EXCLUSIVE: Jack Hudson has been cast as the lead in an indie TV series directed by The Beekeeper and Black Widow cinematographer Gabriel Beristain about 16th Century Irish chieftain Uaithne mac Ruairí Ó Mórdha (aka Owny MacRory O’More).
The Ráth and the Rock is set to begin shooting in November or December in County Wicklow, Ireland, with director, cinematograper and producer Beristain on board. He will direct alongside Conor Slattery, shooting in Gaelic.
Brothers Brett A. Moore and Bruce W. Moore and Irish historian Turtle Bunbury have co-created the show and will produce through their Twinpyre Productions banner.
Hudson will play the charismatic and audacious Gaelic chieftain and rebel Owney O’More in “a sweeping story of the brutal Tudor Conquest of Ireland, spanning 1520 to 1653,” according to producers.
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The series will follow “the fates of Irish Chieftains, English royals, ambitious nobles, the infamous pirate queen Grace O’Malley and the ordinary people caught in the crossfire.” It will explore the “intertwined destinies of pivotal Irish families, including the O’Mores, O’Neills, O’Donnells and O’Malleys, as they fight against the overwhelming forces of the Tudor monarchy.”
The Moore brothers trace their lineage back to O’More, who was known as the last Lord of Laois. His death effectively ended the O’More as one of the major Irish clans.
“This story is in my DNA and that of the 70 million strong Irish diaspora, and with The Ráth and the Rock, we are committed to telling it with the same urgency and that defines those high-stakes moments,” said Brett A. Moore.
Beristain said The Ráth and the Rock is “an exceptional opportunity to build a cinematic landscape on a raw emotional canvas,” adding that it would “guide the audience through that magic for, after all, a Rath is the entrance to the fairy land and in old Irish meant grace and virtue. With that spirit in mind, we will start this journey which will be as rich, refreshing and satisfactory as the good ol’ pint we enjoy in that wondrous land.”
“I’m looking forward to working on The Ráth and the Rock. It’s such a brilliant concept and I’m excited to get started on it and to bring this vision to life,” said Hudson. “I’m very passionate about projects like this and especially about Irish culture, and I’m proud to be involved. There hasn’t been anything quite like it ever made.”
Hudson, who was recently cast in The Devil’s Train, is represented by International Artist’s Management in London and Framework Entertainment in L.A.