Academy Award-winning British actor Colin Firth will be in metro Atlanta from June to November to shoot a new HBO Max drama series, “The Staircase.”
In this eight-episode limited series, Firth will play American novelist Michael Peterson, convicted of murdering his wife in 2003. It will be a scripted adaptation based on a true-crime docu-series, various books and reports on the case.
Peterson’s charge was reduced to manslaughter in 2017, and he has since been released from prison. He claimed his wife Kathleen died accidentally after falling down the stairs but an autopsy indicated she had suffered multiple blows to the back of her head from a blunt object.
In the HBO Max series, Firth will work with Emmy-winning actress Toni Collette, who will play his wife. Rosemarie DeWitt will portray Kathleen’s sister. Collette and DeWitt also played sisters on the Showtime show ‘United States of Tara” a decade ago. DeWitt’s most recent TV role was on Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” alongside Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon.
The original documentary “The Staircase” was directed by French filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, who was able to talk to Peterson.
This would be Firth’s biggest TV role since playing Mr. Darcy in the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice.”
Hylton Casting is seeking extras for the series:
Credit: Hylton Casting
Credit: Hylton Casting
