Melissa George is set to join her Alias co-star, Justin Theroux, for Apple TV+’s forthcoming drama series, Mosquito Coast which is based on the 1986 drama film of the same name.
Directed by Peter Weir, the original starred Harrison Ford in the lead role alongside Helen Mirren, Andre Gregory, and River Phoenix. The film followed the Fox family as they leave the U.S. in an attempt to find a happier life in Central America. However, their idyllic vacation, turns into hell on earth when their stubborn father begins to exhibit increasingly erratic and aggressive behavior.
Based on the nail biting novel by Paul Theroux— Justin Theroux’s uncle— Apple Tv+’s Mosquito Coast will star The Leftovers alum as the lead alongside the up and coming Logan Polish as Dina, the Fox’s teenage daughter and Stalker alum Gabriel Bateman as Charlie, the Fox’s younger son.
The series is set to follow an idealistic inventor named Allie played by Theroux who “uproots his family and takes them to the jungles of Central America to start new life.” George, who just finished her run on the short lived Sean Penn helmed Hulu series, The First, will play Allie’s wife Margot.
Luther creator Neil Cross is credited as writer for Mosquito Coast’s first episode alongside Tom Bissell and will serve as show runner and EP throughout the first season. Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) will direct several episodes and also serve as an EP on the upcoming series as well.
Before becoming an actress, George was a former national rollerskating champion and model, beggining her acting career playing Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away from 1993–96. After moving to the States, George made her big-screen debut in 1998 in the sci-fi hybrid film, Dark City before later appearing in Steven Soderbergh’s The Limey, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Sugar & Spice, and Down with Love. She later gained leading roles in the horror/ psychological thriller genre.