via press release:
ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE DEMIÁN BICHIR SIGNS ON FOR FX DRAMA PILOT THE BRIDGE
Production Begins in November with Gerardo Naranjo Set to Direct
LOS ANGELES – October 8, 2012 – Academy Award® nominee Demián Bichir has reached an agreement to play the male lead in the FX drama series pilot, The Bridge, which begins production next month.
Based on an international hit series, the pilot for The Bridge was adapted for American television by Meredith Stiehm (Homeland) and Elwood Reid (Hawaii Five-0). Adapted from the Scandinavian series i Bron, The Bridge centers on two detectives from the United States and Mexico who must work together to hunt down a serial killer operating on both sides of the American-Mexican border. The Bridge is executive produced by Stiehm and Reid, alongside Carolyn Bernstein, Lars Blomgren and Jane Featherstone. The Bridge is a co-production of Shine America and FX Productions. Gerardo Naranjo will direct the pilot episode.
“We’re huge fans of Demián Bichir’s work and are thrilled he is taking on the lead role in The Bridge,” said John Landgraf, President and General Manager, FX Networks. “He instantly raises the level of authenticity to the story and this is a true casting coup. To have the biggest movie star in Mexico choose his return to television for this project speaks volumes about the quality of the writing by Meredith Stiehm and Elwood Reid.”
Stiehm and Reid added, “Getting an actor of Demián’s stature for The Bridge is truly a dream come true. Demián's on-screen intensity and deep understanding of Mexico are huge assets to the show. We literally wrote the pilot with him in mind.”
In The Bridge, Bichir will play “Marco Ruiz,” a homicide investigator for the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. A family man, Marco is one of the last good men in a corrupt and apathetic police force that is outgunned by the powerful drug cartels. He's sharp, charming, and observant and painfully aware that his city is in a state of chaos. When a body is dumped on the bridge that spans the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez border, Ruiz is forced to work with his American counterpart, “Detective Sonya North,” (Diane Kruger) to try to solve the crime.
Bichir is a Mexican-born actor best known for his work in the award-winning film, A Better Life, for which he received an Academy Award nomination in 2012. He completed production on his starring roles in the feature films Machete Kills for Robert Rodriguez and The Heat for Paul Fieg, and he recently signed on to star in Richard Shepard’s feature Dom Hemingway opposite Jude Law. Bichir’s other work includes roles in the hit Showtime series, Weeds, Oliver Stone’s 2012 film Savages and his portrayal of Fidel Castro in Che.
Bichir is represented by CAA, Sekka Scher and Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown.
Ugh? More cop stuff. Just what we need. But maybe this one will be alright; you never know.
So F/X wants to try a drama series again? Let’s hope it doesn’t go the way of the excellent “Terriers!”
Instantly unsure since it’s yet another cop show.
Isn’t The Bridge the Cannadian show that CBS tried to import a few years ago staring the guy from BSGalactica…and it made it 3 episodes.
Can’t blame f/x their biggest hits have been procedual Dramas Rescue Me/The Shield/Justified…I like their comedies and they know how to make them on a budget but outside of Anger Management and Its Always Sunny..everyone is a cult hit at best including
It’s a Swedish/Danish series. The original is utterly incredible.
Hollywood is just obsessed with serial killer story lines, both in movies and TV.
Dear Producer Damian Bicher, Uno de mis estudiantes adultos de ESL
dijo que debo mandarte mi libro, que quizas te gustaria usar uno de
mis cuentos para peliculas. Tengo 55 years de ser traductora, maestra,
educadora de salud, y amiga de los inmigrantes indocumentados. Mucha gente
tienen mala impression de ellos por falta de conocerles. Aglunos cuentos
ellos me dijeron y otros con-vivimos juntos. En un cuento un Nativo
Americano de Oaxca salio de las montanas a la edad de 9 , y le ensenaron
a hablar espanol y hacer piezas de vidrio. Mas tarde un hombre le llevo a
Chico, Ca le encerro como esclavo a trabajar por el. Escapo y se caso con
su maestra de ingles. En otro yo cambio de ropa con una abuela de Guetemala
para que la inmigracion no le sacara de Amtrak. Hay cuentos de familias,
de ninos de muchos paises. El libro es We Are Not The Enemy; We Come
Only With Our Dreams. Si quieres, te pudiera mandar copia. Fran B. Reed a
843-715-0124 239 Beach City 2113 HH, SC 29926 ML888888@aol.com. Me
encanto tu ultima pelicula. Felicidades, Francisca.