JK Simmons (Whiplash, Invincible) and Tom Brittney (Make Me Famous, Grantchester) will co-star in The Westies, according to Tuesday report from Deadline. The upcoming MGM+ historical series, which showrunner Chris Brancato (Narcos, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit) first announced in an interview with Deadline in March of last year, follows the infamous Irish-American gang through a period of crisis as their chokehold on organized crime in 1980s Hell’s Kitchen is threatened by forces both internal and external.
Per Deadline, “The Westies 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 for the Irish-American organized crime gang. Despite being outnumbered 50-to-1 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. However, 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.”
According to TVInsider, J.K. Simmons will star as Eamon Sweeney, The Westies’ brutal yet charismatic leader, while Tom Brittney will play James “Jimmy” Roarke, an upstart within the gang who develops a mentor/mentee relationship with Sweeney over the course of the eight episode series. Titus Welliver (Lost, Deadwood) and Jessica Frances Dukes (Ozark, Earth Abides) will also have recurring roles.
While only one will portray a seasoned mafioso, neither lead is a newcomer to crime dramas: Brittney starred as officer Will Davenport for 2014’s Grantchester, while Simmons played LAPD chief Will Pope on TNT’s The Closer. Showrunner Brancato is perhaps best known for his work on such dramas, including Netflix’s Narcos and NBC’s Hannibal.
Deadline reports the series will begin production in July, though no release date has been set. When completed, all eight episodes of The Westies will be available to stream on MGM+.