Will Trailer: TNT Orders 10-Episode First Season of Shakespeare Drama

The Will trailer for the first season of TNT’s Shakespeare drama

TNT has ordered 10 episodes of Will, a brand new drama that tells the wild story of young William Shakespeare, played by newcomer Laurie Davidson. Also starring are Olivia DeJonge (The Visit, Hiding), Colm Meaney (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Hell on Wheels”), Mattias Inwood (“The Shanara Chronicles”), Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd, The Twilight Saga) and Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting, Snowpiercer). Check out the Will trailer below, along with two more news items for TNT’s Civil and Claws. 

Will comes to TNT from executive producers Craig Pearce (The Great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet), Golden Globe nominee Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth), Alison Owen (Elizabeth) and Debra Hayward (Love Actually). Vince Gerardis (Jumper), Howard Braunstein (The Informant!, “The Client List”) and Louise Rosager also serve as executive producers on the series. The pilot for Will was written by Pearce and directed by Kapur. TNT plans to launch the series in 2017 in the U.S., as well as on Turner International’s entertainment channels across the globe.

Will opens with a young William Shakespeare (Davidson) just arriving onto the punk-rock theater scene in 16th century London. It is in this seductive, violent world that his raw talent faces rioting audiences, religious fanatics and raucous sideshows. This is the exciting, dangerous and contemporary version of Shakespeare’s life, played to a modern soundtrack that exposes all his recklessness, lustful temptations and brilliance.

Attracted to Will’s naïve genius is Alice Burbage (DeJonge), the talented, beautiful and rebellious daughter of James Burbage (Meaney), the carpenter with a vision to build the first theater in London since Roman times. Despite being the daughter of an impresario, Alice is forbidden by society from pursuing a career in the theater. Her brother Richard Burbage (Inwood), is innately talented, but too much in love with himself and prone to overact. A chance encounter at the theater 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’ has an energy and style that is unlike anything else on television today,” said Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT. “Shakespeare was a 16th century rock star, and Will perfectly captures in contemporary terms what that must have felt like for the young writer and his fans. We are delighted to be working with such an extraordinary team of executive producers and cast in putting a fresh, bold spin on the story of Shakespeare.”

TNT has also ordered a pilot for the gripping political and social drama Civil, to be directed by seven-time Emmy nominee Allen Coulter (“Damages,” “Nurse Jackie,” “Ray Donovan”) and written and executive-produced by Scott Smith, who earned an Oscar nomination and awards from the National Board of Review and the Broadcast Film Critics Association for A Simple Plan, which he adapted from his own bestselling novel.

Civil takes place in the wake of a hotly contested Presidential election, as America finds itself plunging uncontrollably into a modern day Civil War. The series weaves together the personal stories of citizens from all walks of life, whose actions – amplified in an age of instant media – add fuel to the conflict and affect the fate of the entire country.

TNT Originals is producing the Civil pilot in association with MGM Television. Whalerock Industries’ Lloyd Braun is executive producer and Andrew Mittman is co-executive producer under the MGM production deal with Whalerock. Thomas Kelly (Blue Bloods, Copper) serves as showrunner and executive producer.

Niecy Nash (“Reno 911,” “Scream Queens,” “The Mindy Project”), meanwhile, has joined TNT’s pilot for Claws, an hour-long scripted dramedy set in a Southern Florida nail salon. A midnight-dark, wickedly funny meditation on female badness, Claws follows the lives of five diverse and treacherous Florida manicurists. It soon becomes clear there is a lot more going on at the Nail Artisan of Manatee County salon than silk wraps and pedicures. Nash is set to play Desna Simms, the owner of the salon.

TNT’s Claws pilot is being executive-produced by Le Train Train’s Rashida Jones, star of TBS’s new hit comedy “Angie Tribeca,” and Will McCormack (Toy Story 4, Celeste and Jesse Forever, “A to Z”). The pilot is being produced by Le Train Train in association with Warner Horizon Television and TNT Original Productions, and is written by co-executive producer Eliot Laurence (Welcome to Me).

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