PENNY DREADFUL
Further casting announced
on the Sky Atlantic and SHOWTIME® co-production
- Helen McCrory, Danny Sapani and Simon Russell Beale to join the cast
Further casting has been announced on PENNY DREADFUL, the frightening psychological thriller series created, written and executive produced by three-time Oscar® nominee John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator) and executive produced by Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife) both of Neal Street Productions.
Helen McCrory (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 & 2), Danny Sapani (The Bill) and Simon Russell Beale (My Week with Marilyn, MI-5) will also join the drama series. McCrory will play ‘Madame Kali’, a spiritualist; Sapani will take on ‘Sembene’, an African warrior and longtime ally of Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton); and Beale will star as ‘Ferdinand Lyle’, an eccentric Egyptologist.
In PENNY DREADFUL, some of literature’s most famously terrifying characters – including Doctor Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and iconic figures from the novel Dracula – become embroiled in Victorian London. The series weaves together these classic horror origin stories as the characters grapple with their monstrous alienation.
Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbour) will take on the role of ‘Ethan Chandler,’ a charming American who finds himself trapped in the darkest corners of Victorian London, while Eva Green (Casino Royale) will play ‘Vanessa Ives,’ a seductive and formidable beauty full of secrets and danger.
Billie Piper (Doctor Who) will play the role of Brona Croft, an Irish immigrant in Victorian London trying to escape a dark past. Piper joins Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Harry Treadaway (The Lone Ranger) and Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) who will also star. Carney will play Dorian Grey in a reprisal of Oscar Wilde’s supernaturally attractive and decadent young hero and Kinnear will play a mysterious character of haunting intensity. In an exciting new version of Mary Shelley’s inspired and obsessed genius, Treadaway will take on the role of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights, License to Kill) also stars as Sir Malcolm, a hardened African explorer on a deeply personal quest.
PENNY DREADFUL is being produced for Sky Atlantic and Showtime by Neal Street Productions and Desert Wolf Productions.
PENNY DREADFUL joins a growing slate of original UK drama commissions for Sky Atlantic HD, which began with critically acclaimed mini-series HIT & MISS and recent detective thriller, FALCÓN. Other upcoming original drama commissions on Sky Atlantic HD include THE TUNNEL and FLEMING. The commission is part of Sky’s commitment to increase investment in original content by 50%, and by 2014, Sky expects to invest £600 million a year in British programmes across its portfolio of channels.
ENDS
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Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic
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