Keira Knightley has signed on to star in and executive produce a drama series for Apple — her second commitment to a streaming TV project in the past few months.
The tech giant has given a series order to The Essex Serpent, a period drama based on Sarah Perry’s British Book Award-winning novel. Anna Symon (Mrs. Wilson) will be the lead writer, and Clio Barnard (Dark River) is set to direct.
The Essex Serpent centers on Cora (Knightley). Having being released from an abusive marriage, she relocates from Victorian London to the small village of Aldwinter in Essex, intrigued by a local superstition that a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent has returned to the area.
The Apple drama is the second streaming project Knightley has signed onto recently. She’ll also star in and executive produce a limited series for Hulu based on Suzanne Rindell’s novel The Other Typist.
See-Saw Films will produce the series for Apple’s TV+ platform. Knightley, Symon, Barnard, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Patrick Walters, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman executive produce. Andrea Cromwell is producing.
Pirates of the Caribbean star Knightley’s recent credits include Misbehaviour, Colette and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. She is repped by United Agents, CAA, Narrative and Sloane Offer.
