Paramount+ has set the lead cast for its upcoming drama series Sexy Beast, the prequel to the 2000 cult British gangster movie, which is set to premiere in 2023.
The series will track the origin story of the Gal Dove, Don Logan and Teddy Bass characters, played in the movie by Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane, respectively. It will explore Gal and Don’s complicated relationship as Gal finds himself descending into the seductive madness of the London criminal world during the vibrant and volatile 1990s, while falling in love with DeeDee.
James McArdle (Mare of Easttown) leads the cast as Gal Dove, with Emun Elliot (The Gold) starring as Don Logan, Gal’s best friend. The pair are small-town thieves living the good life in ‘90s East London.
Sarah Greene (Normal People) is Deedee, an adult film star with the potential to turn Gal’s whole life upside down. Stephen Moyer (Shots Fired) is Teddy Bass, a rising name in the gangster world, who Gal and Don are offered the chance to work with on a high-profile heist. Tamsin Greig (Episodes) is Don’s stern and formidable older sister Cecilia.
Other cast members include Eliza Bennett (Dynasty), Clea Martin (Hanna), Nicholas Nunn (The Victim), John Dagleish (The Third Day), Robbie Gee (Motherland), Paul Kaye (The Stranger), Lex Shrapnel (Infiniti), Cally Lawrence (Who Is Alice), David Kennedy (Hollyoaks), Nitin Ganatra (EastEnders) and Alice Bailey Johnson (This Is Going to Hurt).
“I feel so fortunate to be able to explore these beautifully crafted characters a decade before we met them in the original story,” said showrunner Michael Caleo. This series has been a great passion of mine for many years and I cannot wait to see it come to life with this amazing cast.”
The series is produced by Chapter One Pictures, Anonymous Content and VIS, the international studio division of Paramount Global. It is written by showrunner and executive producer Michael Caleo (The Sopranos) and the opening episodes are directed by Daniel O’Hara (Brassic), who also serves as executive producer. Sophie Gardiner (Best Interests) and Rupert Ryle-Hodges (The Hollow Crown) are executive producers for Chapter One Pictures alongside Nicole Clemens. David Scinto and Louis Mellis, the writers of the original film, also serve as executive producers and James Levison (Endeavour) joins as producer.
Sexy Beast is one of the first original dramas commissioned in the UK that will debut across Paramount+ internationally, with additional series including The Flatshare, A Gentleman in Moscow, The Blue and The Burning Girls.
