Michael Gambon To Lead J.K. Rowling Miniseries ‘The Casual Vacancy’
By Angie Han/June 6, 2014 10:00 am EST
Starring alongside him will be Julia McKenzie (Notes on a Scandal), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Monica Dolan (Sightseers), Richard Glover (A Field in England), and many more. Hit the jump to get all the details.
Gambon will play Howard Mollison, owner of a local deli, and McKenzie his wife Shirley. Rufus Jones and Keeley Hawes will play Howard’s son and daughter-in-law, respectively. Kinnear will play Parish council member Barry Fairbrother.
Also among the cast are Dolan as school guidance counselor Tess Wall; Simon McBurney as her husband, deputy headteacher Colin Wall; Glover as election candidate Simon Price; Marie Critchley as his wife Ruth Price; Keeley Forsyth as drug addict Terri Weedon; Abigail Lawrie as her daughter Krystal; and Michelle Austin as social worker Kay Bawden.
Still remaining to be cast are the roles of Kay’s daughter Gaia Bawden; Barry’s wife Mary Fairbrother; Howard’s business partner Maureen Lowe; Simon’s sons Andrew and Paul; and the Jawanda family.
Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy doesn’t have much at all in common with her Harry Potter novels. It’s an exploration of a strictly non-magical middle-class family, and has been described by the publisher as a “black comedy” and by Rowling herself as a “comic tragedy.” Still, her name alone is bound to attract some curious eyeballs, and it should be interesting to see her take a detour before she dives back into the wizarding world with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
