Tom Waits Joins Hulu Vigilante Drama ‘Citizen’

Tom Waits is turning his attention back to acting.

The singer-songwriter has joined Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Hulu drama pilot Citizen, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

From the acclaimed director of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Citizen is a fresh take on the hero origin story, blending elements of magical realism and gritty vigilantism against the backdrop of the vibrant world of east Los Angeles. 

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Waits will play Cesar, a priest, who is a walking anachronism of virtue and vice, mostly virtue. A proudly anti-authoritarian man, Cesar runs a guerrilla humanitarian outfit with questionable legality from his church in Boyle Heights. He joins a cast that includes Forrest Goodluck, Augusto Aguilera and Alex Gonzalez.

Gomez-Rejon created the concept with Blood and Oil duo Josh Pate and Nicholas Schutt. They will pen the script as well as executive produce alongside Anonymous Content’s David Kanter, Matt DeRoss and Steve Golin. Gomez-Rejon will also direct the pilot, with Paramount Television producing.

Citizen is part of Hulu’s ongoing bid to compete with awards-friendly original fare on Netflix and Amazon such as House of Cards and Transparent, respectively.

Waits, best known for his prolific music career spanning back to the early 1970s, has also dabbled in acting for many years, with supporting roles in such films as The Book of Eli, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Mystery Men and The Outsiders, among others. He is repped by WME, MGMT Entertainment and Gang Tyre.