Eddie Marsan, Shirley Henderson, Sean Harris, Kaya Scodelario & More To Star In Sean Durkin's 'Southcliffe'

Television

by Joe Cunningham
October 2, 2012 11:22 AM
2 Comments

Thanks to the jaw-droppingly good “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” Sean Durkin has established himself as one of the most promising directors around. We’re going to be all kinds of excited about any project he announces, and on his slate at the moment is the Janis Joplin biopic “Janis” (presumably not starring Jenna Maroney) and the four-part TV drama “Southcliffe” for British network Channel 4. The latter is penned by “Red Riding” scribe Tony Grisoni, and it looks like Durkin is starting to assemble a strong British cast for the project.

The show will center on the aftermath of a number of shootings that all take place in one day, and as told from the perspective of a journalist who grew up in the small titular market town where they occur. Grisoni describes the show as “an anthem to ordinary people’s ability to reinvent themselves is the face of ultimate darkness” – and we now know a bit more about who will portray those ordinary people. Durkin has managed to secure Eddie Marsan (“Sherlock Holmes," “Happy Go Lucky”), Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter’s Moaning Myrtle), Rory Kinnear (“Quantum of Solace”), Sean Harris (“Prometheus”), Joe Dempsie (“Game of Thrones”), Kaya Scodelario (“Wuthering Heights”), Nichola Burley (“Donkey Punch”) and Anatol Yusef (“Boardwalk Empire”) for the drama.

It’s a really impressive cast, and we’re particularly happy to see among that list Eddie Marsan, who this writer would rate amongst the very finest character actors working today. The project sees Joe Dempsie and Kaya Scodelario (who is surely a Hollywood leading lady in waiting) reunite for the first time since making their names in “Skins,” while Scodelario will also reunite with her “Wuthering Heights” co-star Nichola Burley who is another underrated talent. Importantly, they’re all impressive actors in their own right, and after seeing the performances Durkin was able to draw from Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes, we can’t wait to see his work with this cast.

Production begins on "Southcliffe" this month and will air in 2013. [ScreenTerrier]

Television

More: Southcliffe, Television, TV News, Eddie Marsan, Shirley Henderson, Sean Harris, Kaya Scodelario

2 Comments

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Desty | October 2, 2012 11:53 AMReply

Great cast. Loved "Red Riding". "Kaya Scodelario (who is surely a Hollywood leading lady in waiting)" People have said that about her since "Skins" but problem is Kaya isn't a great actress-she's certainly one of the least talented of any of the "Skins"generations-and despite being very beautiful she has no charisma on the big screen.
abbyandowen | October 5, 2012 6:07 AM

Kaya Scoledario is a great actress as far as I can tell. I have yet to see her do a bad job in anything, on the contrary I've been impressed by her acting, especially on Skins.
There's no need to bash these people.