Fresh off another great performance in Guillermo Del Toro‘s The Shape Of Water, Michael Shannon has now been cast in Park Chan-Wook‘s (The Handmaiden, Oldboy) television debut, The Little Drummer Girl. Shannon will play Israeli spymaster Kurtz in the tale of espionage, and joins the previously announced cast of Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth) and Alexander Skarsgard (Big Little Lies)
The project will be based on the John Le Carré novel of the same name, and will be a 1970s-set spy thriller that stars Pugh as brilliant young actress Charlie who strikes up a friendship with a handsome strange while on holiday in Greece. She soon realises his intentions aren’t romantic, but professional, as he turned out to be an Israeli intelligence officer who entangles Charlie in a complex plot.
Director Park said of Shannon’s casting in a press release:
“The first time I saw Michael was as one of the genius actors who delivered wonderful performances in Revolutionary Road, and ever since I’ve remained his loyal fan. I believe Michael will make the perfect Kurtz, a man scarred by history and carrying burdens all too heavy on his shoulders, an Israeli ‘Captain Ahab’ obsessed by his biggest and most elusive nemesis yet”.
This isn’t the only major TV role Shannon has lined up, as he’s also set to appear in Paramount TV’s Waco and HBO’s Fahrenheit 451. The Little Drummer Girl is being produced by The Ink Factory, BBC and AMC, the trifecta that spawned the recent award-winning Le Carré adaptation, The Night Manager.
The show will be a six-part miniseries, and is expected to premiere later this year.
#Peace.Love.TheLittleDrummerGirl
