Bryan Cranston has signed on to star in and executive produce Showtime‘s high-profile limited series Your Honor, The legal thriller, based on the hot Israeli drama format (Kvodo), hails from the creators of two acclaimed legal drama series: Peter Moffat, whose BAFTA-winning Criminal Justice was the basis for HBO’s Emmy-winning limited series The Night Of, and The Good Wife‘s Robert and Michelle King. The series, produced by CBS TV Studios, is slated to go into production later this year in New Orleans.
Cranston’s deal comes 15 months after Your Honor was picked up by Showtime with a straight-to-series order and a lengthy casting process. Cranston was the first choice to the role and the first actor approached. While
Written by British TV writer/playwright Moffat, the 10-episode limited series rips through all strata of New Orleans society. Cranston will star as a respected judge whose son is involved in a hit-and-run that leads to a high-stakes game of lies, deceit and impossible choices.
The series is being adapted from the Israeli series Kvodo, created by Ron Ninio and Shlomo Mashiach, produced by Ram Landes and airing on the country’s Yes TV.
Moffat serves as showrunner, executive producer and will write multiple episodes, including the first episode. The series is produced by CBS TV Studios in association with Robert and Michelle King’s King Size Productions. Liz Glotzer (The Good Fight, Castle Rock, The Shawshank Redemption), Alon Aranya and Rob Golenberg (Hostages, Betrayal) of Scripted World and James Degus will also serve as executive producers.
“Peter, Michelle and Robert have crafted an original thriller with gut-wrenching suspense, raw emotion and moral complexity,” said Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks, who made the announcement at TCA. “And we are simply ecstatic that Bryan Cranston, one of the planet’s finest actors, shares our enthusiasm and has agreed to play the lead. I can’t wait to shoot Your Honor and show it to the world!”
A four-time Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG award winner for Breaking Bad, Cranston also earned Oscar and BAFTA nominations as lead actor for Trumbo. He also received a SAG award and Emmy and Golden Globe noms as actor for All The Way, adapted from the Broadway production that gave Cranston a Tony Award. In 2018, Cranston won the Lawrence Olivier Award for his stage performance in Network in London, whose current run on Broadway has been extended into April.
Earlier in his career, Cranston received three Emmy nominations as best supporting actor in a comedy series and a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in Malcolm in the Middle. His numerous other credits include Sneaky Pete, which he co-created and executive produced, and Argo, as well as an Emmy-nominated guest performance on Curb Your Enthusiasm. On the big screen, Cranston most recently voiced Chief in Isle of Dogs.
