Anna Friel Joins the Cast of ‘The Vatican’

Anna Friel
Anna Friel - Photo © Richard Chavez

Showtime’s added Anna Friel (terrific in the canceled-too-soon series Pushing Daisies) to the cast of the thriller The Vatican starring Kyle Chandler and Matthew Goode. Heading into production this year, Paul Attanasio wrote the hour-long script and Sir Ridley Scott (Prometheus) will direct the pilot as well as serve as an executive producer.

Per the network, Friel will play Kayla Duffy, the younger sister of Cardinal Thomas Duffy (Chandler).

The Plot: The Vatican is a provocative contemporary genre thriller about spirituality, power and politics – set against the modern-day political machinations within the Catholic church. Unlike her brother, Kayla is a sexually active, hard-partying New Yorker. She is darkly witty and openly rebellious against all norms and institutions, including the church.

While Kayla and Cardinal Duffy are close, honest, and loving siblings, she is always a complication and at times a liability for a man of the cloth who is one of the public leaders of the Catholic Church.