Actor and director Adrian Lester has been confirmed as one of the directors of the forthcoming new Sky Atlantic drama Riviera, which is currently filming in the South of France. Lester, who will also play the part of Robert Carver, will direct two episodes of the series.
Having already directed on the popular BBC series Hustle, in which he also starred, Lester said of Riviera “We’ve been shooting for several weeks now, so I’m getting to know the crew and cast well. It’s always a challenge directing yourself, but I’m surrounded by a great team.”
As well as Julia Stiles (The Bourne Series), Riviera boasts a star-studded cast including Lena Olin (Vinyl, Chocolate), Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones), Dimitri Leonidas (The Monuments Men), Roxanne Duran (White Ribbon), Phil Davis (Vera Drake, Quadrophenia, Whitechapel) Amr Waked (Lucy, Syriana), and Igal Naor (The Honourable Woman, House of Saddam). The show is due for transmission on Sky Atlantic in 2017.
Lester won the Best Actor award at the recent Movie Video and Screen Awards in Birmingham, for his role in the 6 part drama series Undercover, opposite Sophie Okonedo (Mrs Mandela, Hotel Rwanda), which is being screened across the U.S by BBC America from November 17th.
Created by Oscar®-winning writer and director Neil Jordan (The Borgias) and based on an idea by Paul McGuinness, Riviera is an intoxicating thriller set in the opulent playground of the French Riviera, home to the world’s filthy rich. With morally ambiguous characters, complex relationships and audacious excess, viewers will get front row seats to the dazzling depravity of the ultra-rich. The sun-drenched luxury of the South of France provides the deceptively picture-perfect backdrop.
Julia Stiles plays Georgina, a Midwestern US girl turned smart, resourceful wife of the billionaire Constantine Clios. After just a year of marriage, Georgina’s immaculate new life is blown apart when her art collector husband Constantine is killed in an explosion aboard the yacht of a Russian oligarch and arms dealer. Believing there to be more to the tragedy, she sets out to uncover what happened. Dark truths about Constantine’s dealings emerge and, as she begins to realise who she was really married to, Georgina enters a spiral of moral descent as she becomes immersed in a world of lies, double-dealing and criminality.
Available for Sky’s 21 million customers across five countries to enjoy, Riviera will be shown exclusively on Sky Atlantic in the UK, Ireland and Italy in 2017 as well as on the Sky platform in Germany and Austria.
Riviera joins a host of original drama series set to air on Sky Atlantic – the home of world class storytelling – including The Young Pope, Guerrilla and Tin Star, as well as returning series such as Fortitude and Gomorrah.
Lester is also writing his first feature and has recently appointed United Talent Agency to represent him the US.