After more than a decade away from taking any major TV roles, former Friends star David Schwimmer chose one hell of a strange project for his return vehicle, as he’ll soon be seen as Robert Kardashian in FX’s O.J. Simpson-centered American Crime Story. Since that’s an anthology series, he won’t be guaranteed a job with creator Ryan Murphy next season, but he’s already locked down his follow-up gig with a lead role in AMC’s upcoming drama Feed the Beast.
Feed the Beast will pair Schwimmer with Cloud Atlas star Jim Sturgess, and the two will respectively play Tommy Moran and Dion Patras, friends with a brotherly bond that sticks through both the good times and the awful stress-filled ones. The two share a dream of developing an upscale restaurant in their Bronx hometown, and the reality of things is that they’re both going to lose everything if it doesn’t work out. Tommy is desperate to secure a better future for his son, while Dion is in dire need of a way to pay back some Mob debts. So they dive into the seemingly impossible task, taking on each other, personal demons, corrupt cops, the flooded New York restaurant scene and deadly criminals. And all it takes is one bad choice to bring it all down.
Beyond Scwimmer and Sturgess, a good portion of the rest of the cast has also been announced. We’ve got Mad Men’s Michael Gladis will take on the role of Patrick “The Tooth Fairy” Woichik, a local mobster whose silent and intimidating nature is balanced by his urge to pull people’s teeth out. Knock Knock star Lorenza Izzo is playing Pilar Herrera, a woman who connects with Tommy after meeting him in support group for grievers. Christine Adams of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fame will get some screentime as Rie Moran, Tommy’s late wife, with Spot On’s Elijah Jacob set to play their ten-year-old son T.J., and Gotham’s John Doman will likely be excellent as Tommy’s ruthless and racist father Aidan. That’s a solid cast for what will hopefully be a tense and escalating drama. I almost went with “tasty” there, but decided against it.
Schwimmer has another high-profile return to TV coming soon, as he’ll join most of the cast of Friends for a reunion of sorts for a special devoted to iconic TV director James Burrows. Last year, he also appeared with former co-star Matt LeBlanc in the latter’s Showtime comedy Episodes.
AMC had a huge 2015 thanks to two zombie shows, Bob Odenkirk and some high-flying kung fu, so here’s hoping Feed the Beast and the network’s other new projects are high-quality enough to keep the ratings growing. The drama will premiere on the network in May 2016, with production set to begin next month.
