian F O’Byrne land roles in major international productions, while Chris O’Dowd signs with WME…
AMC’s ‘Badlands’ Adds Sarah Bolger
Sarah Bolger has been added to the cast of AMC’s martial arts pilot ‘Badlands’. Created by Al Gough and Miles Millar, the drama is loosely based on ‘Journey to the West’. It follows a great warrior and a young boy who go on a journey to find enlightenment in a dangerous land controlled by feudal barons.
Executive producers are Stacy Sher, Michael Shamberg, martial arts filmmakers Daniel Wu and Stephen Fung, and David Dobkin. Dobkin will also direct the pilot.
Bolger will play Jade, a beautiful woman with serious ambition, which she masks with innocence. Also cast in the pilot are Emily Beecham and Oliver Stark.
Bolger is best known for her role as Mary Tudor on ‘The Tudors’ and as Aurora
on ABC’s ‘Once Upon A Time’. She also starred in Jim Sheridan’s ‘In America’ and she will next be seen in thriller ‘Lazarus’ opposite Evan Peters and Olivia Wilde.
Andrew Scott Joins Cast of Next Bond Film
Director Sam Mendes has revealed the title for Bond 24, which will be ‘Spectre’, and has also revealed a number of the new film’s cast members. The announcement was made last week from the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios where the film will shoot along with London, Rome, Mexico City, Tangier, Erfoud and the Austrian Alps.
The newest cast members are confirmed as Christoph Waltz, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, Léa Seydoux and Irish actor Andrew Scott. Daniel Craig will return as Bond along with Rory Kinnear as Tanner, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny and Ralph Fiennes as the new M.
Andrew Scott, whose credits include ‘Sherlock’, ‘The Stag’, ‘Locke’ and ‘Pride’, will play Denbigh.
The logline for the new film is: “A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.”
‘Spectre’ will be produced by EON Productions, MGM, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson are producers. John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are writers. Spectre releases on November 6, 2015.
Brian F O'Byrne Cast in ‘The Last Ship’
‘Love/Hate’'s Brían F O'Byrne has joined the cast of TNT's hit apocalyptic drama ‘The Last Ship’ for its second series in the US.
According to Deadline, O'Byrne and co-star Nick Court will play the major recurring roles of Sean and Ned Ramsey, brothers who come into contact with the crew of the USS Nathan James as those on board seek a cure for a global viral pandemic and try to save humanity. Mark Moses will also be added as a new cast member. He will play a high-ranking U.S. government official trying to protect citizens from the plague.
The series also stars Eric Dane and Rhona Mitra and is based on William Brinkley's novel of the same name. The series is from Bay’s Platinum Dunes and its partners, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, who executive produce with creator-showrunners Hank Steinberg, Steven Kane and Jack Bender.
Chris O’Dowd Signs With WME
WME has signed actor and writer/director, Chris O’Dowd, showing his career is continuing to rise. O’Dowd can currently be seen opposite Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy in Golden Globe-nominated ‘St. Vincent’.
His credits include ‘Bridesmaids’, ‘The Sapphires’, ‘Calvary’ and ‘The IT Crowd’. O’Dowd received a Tony nomination earlier this year for his performance in Broadway’s ‘Of Mice And Men’. He also stars in, directs and created the award-winning Sky TV series ‘Moone Boy’, whichrecently sold to ABC with a put pilot commitment.
O’Dowd is repped in the UK by Donna French and managed by 3 Arts Entertainment.
