Academy Award® nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Hugo Weaving (The Matrix trilogy) and Anna Madeley (The Crown) have joined the cast of Patrick Melrose (previously Melrose), a new series from Sky Atlantic and SHOWTIME® starring and executive produced by Academy Award ® nominee and Emmy® winner Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock).
Jennifer Jason Leigh and Hugo Weaving will star as the parents of Patrick Melrose, while Anna Madeley will play his wife. BAFTA Award nominee David Nicholls (One Day) is writing all five episodes, which will be directed by critically acclaimed director Edward Berger (Deutschland 83).
Based on the acclaimed series of semi-autobiographical novels by Edward St Aubyn, Patrick Melrose hilariously skewers the upper class as it tracks its protagonist’s harrowing journey from a deeply traumatic childhood through adult substance abuse and, ultimately, towards recovery.
With each episode devoted to one of the series’ five novels, the show will lay bare the drama of Melrose’s life, from his abusive youth at the hands of his father and the mother who tacitly condones the behaviour, to the outrageous playboy he becomes and the struggles he endures to defy the damage of his own past. The series will be a true television saga, both gripping and humorous, with Nicholls’ adaptation sweeping through the South of France in the 1960s, New York in the 1980s and Britain in the early 2000s.
Leigh has received Golden Globe® nominations for her work in The Hateful Eight, Mrs Parker, the Vicious Circle, as well as four individual Film Independent Spirit Award nominations for her performances in Anomalisa, Margot at the Wedding, Georgia, Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle. She is currently appearing in Twin Peaks on Sky Atlantic.
In addition to playing Agent Smith inThe Matrix trilogy and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Weaving’s other notable film roles include Hacksaw Ridge, The Hobbit, Cloud Atlas and Captain America: The First Avenger.
Madeley has starred in series such as The Crown, Mr Selfridge and Utopia and films including In Bruges, and has had an extensive career on the stage, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
A native of Germany, Berger has won two Adolf Grimme Awards for directing, most recently in 2016 for Deutschland 83, and was nominated for two German Film Awards for Jack.
Michael Jackson and Academy Award® nominee and Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning producer Rachael Horovitz (Moneyball, Grey Gardens) will also be executive producers of the series. Jackson, the former Channel 4 and IAC executive, recently formed the drama banner Two Cities Television. Patrick Melrose will be the company’s first production, along with Benedict Cumberbatch and Adam Ackland who will executive produce for SunnyMarch.
Patrick Melrose will begin shooting in London and the South of France in August. Sky Vision will own the distribution rights.
The show will be available on Sky Atlantic, on demand and the Sky Q and Sky Go mobile app, as well as through online streaming service NOW TV with a NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass.
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