Malcolm McDowell has joined Gael Garcia Bernal in “Mozart in the Jungle,” a new Amazon pilot written by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Alex Timbers and directed by Paul Weitz.
McDowell (pictured) will play Thomas, a seasoned conductor of the New York Symphony being forced into retirement by the arrival of Rodrigo (Bernal). Amazon Studios describes the story as “sex, drugs and classical music.”
Also read: Chris Carter, Michael Connelly Pilots Get Amazon Greenlight
Rounding out the cast are Lola Kirke as impressionable oboist Hailey, Bernadette Peters as Gloria, the Chairwoman of the Board of the symphony, Saffron Burrows as Cynthia, a cellist having an affair with Thomas, Peter Vack as Joshua, a dancer who becomes Hailey’s love interest, and Hanah Dunne as Lizzie, Hailey’s friend and roommate.
“It’s an excellent and fun cast,” said Weitz, who is also executive producing. “They all enjoyed stepping through the looking glass into characters who are obsessed with a very different discipline.”
The pilot is one of eleven debuting early next year on Amazon Prime Instant Video and LOVEFiLM. Viewers will be invited to watch and give feedback to help Amazon decide which of its pilots should become series. The other pilots include “The After,” “Bosch,” “The Rebels,” and “Transparent.”
Bernal’s casting was previously reported by Deadline.