Colin Farrell (Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them, True Detective) has been tapped to star in The North Water, BBC Two’s four-part adaptation of the novel by Ian McGuire. He will play Henry Drax.
“Colin Farrell will bring a blend of brutality and humanity to Andrew Haigh’s superb adaptation of this savage novel”, said the BBC’s Controller of Drama Piers Wenger. “The North Water is a brooding and resonant story which is set to grip BBC Two viewers.”
The North Water is set in the UK and the ice floes of the Arctic in the late 1850s and tells the story of Patrick Sumner, a disgraced ex-army surgeon who signs up as ship’s doctor on a whaling expedition to the Arctic. On board he meets Henry Drax (Farrell), the harpooner, a brutish killer whose amorality has been shaped to fit the harshness of his world.
Hoping to escape the horrors of his past, Sumner finds himself on an ill-fated journey with a murderous psychopath. In search of redemption, his story becomes a harsh struggle for survival in the Arctic wasteland. The four-part series, which consists of three hour-long episodes and one ninety-minute episode, is being penned by Andrew Haigh. “Casting the right leads is the most important part of any project and I’m thrilled to have Colin Farrell on board”, Haigh said. “I am a huge admirer of his work and can’t wait to see him bring Drax vividly to life.”
The North Water is being produced for BBC Two by See-Saw Films. Rhombus Media are co-producing. Kate Ogborn is the series producer. The executive producers are Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman for See-Saw Films, Niv Fichman for Rhombus Media and Lucy Richer for the BBC. BBC Studios will handle global sales. Production on the series is set to get underway this autumn. “The North Water is a thriller, a survival adventure, and searing study of character and man’s place in the world”, said See-Saw Films’ COO Hakan Kousetta and Head of Television Jamie Laurenson. “We are so proud to have the compelling talent of Colin Farrell on board to bring Andrew Haigh’s vision of Ian McGuire’s novel to the screen.”
