‘Agent Carter,’ ‘Conviction’ alum Hayley Atwell to star in new BBC / Starz miniseries
Just in case it was not clear before that “Conviction” was going to be canceled by ABC after one season on the air, consider this some further evidence.
Today, it was announced that the show’s star Hayley Atwell, who you also know for playing the title character over on “Agent Carter,” is going to star in a new adaptation of “Howards End” for the BBC and Starz. This miniseries could be giving new life to a property that, aside from the original source material, is best known because of the feature film that starred Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter. Atwell will be playing the same role of Margaret Schlegel that got Thompson so much acclaim some time ago.
After seeing the past two shows of hers gets canceled by ABC, we cannot say that we’re surprised that Atwell would be looking to do something a little bit different. We’ve advocated in the past for her to be a candidate to replace Peter Capaldi on “Doctor Who,” and while there’s been no official statements saying that’s there’s an interest in her, we’re still keeping it on our radar. What’s especially noteworthy here is that Hattie Macdonald, who is directing this miniseries over four parts, has also worked on the time-traveling series.
Just in case you need one more dose of validation terms of how good this end product could be, just know that Kenneth Lonergan of “Manchester by the Sea” fame is writing it. This has the potential to bring tremendous awards acclaim, even though we’re seeing at the same time just how many incredible roles are opening up for women right now in the limited series / TV movie space.
ABC will likely cancel “Conviction” officially at their upfronts in May. This is not even the first example that we’ve seen of a cast member already looking forward to their future. After all, Emily Kinney also recently booked a new series project of her own.
What do you think about this casting? Share now in the comments! As soon as there is a little bit more to report on with this episode, you better believe that we’ll have that news for you here.