Caffeinated Clint
Actor and Filmmaker Edward Burns (“Alex Cross”, “The Brother’s McMullen”) will play Bugsy Siegel on TNT’s “Lost Angels”, the new 1940’s crime-drama from “Walking Dead”‘s Frank Darabont.
Burns plays a role previously played on screen by the likes of Warren Beatty, Harvey Keitel, Eric Roberts, Joe Penny and, er, Richard Grieco.
The role, says Deadline, is of a recurring nature – leaving Burns time to work on those indy films he likes to punch out.
Meantime, former “Prison Break” star Robert Knepper – seen recently in the short-lived slop “Cult” on the CW – has been upped to a regular on the series. Initially, Knepper’s role of was only only going to be a recurring part, but seems Darabont’s liking himself some Knepper – or ‘Tea Bag’ as he’s still affectionately known around the Fox traps.
Based on the John Buntin book L.A. Noir, Lost Angels follows the turmoil surrounding the LAPD and ruthless criminal activities led by gangster Mickey Cohen (Jeremy Luke). After moving from the East Coast to California, Siegel quickly established himself as the Los Angeles mob leader in the late 1930s and early 1940s, with Cohen as his chief lieutenant. Siegel also was a Hollywood fixture, throwing lavish parties for Tinseltown’s biggest names. Knepper plays Sid Rothman, a rank-and-file mobster working for Cohen. The actor recently became available for a regular gig after his CW series Cult ended following a brief run.
The cast list for this “Lost Angels” series on TNT reads like a Who’s Who of the Jimmy Fallon greenroom : Simon Pegg, Jon Bernthal, Alexa Davalos, Milo Ventimiglia, Neal McDonough, Jeffrey DeMunn.. and the list goes on. The names involved suggest something good is in store.
