John Hawkes has been one of my favorite character actors since he first came to my attention back in the ’90s with roles in films like Roadracers, Night of the Scarecrow, From Dusk Till Dawn, and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, so it’s cool to hear (from Deadline) that he’s going directly from a multi-episode role in the latest season of True Detective to landing a recurring role in the Prime Video series adaptation of Criminal, the Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series written by Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Sean Phillips. Hawkes, along with Pat Healy (Better Call Saul), Taylor Selé (BMF), and Logan Browning (Dear White People), join previously announced cast members Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Adria Arjona (Hit Man), Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), and Kadeem Hardison (A Different World).
Criminal tells “the interweaving saga of several generations of families tied together by the crimes and murders of the past.” The official logline for the series says it will show viewers an interlocking universe of crime stories.
Hunnam will be playing the lead character, “Leo, a brilliant master thief who sees all the angles, and specializes in plans with no guns and no violence. Like a chess player, Leo thinks three moves ahead. Other crooks think he’s a coward, especially compared to his father Tommy, who went to jail for murdering the most feared man in the city, Teeg Lawless.” Arjona is taking on the role of Greta, “a sharp-tongued top-level car thief and driver and the widowed mother of Angie. Ever since her husband died in a bank job gone bad, Greta has been battling with herself about how to escape the only life she’s ever known – and the only place she’s ever thrived. The problem is, she’s good at this. She’s looking for a big score, a lump of money she can use like a gun to shoot her and Angie out of this life and into another one.” Jenkins’ character is Ivan, “Leo’s dad’s best friend, and has always been an uncle figure to him. He used to be a robber and criminal, but is now currently suffering from dementia. Leo is trying to care for him but realizes he’s more work than he can handle.” Hardison is playing Gnarly, “an old friend of Leo and Ivan. Gnarly was his nickname as a boxer back in the 1970s and it’s all anyone calls him. He walks with a limp, an old one. Gnarly’s a local legend, and he can go from warm to fierce in a heartbeat. He commands respect, partly because he can inflict massive physical damage, even at his advanced age — and partly because he has the authority and gravitas to stop other men in their tracks.”
Hawkes is set to play Sebastian Hyde, “a hard man who is six months out from a stroke, and now walks with a cane. Once the biggest shark in the shark tank, Hyde is now showing his humanity a bit — maybe a bit too much. The owner of a gambling club, the kind of man whose name is accompanied by fear, Hyde can be both amused by someone one minute, and a ruthless enforcer the next.” Healy’s character is Seymour, “a veteran thief and one-time part of Leo’s dad’s crew. Seymour does what he has to stay alive and get rich while trying to survive in the criminal world.” Selé has been cast as Royal, “the manager of Sebastian Hyde’s gambling club, and he is sharp-dressed and menacing. Royal is ruthless and will do whatever he needs to protect himself and move forward in the underworld.” And Browning is playing Jenny, “an Internal Affairs detective with a dry sense of humor and an absurdly calm demeanor. She presents as an even-tempered woman who appears to be without a care in the world. Jenny is very smart; her father was a criminal and she loves her job — which gives her the right to question, harass, terrify and imprison cops all day long. Jenny was raised with Leo as her playmate/buddy/blood brother for life.”
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, the filmmaking duo behind Half Nelson, Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Mississippi Grind, Captain Marvel, and Freaky Tales, will be directing the first four episodes of Criminal. Brubaker has written the script for the pilot and will serve as showrunner of the series alongside Jordan Harper (Hightown). Brubaker and Harper are also executive producing with Sean Phillips, Sarah Carbiener, Phillip Barnett, and Legendary Television.
What do you think of the cast that’s being assembled for Criminal? Share your thoughts on the additions of John Hawkes, Pat Healy, Taylor Selé, and Logan Browning by leaving a comment below.