Former Bond henchman Ulrich Thomsen has signed on for a role in the Cinemax seriesBanshee, joining Ivana Milicevic and Antony Starr who have already been cast in the drama. The project hails from True Blood creator Alan Ball and has a ten-episode order from Cinemax, which has been putting a lot of emphasis on original programming lately.
The Hollywood Reporter has word that Ulrich Thomsen, who most recently starred in the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film In a Better World will play a starring role in the series. He’s on board to play Proctor, the leader of a gang who is also a successful businessman in the town of Banshee, where he pays no heed to the law. How his character will interact with – or clash with – the main character Lucas Hood, who is being played by Antony Starr is unclear to me. Hood is described as a criminal who takes over the job of Sheriff but doesn’t exactly mend his illegal ways. So does that mean he’s hunting gang leaders or having beers with them after work? Milicevic, has been cast in the role of a jewel thief hiding in Banshee under an assumed name. Sounds like a wonderful, wholesome place to raise a family.
Ulrich Thomsen has some TV credits, with guest roles on Alias and Fringe, but he’s probably best known for playing a Bond sidekick in the 1999 Brosnan-as-Bond film The World is Not Enough. Alan Ball, meanwhile, will do double duty on True Blood and Banshee until the fifth season the former is over, after which he’s stepping down as the showrunner.
