‘The Dovekeepers’: ‘Alcatraz’ alum joins Cote de Pablo, more in CBS miniseries
While the majority of CBS programs are currently being filmed here in North America, the network is definitely going international with their upcoming miniseries “The Dovekeepers.”
Recently, we shared a video showing off Cote de Pablo and more at the show’s set in Malta, and now, we’ve got some more casting news to go along with that. Per Entertainment Weekly, Sam Neill (“Alcatraz”) has signed on to do the project, which largely revolves around four women who are among the 900 attempting survive at the Siege of Masada.
Specifically, Neill is going to be playing Josephus, a prolific Jewish scholar and historian who does have some questionable views. With that being said, his work is very valuable to helping us understand some of what took place here.
In a statement, executive producer Roma Downey had the following to say about this casting:
“We are delighted to have the incredibly talented Sam Neill, an actor whose breadth of experience will bring such depth and vision to the role of Josephus … Sam is a wonderfully exciting choice to bring Josephus to life in this gripping story of Masada.”
This casting is more great news for the project, but there is still little denying that this is a big risk for CBS. They have not done many miniseries, and the story of Masada is probably not one that is familiar to the average network viewer. Still, they have Downey and Mark Burnett on board as producers, and they have a star in Cote who was clearly popular from all of her work on “NCIS.” The fact that this is her first major TV project in America since exiting that show likely adds even more weight to this story.
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Benjamin Friego
November 6, 2014 @ 4:15 pm
I do not consider anything that Downey and Burnett to do as “risky”.
liz laughlin
October 14, 2014 @ 4:09 pm
Anyone who needs to brush up on Masada can make a quick visit to Wikipedia to get up to speed.You could also read Alice Hoffman’s book. I’m curious why they say Josephus had “questionable views.” He actually was alive during the times depicted Are they questioning his knowledge of the facts or his religious/political views I have The Complete Works of Josephus but I’ve never read it in it’s entirety. So, now I’m curious.
Well, I answered my question. Josephus initially led the Jewish forces in Galilee against the Romans. He surrendered in 67 AD (CE) He became a servant and interpreter for Vespasian and later was granted Roman citizenship. So, he was a turn coat. His writings would be assumed to be slanted in favor of the Romans.