Neftflix has cast Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) in its opioid crisis drama titled Painkilller, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black), Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), West Duchovny (Vegas High), Dina Shihabi (Amira & Sam), and John Rothman (One Mississippi) were previously cast.
Painkiller will show the beginnings of the opioid crisis, focusing on Purdue Pharma as an Oxycontin maker, as detailed in Patrick Radden Keefe’s (Say Nothing) New Yorker article “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” and Barry Meier’s (Spooked) book, Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic. Kitsch will play Glen Kryger, a driven family man who suffers an injury and as a result, has his life changed forever. John Ales (Euphoria) is slated to play a West Virginian doctor named Gregory Fitzgibbons, while Sam Anderson (Lost) plays Raymond Sackler, Purdue Pharma co-owner. Carolina Bartczak (Most Dangerous Game) will play Lily Kryger, Glen’s wife, while Jack Mulhern (Mare of Easttown) will play their stepson.
News of this upcoming Netflix series comes just in time for the release of Hulu’s docuseries on the opioid epidemic on October 13 titled Dopesick.