Paul Bettany Joins Discovery Channel’s Unabomber Series

Paul Bettany’s taking on a leading role in Discovery Channel’s Manifesto, a scripted drama about Ted Kaczynski (aka the Unabomber). The series is backed by Lionsgate and Trigger Street Productions, with Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti, Troy Searer, John Goldwyn, and Greg Yaitanes executive producing. Yaitanes (Banshee) is also on board as the director and showrunner.

Bettany, the first cast member announced, is best known for his roles in A Knight’s Tale, Master and Commander, A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code, and Captain America: Civil War. He’s currently busy working on Journey’s End with Toby Jones, Sam Claflin, and Asa Butterfield. Manifesto will mark Bettany’s first starring role in a U.S. television series.

The Plot: Manifesto will trace how Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald challenged the “old school” ways with his radical new approach to intelligence gathering. Fitzgerald had training as a profiler, but it was his focus on linguistics that became vital to breaking the case. He believed that the key to unlocking the true identity of the Unabomber would be found in the language of The Manifesto, a detailed account of some of Kaczynski’s plots.