The attraction of Elizabeth Strout‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Olive Kitteridge” was emphasized when actress Frances McDormand paid out of pocket for the rights, HBO and Tom Hanks decided to produce a miniseries from it, and Lisa Cholodenko (“The Kids Are All Right“) was tapped to direct it. The adaptation of Strout’s short story collection will star McDormand and Richard Jenkins, and if that wasn’t enough to draw your attention, a talented supporting cast has just been announced as well.
Focused on a sleepy New England town rife with infidelity, crime and tragedy lurking underneath its surface, the four-hour miniseries will center around Olive (McDormand) and her husband Henry (Jenkins), both of whom are now joined by John Gallagher Jr. (“The Newsroom“), Jesse Plemons (“Breaking Bad“), and Zoe Kazan. Gallagher will play Olive and Henry’s son, while Plemons and Kazan will feature as employees of the pharmacy in which Henry works.
As usual with HBO, the ensemble drama, Cholodenko, and her assembled cast should make for a quality addictive watch worthy of their roster. And with only
a fraction of the town’s villagers covered now with Gallagher, Plemons, and Kazan, look for plenty more talented names to climb on board soon. [Deadline]
