Will – William Shakespeare (Laurie Davidson) – Photo by Ellen Von Unwerth/Courtesy of TNT.
TNT’s Will explores the life of the young William Shakespeare – hoping to do for Shakespeare what Da Vinci’s Demons did for Leonardo Da Vinci: fill in the blanks in what know of its subject’s life in an entertaining (though not in as fantastic – as in fantasy) way.
Will begins with the young Will arriving in London as the theatre scene is exploding. The trailer is a lot of fun.
Will premieres on Monday, July 10th (9/8C).
TNT Explores the Raucous World of
Young William Shakespeare in the New Drama Will
Will Debuts on Monday, July 10, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)
TNT is about to take viewers back in time to Elizabethan England to tell the wild, rowdy story of young William Shakespeare in the brand new drama series Will. Newcomer Laurie Davidson plays the title role in this period drama told in a bold, contemporary style and played to a modern soundtrack that exposes all of Shakespeare’s recklessness, lustful temptations and tortured brilliance. Also starring are Olivia DeJonge (The Visit), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Colm Meaney (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Mattias Inwood (The Shanara Chronicles), Jamie Campbell Bower (The Twilight Saga), William Houston (Sherlock Holmes), Lukas Rolfe (Grantchester), Max Bennett (The Hollow Crown) and Jasmin Savoy Brown (The Leftovers). Will is slated to launch on Monday, July 10, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) across TNT’s U.S. platforms.
As Will opens, a young William Shakespeare (Davidson) has just arrived onto the punk-rock theatre scene in 16th century London. It is in this seductive, violent world that his raw talent faces rioting audiences, religious fanatics and raucous sideshows. Attracted to Will’s naïve genius is Alice Burbage (DeJonge), the talented, beautiful and rebellious daughter of James Burbage (Meaney), the carpenter whose vision led him to build the first theatre in London since Roman times. Despite being the daughter of an impresario, Alice is forbidden by society from pursuing a career in the theatre. Her brother Richard Burbage (Inwood) is innately talented as well, but too much in love with himself and prone to overact. But a chance encounter at the theatre leads him to team up with Will in what would soon become the greatest actor-writer partnership the world has ever seen.
Rounding out Will‘s cast of characters are playwright, poet and chief Shakespeare rival Christopher Marlowe (Bower) and wealthy and notorious law enforcer Richard Topcliffe (Bremner).
Will, which is produced by Turner’s Studio T, comes to TNT from executive producers Craig Pearce (Romeo + Juliet), Golden Globe® nominee Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth), Alison Owen (Elizabeth) and Debra Hayward (Love Actually). Vince Gerardis (Jumper), Howard Braunstein (The Informant!) and Louise Rosager also serve as executive producers on the series. The pilot for Will was written by Pearce and directed by Kapur.
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