Showtime has cloistered a trio of actors for its new pilot “The Vatican,” with Kyle Chandler, Matthew Goode and Sebastian Koch joining the Ridley Scott-directed drama.
The premium cable network announced on Friday (February 15) that Emmy-winning “Friday Night Lights” star Kyle Chandler will play the pilot’s lead role, Cardinal Thomas Duffy, the progressive and enigmatic Archbishop of New York.
The “Early Edition” star has been seen on the big screen this year in “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty” and in the Sundance award winner “The Spectacular Now.” He’ll still always be Coach Taylor to us.
Goode, whose feature credits include “Watchmen,” “Match Point” and the upcoming “Stoker,” will play Papal Secretary Bernd Koch. He’s currently appearing in the BBC’s “Dancing on the Edge.”
Playing a darker role is “Lives of Others” star Koch, who will be Cardinal Marco Malerba, the Vatican’s Secretary of State. Showtime says the character is known as the “dark prince of the Curia.”
“Vatican,” which comes to Showtime from Sony Pictures Television, was created by Paul Attanasio.
You think with the Pope’s resignation and the Vatican’s constant presence — for better or for worse — in the news, Showtime may feel they can generate buzz around this one?