National Geographic chose its stars for its next edition of the disease-focused anthology series, “The Hot Zone: Anthrax”.
Today, the main channel, along with Scott Free Productions and 20th Television (a division of Disney Television Studios), announced that Daniel Dae Kim (“Hawaii Five-0,” Lost “,” The Good Doctor “) and Tony Goldwyn (“King Richard”, “Scandal”, “Lovecraft Country,”) will lead the six-episode show that focuses on the anonymous bioterror attacks that caused panic across the country just weeks after the chaos of September 11. The limited miniseries describes the trials of USAMRIID scientists, FBI agents and Justice Department officials who have joined forces to triumph over the national threat that claimed five lives and made 17 others sick. After a series of territorial wars and false alarms, the unlikely team interagency finally decrypts the case and approaches the main suspect.
“Tony and Daniel are wonderfully versatile and dimensional actors who will bring complexity and depth to these characters,” said Carolyn Bernstein, executive vice president for scripted films and documentaries at National Geographic, in a statement.
This main role in the series is also Kim’s first. “Hardly the biggest news, considering what’s going on in the world today, but after 31 years of working on TV, this is my first leading actor,” tweeted the 46-year-old actor.
As he grew up, Kim’s parents said they hoped their son would become a doctor, lawyer or banker, the actor told NBC News in the past. However, after he took a course in acting as an elective in college, he sought to act as a career instead – a decision that initially worried his family. Now, his career includes highly acclaimed roles in cinema, on stage and on television and has won the support of his parents.
In “The Hot Zone: Anthrax”, Kim will play Matthew Ryker, an FBI agent specializing in microbiology, while Goldwyn will play Bruce Ivans, a brilliant microbiologist who is involved in the hunt for the anthrax killer. While working closely with the police to unravel the mystery of deadly letters, Goldwyn himself begins to unravel, giving rise to deeper and unnerving discoveries about complex crime.
The scarily timely scientific thriller follows last year’s “The Hot Zone”, starring Julianna Margulies, Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner (“The Good Wife”, “ER”, “Snakes on a Plane”) and was announced such as the National Geographic scripted series most watched of all time. Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will return for the second edition as executive producers and showrunners. They joined Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker of Scott Free Production, who will also serve as executive producers, along with Jordan Sheehan and Lynda Obst. Richard Preston is an executive co-producer on the series. The main photograph is scheduled to begin this winter of 2021 in Toronto.
Goldwyn is represented by CAA, Untitled and lawyers Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham. Kim is represented by Brillstein Entertainment Partners and UTA, as well as Gang Tire Ramer ETC.
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Cynthia Silva contributed.