Taylor Kitsch has come a long way from Odessa.
The Friday Night Lights and True Detective star has been transported to the chaos of post-war Berlin for the high-end TV drama Shadowplay, a new original series from Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein, creators of Nordic noir series The Bridge.
In the first images from the series, available exclusively to the The Hollywood Reporter, Kitsch looks rough and ready as Max McLaughlin, a Brooklyn cop playing a fish-out-of-water in an assignment to set up a police force in the chaos of post-World War II Berlin. His mission is to take down “Engelmacher” Gladow, the Al Capone of post-war Berlin, played by German star Sebastian Koch (The Lives of Others, Homeland).
But Max has an ulterior motive: he is also on the trail of his brother Moritz (Logan Marshall-Green) who may be behind gruesome acts of revenge against former Nazis. Max’s divided loyalties set him on a collision course with his superior, Tom Franklin (Dexter star Michael C. Hall). German actress Nina Hoss (Homeland) plays a former university linguistics teacher who’s joined the police force in the hopes of rebuilding Berlin. Mala Emde and Tuppence Middleton co-star in the eight-part drama series, which StudioCanal’s Tandem is producing together with Canada’s Bron Studios. German public broadcaster ZDF is on board as an anchor network.
StudioCanal TV is handling worldwide sales and will be screening a first trailer of Shadowplay with selected scenes to buyers in Berlin during the European Film Market.
Shadowplay will have its world premiere at the 60th Monte-Carlo Television Festival in June.
This story first appeared in The Hollywood Reporter’s Feb. 20 daily issue at the Berlin Film Festival.
