The eight-episode Apple limited series ‘Defending Jacob’ now includes Michelle Dockery and Jaeden Martell. The series is an adaptation of William Landay’s bestselling 2012 novel. The two join the already cast Chris Evans (‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ ‘Knives Out’).
Dockery got both an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the ITV/PBS series ‘Downton Abbey.’ She will be reprising that role for the upcoming feature film installment, releasing September 20th. She also got an Emmy nomination for the Netflix miniseries ‘Godless.’
Next, she will be in Guy Ritchie’s ‘Bush,’ replacing Kate Beckinsale.
Martell (formerly Lieberher) was in the blockbuster film ‘It,’ and will return for the sequel ‘It: Chapter Two,’ releasing September 6th. He also had roles in Theodore Melfi’s ‘St. Vincent,’ the Showtime series ‘Masters of Sex,’ and Jeff Nichols’ ‘Midnight Special.’
This year, he will be in Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out,’ releasing November 27th, also starring Chris Evans.
The premise of the miniseries is below:
“Andy Barber (Evans), an assistant district attorney, investigates the slaying of a 14-year-old boy and discovers his teenage son Jacob (Martell) is a suspect.”
Dockery will play Laurie Barber, Andy’s wife and Jacob’s mother.
Moreover, Mark Bomback serves as creator, executive producer, writer, and showrunner. He was a writer on the ‘Dawn’ and ‘War’ installments of the ‘Planet of the Apes’ trilogy. He was also part of ‘The Wolverine and last year’s ‘The Outlaw King.’ Next up is 20th Century Fox’s ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain,’ releasing September 27th.
While Bomback wrote the pilot, Morten Tyldum is onboard to direct and executive produce the series. Tyldum got an Academy Award nomination for ‘The Imitation Game.’ Other films include the Jo Nesbø adaptation ‘Headhunters’ and Sony’s ‘Passengers.’ He was also the director of the pilots of Starz’s ‘Counterpart’ and Amazon’s ‘Jack Ryan.’
The series is currently eyeing to start filming on April 1st in Massachusetts.
However, the Apple streaming service will not launch until summer or fall this year.
Source: Variety