Starz is introducing a new drama based on Daniel O’Malley’s novel of the same title, The Rook. The show will center around the same concept as the book. Myfanwy Thomas (Emma Greenwell) wakes up one day next to London’s Millennium Bridge surrounded by dead bodies. With her memory wiped out, she later discovers she is part of Checquy, a British secret service agency for people with paranormal abilities.
Emma Greenwell takes on a lead role, her first, and quickly realizes the impact she has on the show and set.
“I never understood the weight of it and how the audience is seeing the story through me,” she said. “And if you looked across the set you would see exactly who is in charge.”
Olivia Munn enters the series as Monica Reed, a U.S. agent working alongside the British secret service who is secluded from insider information.
“Being a part of the US division, it’s not normal for me to just pop over to the British side,” Munn said. “It’s uninvited, but she has a very personal drive to figure out what’s going on with something related to someone she loves very much, but that opens up Pandora’s Box to all the other corruption and collusion.”
Joely Richardson joins the main cast as Linda Farrier, Checquy leader.
The Rook, at its core, is being developed by mostly female talents with both of the showrunners being women, Lisa Zwerling and Karyn Usher. Out of four of its directors, three are women – Kari Skogland, China Moo-Young, and Rebecca Johnson. The show, itself, revolves around three female leads.
“It was amazing having so many female directors too and their different styles, and that was very exciting. I did feel given everything that was going on last year, which we all know about, there was something wonderful and progressive and we were leaping into a new era,” said Richardson as the show filmed during the #MeToo Movement.
The Rook will premiere this summer with no official date as of yet.