HBO have cast Jared Harris, one of our favorite actors, in a lead role and we couldn’t be more pleased.
He’s long played second fiddle to better known stars, namely as Lane Pryce in Mad Men, or King George VI in The Crown, or even Ulysses S. Grant alongside Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln. He also caused chaos as Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, though you’ll excuse us if we say he was the show’s second best criminal mastermind.
So it’s good to see him finally move front and center for this new series. Chernobyl will focus on the events of the 1986 nuclear disaster, with Variety reporting that Jared will play one of the people who worked to prevent a worldwide catastrophe, a Russian scientist called Valery Legasov.
That it’ll be a typically high-end drama is confirmed by the people behind the scenes. Craig Mazin, who wrote the screenplay for fairy tale adventure The Huntsman: Winter’s War, penned the scripts, while Breaking Bad‘s Johan Renck is directing.
HBO’s Kary Antholis says: “From the moment Craig Mazin pitched us the story, we were convinced that this all-too-true tale of horror and redemption needed to be told.
“It will engage – and enrage – our viewers, as well as audiences around the world.”
Filming is due to start next year, which means we can expect Chernobyl some time in 2019.
Are you glad to see Jared in a starring role?
