MGM+ has announced that Academy Award-winning actor J.K. Simmons  will star in its upcoming Original crime drama series The Westies, created by acclaimed showrunner and executive producer Chris Brancato. Set in early 1980s New York, the series explores the brutal rise of the Irish-American gang that ruled Hell’s Kitchen at the time.

Simmons has appeared in a range of projects spanning motion pictures, television, and the stage on and off-Broadway.  He won the 2015 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of merciless jazz instructor, Fletcher, in Sony Pictures Classics’ Whiplash. His performance in the film also garnered him a Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe, Independent Spirit Award, and BAFTA Award, as well as many critics’ group awards around the world.

“J.K. Simmons is one of the finest actors working today,” said Michael Wright, head of MGM+. “His authenticity and intensity bring an invaluable quality to this complex and exhilarating story, and we can’t wait to see him bring this unforgettable character to life.”

The Westies is a gritty and kinetic crime drama centering on New York City’s infamously violent Irish gang of the same name. The series is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall. Despite being outnumbered fifty-to-one by the Five Families of the Italian Mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente. But internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia.

Besides Brancato, The Westies is developed by Michael Panes, who will also serve as executive producer. The eight-episode series marks Brancato’s third series with MGM+ following the success of his critically acclaimed series Godfather of Harlem, starring Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, and the crime thriller Hotel Cocaine.

The Westies will go into production in Toronto, Canada, in July and will premiere exclusively on MGM+ in the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia. Amazon MGM Studios Distribution will distribute in all other international territories.

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Categories: Press Releases

Tags: FBI, MGM, new york