'Sexy Beast': James McArdle, Emun Elliott to star in Paramount+ prequel

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Paramount+ has announced the cast for its Sexy Beast prequel series.

The streaming service said in a press release Monday that James McArdle (Mare of Easttown), Emun Elliott (The Rig), Tamsin Greig (Episodes), Stephen Moyer (True Blood) and Sarah Greene (Dublin Murders) will star in the upcoming British drama.

Sexy Beast is a prequel to the 2000 film of the same name starring Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane as gangsters plotting a bank robbery in London.

McArdle and Elliott will play Gal Dove and Don Logan, portrayed by Winstone and Kingsley in the original movie. In the prequel, Gal and Don are best friends and small-town thieves living the good life in '90s East London.

Greene plays DeeDee, a captivating adult film star who has the potential to turn Gal's whole life upside down, while Moyer portrays Teddy Bass, a rising name in the gangster world who offers Gal and Don the chance to work on a high-profile heist.

Greig plays Don's stern and formidable older sister Cecilia.

The Sexy Beast series will explore Gal and Don's complicated relationship as Gal finds himself descending into the seductive madness of the London criminal world during the vibrant and volatile 1990s, while falling in love with DeeDee.

Eliza Bennett, Clea Martin, Nicholas Nunn, John Dagleish, Robbie Gee, Paul Kaye, Lex Shrapnel, David Kennedy, Nitin Ganatra and Alice Bailey Johnson also have roles.

Michael Caleo serves as writer and showrunner, with Daniel O'Hara to direct the opening episodes. David Scinto and Louis Mellis, who wrote the original film, also serve as executive producers.

Sexy Beast will premiere on Paramount+ in 2023.