Academy Award-nominated actor Ethan Hawke has signed on to star and executive produce a new limited series for Showtime. The series, which is still in development, will be called The Whites and is based on a novel of the same name by Richard Price.
The show's title comes from the idea that detectives all have a “white whale”, a murderer who in one way or another ended up walking free. Hawke is set to star as Billy Graves, a once-rising star in the NYPD Homicide department who is now working the night shift. Graves gets pulled back into the homicide game when a seemingly simple case ends up involving his white whale and threatens to bring his whole life crashing down.
Hawke is a critically acclaimed actor who was first nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Training Day. He has since been nominated again for his acting in Boyhood, and was nominated twice for his writing for Before Sunset and Before Midnight. His other notable roles include Dead Poets Society, The Purge, and recently in The Northman and the Marvel Studios series Moon Knight. Fans can also look forward to seeing the actor in the upcoming horror film The Black Phone and the upcoming Knives Out sequel Glass Onion.
The series is being written by Tony-winning writer Jez Butterworth, who will also executive produce the series. He will be joined by Hawke, who is executive producing with Ryan Hawke through his banner Under the Influence. Rian Johnson will also be executive producing with Ram Bergman, and Nena Rodrigue through T-Street. Price will also be serving as an executive producer.
Stay tuned to Collider for any future updates on The Whites. Check out the full official synopsis of the series below:
The series is titled “The Whites” and is based on the novel of the same name by Richard Price. It begins with the idea that every detective is haunted by their White Whale, the perpetrator who got away because the justice system failed. Billy Graves (Hawke), once a rising star in his department and former member of a group of well-respected cops called the “Wild Geese,” walks away from NYPD Homicide and joins the Nightwatch division, where his cases end when he clocks out— but his past comes calling when a seemingly straightforward murder case involving a White Whale unfolds, threatening his career, enduring friendships, and family.