Emilia Clarke Joins Series Adaptation of Ed Brubaker's CRIMINAL
Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) has joined the ensemble cast of Prime Video’s series adaptation of Ed Brubaker's Criminal.
Clark joins the previously cast Charlie Hunnam, John Hawkes, Adria Arjona, Richard Jenkins, Kadeem Hardison, Logan Browning, Pat Healy and Taylor Selé.
Criminal is set in a gritty, noir-inspired world, the series delves deep into the criminal underworld, exploring the lives of various characters who inhabit this dark and morally complex realm.
Each volume of Criminal is a self-contained story, but they are all interconnected, building a rich tapestry of crime, betrayal, and redemption. The series actually features some really compelling storytelling.
Clarke will take on the role of Mallory, who is described as "a slick and daring armed robber, as quick with a gun as she is with her wits.
“Part of a heist crew with Ricky Lawless (Gus Halper), who she's in a passionate Bonnie-and-Clyde-like affair with. Mallory is a woman on the edge, living on the wrong side of the law and hiding secrets that will bring her and her entire crew into the danger zone."
Hunnam will star as Leo, who is described as “A brilliant master thief who sees all the angles, and specializes in plans with no guns and no violence.
“Like a chess player, Leo thinks three moves ahead. Other crooks think he’s a coward, especially compared to his father Tommy, who went to jail for murdering the most feared man in the city, Teeg Lawless.”
Hawkes is set to play Sebastian Hyde, “a hard man who is six months out from a stroke, and now walks with a cane. Once the biggest shark in the shark tank, Hyde is now showing his humanity a bit — maybe a bit too much.
“The owner of a gambling club, the kind of man whose name is accompanied by fear, Hyde can be both amused by someone one minute, and a ruthless enforcer the next.”
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden are set to direct the first four episodes of the series and Brubaker will act as co-showrunner with crime fiction author Jordan Harper.
Brubaker said in a statement: “Sean and I have been building this world in our books for over a decade, and now to be able to bring it to life for Amazon is just incredible.
“And to have Amazon support the project the way they have, and show so much faith in my and Jordan’s vision for the show is even more incredible.”
Nick Pepper, head of U.S. Amazon MGM Studios said in a statement: Criminal is a beloved graphic novel created by the most iconic team in the history of comics.
“I know our global Prime Video customers will immediately embrace this story, and I look forward to working with Ed, Jordan, and the team to bring it to the screen.”
Brubaker explained in a past interview: “Criminal tells the interweaving saga of several generations of families tied together by the crimes and murders of the past. And one of the big events in many of these characters’ pasts, which has been referenced since the very first Criminal story, was the death of Teeg Lawless.
“Before we even met Teeg, we knew that he had died when his son was a teenager, but other than the identity of his killer, we have never told the rest of that story. It’s just been a ghost haunting the series, as Teeg Lawless has become one of the most popular characters in the comic.”
Source: Variety