Susan Sarandon and Olivia Colman have joined the cast of Army of Shadows, the upcoming thriller series created by Ronan Bennett, the writer behind MobLand and The Day of the Jackal. The six-part series is currently filming in Paris and London.
Sarandon and Colman join previously announced stars Paddy Considine, America Ferrera, Alex Hassell and Kit Harington. Leila Farzad, Luther Ford, Amara Okereke, Patrick O’Kane, Anjli Mohindra, Ed Ashley and Zoë Telford also appear in the ensemble cast.
Army of Shadows Series Sets Its Cast and Creative Team
Produced by Studiocanal and Two Cities Television, Army of Shadows is written by BAFTA winner Ronan Bennett and directed across all six episodes by Lisa Gunning, known for Black Doves.
Studiocanal is handling worldwide sales, while Channel 4 commissioned the series for the UK. The project will also be released by Canal+ across its territories in Europe, Africa and Asia.
The series is the first production from Studiocanal’s recently launched in-house production arm. Executive producers include Paul Gilbert and M-K Kennedy for Studiocanal Television, Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin for Studiocanal, and Stephen Wright and Michael Jackson for Two Cities Television, alongside Bennett.
What Is Army of Shadows About?
Set in a near-future authoritarian Britain, Army of Shadows follows a former soldier known as Berry, who begins building a secret resistance network as the country comes under occupation.
The story brings together an unlikely group of people, including a soldier, student, radiographer and journalist, who decide to resist a regime that has gained control over everyday life. Their opposition puts them against a powerful state, a ruthless government minister determined to preserve order and an American intelligence operative named Jessie.
The series explores the formation of a resistance movement and the personal cost of opposing an occupying power.
Army of Shadows Draws on a Classic French Resistance Story
The series is inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1969 film Army of Shadows and Joseph Kessel’s novel of the same name. Both works famously portrayed the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France in World War II.
The new adaptation shifts the story to an occupied Great Britain, while being developed and produced with the support of the Melville family and the Kessel estate.
