'Billy Elliot's' Jamie Bell to Star in AMC Drama Pilot 'Turn'

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Jamie Bell

Jamie Bell is heading to television.

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The Billy Elliot actor will star in AMC drama pilot Turn from Nikita executive producer Craig Silverstein, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Set in colonial New York, Long Island and Connecticut, Turn centers on a band of young soldiers and civilians who come together to form America's first top-secret spy ring and help turn the tide against the British. Along the way, they create the foundation of the espionage trade through trial and error and great personal sacrifice.

Bell will play the lead role of Abraham Woodhull, husband to Mary and father to their young son, Abe. He is a cabbage farmer living in the small town of Setauket, Long Island. Hardworking and intent on paying back any debts, Abraham smuggles his cabbage crop on the black market, where he is captured by Colonials then pressed into spying for the Patriot cause.

Executive producers on Turn include Silverstein, who also will write, and Barry Josephson. Rupert Wyatt will direct the pilot.

Repped by WME and Artists Independent Management, Bell's credits include Man on a Ledge, The Adventures of Tintin, Jane Eyre and Defiance. He next appears in Snowpiercer and Nymphomaniac.

E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
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