Nathan Lane Joins Showtime’s ‘Penny Dreadful’ Revival

Showtime’s Penny Dreadful revival has added a multiple Tony Award winner to its cast. 

Nathan Lane will star alongside Daniel Zovatto and Game of Thrones favorite Natalie Dormer in the series, whose full title is Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. The “spiritual descendant” of the Victorian London-set Penny Dreadful takes place in 1938 Los Angeles and will explore the deep social and political tensions in the city at that time.

Lane (Modern Family, The People v. O.J. Simpson) will play Lewis Michener, a veteran LAPD officer who is wise to the ways of the world and ruthless in pursuit of his goals. He becomes a partner and mentor to the younger Detective Tiago Vega (Zovatto).

Dormer plays Magda, a supernatural demon who can take the appearance of anyone she chooses and manifests in a number of guises in the story. Magda is a dangerous enemy and invaluable ally. The cast also includes Johnathan Nieves and Jessica Garza.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is set in motion by a grisly murder that embroils Vega in an epic story reflecting the rich history of Los Angeles: from the building of the city’s first freeways and its deep traditions of Mexican-American folklore, to the dangerous espionage actions of the Third Reich and the rise of radio evangelism.

Lane is a three-time Tony winner, most recently for the 2017 revival of Angels in America, in which he played Roy Cohn. His previous wins were for The Producers and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He is also a six-time Primetime Emmy nominee and has two Daytime Emmys for voiceover work.

Penny Dreadful creator John Logan, via his Desert Wolf Productions, and Michael Aguilar (Kidding) are executive producing City of Angels with Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris of Neal Street Productions; James Bagley is a co-exec producer. Series veteran Paco Cabezas will direct multiple episodes.

Production on the series is scheduled to begin later in the year; no premiere date has been set.

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