The cast of National Geographic, Fox 21 Television Studios and Scott Free Productions’ The Hot Zone has expanded to include The Americans‘ Noah Emmerich. Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones), Topher Grace (BlacKkKlansman), Paul James (The Path), Nick Searcy (The Shape of Water), Robert Wisdom (The Wire) and Robert Sean Leonard (House) have also joined the cast of the miniseries.
Shooting began today in Toronto, with additional filming scheduled to take place in South Africa later this year. National Geographic is targeting a 2019 worldwide premiere of the miniseries.
The new cast members join Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife, Dietland) who was previously announced to take on a starring role. James D’Arcy (Homeland) is on board as a guest star.
The Hot Zone six-part miniseries is based on the bestselling novel by Richard Preston. Michael Uppendahl (Castle Rock, Fargo) and Nick Murphy (Save Me, The Secret) are directing the series. Kelly Soulders (Genius, Salem) and Brian Peterson (Genius, Salem) are co-showrunners as well as executive producers. Lynda Obst Production’s Lynda Obst and Scott Free Production’s Ridley Scott and David Zucker also serve as executive producers along with Michael Uppendahl.
The Hot Zone Plot and Character Details:
“The Hotel Zone tells the story of the origins of Ebola, a highly infectious and deadly virus from the central African rain forest, and its arrival on U.S. soil in 1989. When this killer suddenly appeared in monkeys in a scientific research lab in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., there was no known cure. A heroic U.S. Army scientist working with a secret military specialized team put her life on the line to head off the outbreak before it spread to the human population. The Hotel Zone is a dramatic, high-stakes scientific thriller with a courageous, brilliant and determined heroine at its center.
Noah Emmerich joins as Lt. Col. Jerry Jaax, husband of Nancy Jaax (Margulies), who doesn’t hesitate to risk his life during the operation to contain the Ebola virus. Liam Cunningham is set to portray Wade Carter, Dr. Nancy Jaax’s vital ally in the race to prevent the virus from spreading. Topher Grace is Dr. Peter Jahrling, virologist for the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, who butts heads with Dr. Jaax over the best way to contain the virus. James D’Arcy is Center for Disease Control official Trevor Rhodes, Carter’s former assistant and current nemesis. Paul James will play Ben Gellis, a lab tech at the pathology lab in Reston, Virginia, assisting Dr. Jaax and Dr. Jahrling. Nick Searcy is Frank Mays, the exhausted colony manager at the Reston Monkey Facility where the virus originated.
Robert Wisdom joins as Col. Vernon Tucker of USAMRIID, Dr. Jaax’s superior. And Robert Sean Leonard will portray company man Walter Humboldt, the liaison between Hazleton, a scientific research corporation, and its primate lab in Reston.”
