LOS ANGELES, Jan 26 — The English actress will play the legendary Russian empress Catherine II — also known as Catherine the Great — in a miniseries coming in 2019.
The news was announced by US TV network HBO and British broadcaster Sky, both of which will screen the series.
After an Oscar-winning portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 movie The Queen, Helen Mirren will step into the shoes of another powerful monarch as she takes the starring role in Catherine the Great. Strong-minded, intelligent, independent and sexually liberated — the definition of the modern woman — this powerful empress reigned over Russia for more than 30 years in the 18th century.
The miniseries will focus on the end of Catherine the Great’s reign, in particular, her affair with Grigory Potemkin, a Russian military leader who became one of her key advisors. Filming this year, the series is set to screen in 2019 on Sky Atlantic in the UK, Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain, and on HBO for subscribers in North America.
George Clooney and Jennifer Aniston return to TV
As well as being a major name in the movie world, Helen Mirren has previously played several TV roles. The British actress notably took the lead in British show Prime Suspect, for which she won several awards. Helen Mirren is one of several big names from recent TV history set to make a comeback in the coming months or years with new small screen roles.
Former ER star George Clooney, for example, returns in Hulu’s anti-war drama series Catch-22, and Jennifer Aniston (Friends) will join Reese Witherspoon in a series produced for Apple. Similarly, James Franco (Freaks and Geeks) has joined the cast of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a Western anthology series from the Coen brothers for Netflix.
From movies to TV: Julia Roberts, Sean Penn and Emma Stone
Some stars of the big screen are set to make the move too, taking starring roles in TV series for the first time in their careers. Amy Adams stars in Sharp Objects, screening on HBO this summer. The cable channel has also snared Julia Roberts for its adaptation of Maria Semple’s book Today Will Be Different, Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) for the third season of True Detective and Meryl Streep for Big Little Lies season 2.
Direct rival Showtime recently signed up John Malkovich for the third series of Billions, which premieres March 25, and is readying Escape at Dannemora with Ben Stiller behind the camera and Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette and Paul Dano on the cast. From March 25, FX will screen Danny Boyle-directed Trust, starring Donald Sutherland and Hilary Swank.
SVOD platforms have also bagged some big names for upcoming shows. Emma Stone and Jonah Hill will be playing patients in a psychiatric hospital in Maniac on Netflix, while Ellen Page (Juno, Inception) stars in comic book adaptation The Umbrella Academy and Carey Mulligan stars in Collateral.
Sean Penn is coming to Hulu in sci-fi series The First. Plus, the American streaming site reportedly has Bill Skarsgard (It) lined up for its anthology series based on Stephen King’s Castle Rock.
Amazon, on the other hand, has Orlando Bloom in Carnival Row, although Guillermo del Toro is no longer at the helm. —AFP-Relaxnews
