Jenna Coleman will set aside her “Victoria” crown to play a young mother whose baby is abducted – with life-changing consequences – in BBC drama “The Cry.” Ewen Leslie, who recently appeared as Nicole Kidman’s estranged husband in “Top of the Lake: China Girl,” will star opposite Coleman and play her husband as the couple struggles to deal with the horrific event.
Coleman, who has also been in “Doctor Who,” will continue in the role of Queen Victoria in the ITV and PBS series, which was recently granted a third season. As for “The Cry,” Coleman said: “I first read Jacquelin Perske’s script on a plane. It felt like walking a tightrope, racing page to page, unsettling, unknowable, uncomfortable, and thrilling….I look forward to tackling this challenge and bringing it to the screen.”
Added Leslie: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of the amazing team that has been formed to bring these complicated characters and thrilling story to the screen.”
The BBC One series is adapted from the 2013 novel by Helen FitzGerald and directed by Glendyn Ivin (“Gallipoli”). Scottish indie producer Synchronicity Films is making the four-part series, with filming in Scotland and in Australia, where the abduction of the couple’s baby takes place in a remote area. Creative Scotland and Film Victoria, based in Melbourne, Australia, are backing the project.
The Australian broadcaster is not yet known. London-based distributor DRG, part of the Modern Times Group, has the international rights to the series.
