Go West: JK Simmons, Tom Brittney, Titus Welliver and Jessica Frances Dukes talk MGM+ crime drama The Westies

The Westies stars JK Simmons, Tom Brittney, Titus Welliver and Jessica Frances Dukes join creators Chris Brancato and Michael Panes to tell DQ about building the world and the characters of this MGM+ crime drama about an Irish gang with ambitions to rule 1980s New York City. On Godfather of Harlem, Michael Panes joined the writing staff of a show co-created by Chris Brancato, telling the story of a gangster making his way in 1960s Harlem. The pair then reunited on Hotel Cocaine, with Panes joining the crew of Brancato’s show that centres on the Mutiny Hotel, which stood at the epicentre of the Miami cocaine market in the 1970s and 1980s. Now the pair have come together to create and showrun The Westies, a gritty crime drama inspired by the real Irish gang of the same name that sought to rule New York City in the early 1980s, at a time when the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Centre on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall. Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Five Families of the Italian Mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning give them the leverage they need to shape the spoils through a fragile détente. But rising internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to tear the gang apart – and lead them straight into the path of the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian Mafia. “We’re pleased to depict 1980 New York, and the … Continue reading Go West: JK Simmons, Tom Brittney, Titus Welliver and Jessica Frances Dukes talk MGM+ crime drama The Westies →