Five-time Emmy Award nominee Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) has committed to starring in the psychological thriller Beacon 23, based on the bestselling book by Hugh Howey. Headey will also serve as an executive producer on the Spectrum Originals and AMC Networks series.
Zak Penn (Ready Player One, The Avengers) created the series and will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Ira Steven Behr (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Tina Thor, Elisa Ellis, and Katie O’Connell Marsh (Narcos) for Boat Rocker Studios also executive produce.
“Lena Headey was a wonderful, versatile actress before she gave one of the defining performances in television history. So, as they say, ‘no pressure.’ I’m thankful to all the people making this show possible, they just keep delivering beyond my expectations,” said Penn.
According to the official casting announcement, Headey will star as Aster, “a woman who mysteriously finds her way to a lonely beacon keeper on his lighthouse in the darkest recesses of space.”
“We had exactly one person in mind when thinking about who could play Aster – who could bring the strength, the vulnerability and the brilliance to Zak’s complex character? No one but Lena Headey,” stated Katherine Pope, Head of Spectrum Originals. “We couldn’t be more excited to go on this thrill ride with Lena and Zak leading the way.”
“Having known and worked with Lena the past few years my admiration for her inspiring talent is unending. I’m so thrilled that Lena embraced the role of Aster and equally happy she’ll be executive producing through her production company Peephole,” added Katie O’Connell Marsh, Vice-Chair, Boat Rocker Studios.
The series will premiere on Spectrum followed nine months later by a release on AMC Networks platforms.
“This is such an exciting casting. Lena is a towering giant in the business, a remarkable and multi-dimensional talent, and to have her as part of this series elevates it in every way,” said Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks Entertainment Group and co-president of AMC Studios.
The Plot, Courtesy of Spectrum and AMC Networks:
This intimate, suspenseful thriller follows two people whose fates become entangled after they find themselves trapped together at the end of the known universe. A tense battle of wills unfolds at the edge of space, Halan, the beacon keeper, begins to question whether Aster is friend or foe as her ability to disguise her agenda and motives could make her a formidable opponent.
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