Maggie Gyllenhaal has been tapped to star in Sundance Channel's original miniseries The Honourable Woman.
The eight-part miniseries is described as a fast-paced thriller set against an international political backdrop.
Gyllenhaal will play Nessa Stein, the daughter of a Zionist arms procurer who as a child witnessed his assassination. Now an adult, Nessa inherits her father's company and changes course from supplying arms to laying data cabling networks between Israel and the West Bank. Her efforts to reconcile the Israelis and Palestinians lands her an appointment to the House of Lords and creates an international political maelstrom.
BAFTA winner Hugo Blick (The Shadow Line) will pen the script, direct and executive produce alongside Greg Brenman (Billy Elliot), with Abi Bach (Small Island) on board to produce the Sundance and BBC Worldwide North America co-production. The project hails from Eight Rooks and Drama Republic for BBC Two and is co-produced by Sundance.
Gyllenhaal said : "I couldn't put the scripts down. Nessa is such an exciting and intricate character. I can't wait to begin filming". The Honourable Woman will be set in the UK, Middle East and America and will film on location starting in July. It will air in 2014.
Added Sundance Channel president Sarah Barnett : "The Honourable Woman is scintillating drama, it is both a tightly plotted international political thriller and a superbly wrought character piece about hope, compromise, guilt and families. The talent both behind and in front of the camera is remarkable, and we are so excited to present this brilliant and wildly entertaining miniseries to our viewers".
Source.
Maggie Gyllenhaal's credits include Donnie Darko, Secretary, Adaptation., Sherrybaby, Stranger Than Fiction, Monster House, Paris je t'aime, The Dark Knight, Crazy Heart, Hysteria and White House Down.
It's worth pointing out that her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, is currently co-starring on The Killing on AMC - Sundance Channel is part of the same group as AMC, as well as IFC for comedies.
Just a few hours ago, Daniel Feinberg posted an interview with Maggie Gyllenhaal. He wasn't 100% sure but he had clearly heard rumors about a possible foray of hers into the cable TV landscape, it was only a matter of time :
Now, it's official, The Hono(u)rable Woman will be her first TV show, given that HBO decided not to go forward with their Corrections pilot last year — she would have been starring in that series alongside Ewan McGregor and Chris Cooper, I still can't believe HBO passed on that.
But it's in the past, and in the future we now have this undoubtedly very interesting political thriller to look forward to.
Streaming Options
