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Casting News: Discovery’s <i>MANHUNT: THE UNABOMer</i> Adds Chris Noth and Keisha Castle-Hughes To Cast

In a press release:

 

CHRIS NOTH AND KEISHA CASTLE-HUGHESJOIN DISCOVERY’S

HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED SCRIPTED SERIES ‘MANHUNT: THE UNABOMer*’

 Produced by Lionsgate and Trigger Street Productions,

Filming Starts in Atlanta on January 30

 

(LOS ANGELES) – Discovery Channel announced today that Golden Globe® nominee Chris Noth (“The Good Wife,” “Sex In The City”) and Oscar® nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes (“Roadies,” “Game of Thrones”) have been cast in its upcoming highly-anticipated scripted series MANHUNT: THE UNABOMer*, set to air this year.  Produced by John Goldwyn, serving as consultant to Discovery, Lionsgate, Trigger Street Productions and Discovery Channel, the series will tell the story of how the FBI brought down Ted Kaczynski (Paul Bettany, “Gangster No. 1,” “Captain America: Civil War), also known as the “Unabomber,” one of the most infamous criminal masterminds in the world.  Production starts in Atlanta on January 30, 2017. Emmy® Award-winning television producer and director Greg Yaitanes (“Quarry,” “Banshee”) will executive produce, direct and serve as showrunner.

Chris Noth

Noth will play Don Ackerman, the Bay Area Divisional Head of the FBI, who supervised the Unabomber Task Force. Meanwhile, Castle-Hughes stars as Tabby, a street agent who partners with FBI agent Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald, (Sam Worthington, Mel Gibson’s critically-acclaimed “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Avatar”), one of the most decorated profilers in the history of the bureau, whose radical approach to intelligence gathering ultimately took Kaczynski down.  Noth, Castle-Hughes and Worthington are joined by Paul Bettany (“Gangster No. 1,” “Captain America: Civil War”) as Ted Kaczynski, also known as the “Unabomber,” one of the most infamous criminal masterminds in the world.  This series features both Bettany and Worthington’s first major leading roles on U.S. television.

Noth is an accomplished graduate of the Yale School of Drama that continues to build upon a versatile career in film, television and on stage.  Among his credits are two of the most successful series in television history: “Law & Order” and “Sex and the City.”  Noth originated the role of Mike Logan on the first five seasons of “Law & Order” and then reprised the role on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”  He shared two SAG Award® nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series with his fellow cast members.  For his portrayal of Mr. Big in HBO’s “Sex and the City,” Noth earned a Golden Globe® nomination.  His performance as Peter Florrick in the CBS drama “The Good Wife” earned him a Golden Globe® nomination as well as two SAG Award nominations for Outstanding Ensemble.  In addition, Noth starred and executive produced the TNT original film “Bad Apple,” and starred in FX’s drama series “Tyrant,” the BBC series “Titanic: Blood and Steel,” TNT’s epic miniseries “Caesar,” and TNT’s telefilm “Exiled.”

Noth’s film credits include “Chronically Metropolitan,” “White Girl,” “After the Ball,” “Elsa & Fred,” “Lovelace,” “Frankie Go Boom,” “Sex and the City 2,” “Sex and the City,” “My One and Only,” “The Perfect Man,” “Mr. 3000,” “Searching for Paradise,” “Double Whammy,” “Cast Away,” “Texas Funeral,” “Getting to Know You,” “The Broken Giant,” “The Confession,” “Cold Around the Heart” and “Naked in New York.”

Keisha Castle-Hughes

On television, Castle-Hughes was last seen as a series lead in Cameron Crowe’s Showtime series “Roadies,” starring alongside Luke Wilson, Carla Gugino, and Imogen Poots.  She will reprise her role in Season Seven of HBO’s hugely-successful original series, “Game of Thrones,” as Obara Sand.

On the feature film side, Castle-Hughes can next be seen in the Dreamworks feature film “Thank You For Your Service,” opposite Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, and Amy Schumer and written and directed by Jason Hall (“American Sniper”).  She started out in this business with her break-through performance in Niki Caro’s film, “Whale Rider.”  Castle-Hughes’ portrayal of the Paikea earned her international acclaim, an Oscar® nomination for ‘Best Actress’ in 2003, and she won the Broadcast Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics, NZ Film & TV, Online Film Critics and the Young Artist awards.  She then went on to play Queen Naboo in George Lucas’ “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Episode III)” in 2005 and next played the role of Mary in “The Nativity Story,” directed by Catherine Hardwicke.  In 2008 and 2009, Castle-Hughes had roles in two high-profile independent films – “Hey, Hey It’s Esther Blueburger” and “Vintner’s Luck” aka “A Heavenly Vintage.”  She also had lead roles in “Vampire,” “Red Dog,” and “Queen Of Carthage.”

THE UNABOMer is from Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti’s Trigger Street and writer Andrew Sodroski, who topped Hollywood’s famed Black List for screenplays in 2013 with “Holland, Michigan.” The series is part of the push to add a select number of high-end scripted projects to Discovery’s line-up under the leadership of Rich Ross, Group President of Discovery, Animal Planet and Science Channel.  John Goldwyn also served as a consultant and executive producer on behalf of Discovery’s “Harley and the Davidsons,” which delivered more than 4.4 million viewers for Discovery this past September and became the most watched single-network cable miniseries in 3.5 years.

 

THE UNABOMer will trace how Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald challenged the “old school” ways with his radical new approach to intelligence gathering. Fitzgerald had training as a profiler, but it was his focus on linguistics that became vital to breaking the case. He believed that the key to unlocking the true identity of the Unabomber would be found in the language of The Manifesto, a detailed account of some of Kaczynski’s plots.

THE UNABOMer is produced with Lionsgate and Trigger Street Productions. Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti, Troy Searer and Greg Yaitanes are Executive Producers. John Goldwyn will serve as Executive Producer on behalf of Discovery.  Jim Fitzgerald will serve as Consulting Producer.

 

*As of 2/08/17* Title was changed from MANIFESTO to MANHUNT: THE UNABOMer

 

 

Source: ©2017 Discovery Channel. All Rights Reserved.

 

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.

Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.