Philip Winchester will play the title character in NBC’s drama series “Crusoe.” Anna Walton will also star, says The Hollywood Reporter.
“Crusoe,” based on Daniel Defoe’s classic novel, centers on Robinson Crusoe (Winchester), who leaves his wife Susannah (Walton) in pursuit of an adventure only to end up shipwrecked on a remote tropical island for 28 years. U.K.-based Power Entertainment is producing the series, which is slated to air Fridays at 8 p.m. in the fall.
By casting Winchester, a Montana native, as the famous British castaway, NBC reverses a recent trend of U.K. actors to land the leads in U.S. series playing Americans.
Winchester is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and has British citizenship. He has played Brits before, including the lead role of an ex-British commando-turned-Beverly Hills nanny in the WB Network comedy pilot “Commando Nanny” and a role in Channel 4’s upcoming adaptation of “King Lear” starring Ian McKellen.
