Gillian Anderson has been cast in Netflix’s Western drama series “The Abandons” from creator Kurt Sutter.
Anderson will play Constance, the matriarch of the wealthy Van Ness family who doubled the mining fortune she inherited from her husband. Her wealth, charm and power allowed her to forge relationships with political allies despite their town’s patriarchal bias.
The official Netflix logline for the show reads, “As a group of diverse, outlier families pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back. In this bloody process, ‘justice’ is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law. ‘The Abandons’ will explore that fine line between survival and law, the consequences of violence, and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land.”
Lena Headey previously joined the project to play another matriarch, “Fiona,” who adopts four orphans to build a family. Her Irish roots include devout faith, stubbornness and love for family.
Sutter (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Mayans M.C.”) serves as showrunner and executive producer. Other executive producers include Stephen Surjik, Otto Bathurst and Emmy Grinwins. Bathurst will direct the first episode of the series, and Surjik also has a directing credit.
Anderson (“The X-Files”) has most recently portrayed Mrs. Julia Marquis in Netflix’s “The Pale Blue Eye,” Eleanor Roosevelt in Showtime’s “The First Lady” Jean Mulburn in Netflix’s “Sex Education” series and Margaret Thatcher in “The Crown.”
Headey is known for playing Cersei Lannister in “Game of Thrones,” Lady Catherine de Bourgh in “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” and Queen Gorgo in “300. Most recently she has portrayed Dorothy Hunt in HBO’s “White House Plumbers.”