It’s been almost a full year since the news was released that audiences could next expect to see Damian Lewis opposite Guy Pearce in a spy-based series titled A Spy Among Friends. The series was Lewis’ typical cup of tea — an action piece leaning heavily on the drama. Today we’re excited to reveal that Lewis is taking a departure from the serious and heading for the world of supernatural slapstick meets complicated family dynamics in Euros Lyn’s The Radleys. Based on the book of the same name by celebrated author Matt Haig, the feature will be a lovely role shakeup from what we’ve seen of the Homeland, Billions, and Wolf Hall actor over the years.
In The Radleys, Emmy and Golden Globe Award recipient Lewis will star as Peter, the titular family’s patriarch. Although they’re succeeding at keeping up their appearance as a regular family, Peter and his wife Helen have a life-altering bloody secret that even their two teenage children don’t know — they’re vampires. However, unlike many of their undead peers, the duo have chosen a life in which they don’t drink the blood of humans, no matter how tantalizing it may be. Over the years, the couple has managed to keep their secret just between the two of them, but after their daughter, Clara, fights back against a boy who attacks her, which in turn taps into her unknown vampirical side, Peter and Helen must come clean.
Getting through your teenage years is hard enough, but with this new information, Peter and Helen’s son, Rowan, struggles even more. Things continue to shake up following the arrival of Peter’s twin brother Will (Lewis), who doesn’t adhere to the same blood-drinking practices as his brother and sister-in-law. When he introduces the more indulgent side of the vampire lifestyle, the entire family will be tempted to give in to their desires and pick up the bad habit of feasting on human blood.
The project is based on a script by Jo Brand (The More You Ignore Me) and was penned by Talitha Stevenson (Late in Summer). Known for his mind behind major hits including Netflix’s adaptation of Heartstopper, Lyn will serve as the film’s director. The production marks a reunion between the filmmaker and his leading man as both Lyn and Lewis previously teamed up back in 2020 for the sports drama, Dream Horse. Debbie Gray (Good Luck to You Leo Grande) will produce for Genesius Pictures with Lewis serving as an executive producer under his Ginger Biscuit Entertainment.
As of right now, a release window hasn’t been set, nor have any other casting announcements been made, but the feature will begin filming in the U.K. in May 2023. You can check out a trailer for the Lyn-directed and Toni Collette and Lewis-led Dream Horse below.