Casting is complete for the West End revival of Tracy Letts’ Killer Joe, which will star the previously reported screen favorite Orlando Bloom.
Bloom will be joined by Sophie Cookson (Netflix series Gypsy, Kingsman: The Secret Service), Adam Gillen (currently starring at the National Theatre as Mozart in Amadeus), Neve McIntosh (Dr. Who, The Replacement), and Steffan Rhodri (This House, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I).
Performances will begin May 18 at London’s Trafalgar Studio 1, where it will officially open June 4. The limited engagement, directed by Simon Evans, is scheduled to run through August 18.
The thriller (Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Letts’ first play, having premiered in Chicago in 1993) follows Joe Cooper, a police detective and for-hire murderer who’s tasked with killing the estranged mother of a family plotting an insurance scheme. However, the plan spirals out of control when Joe comes face to face with the family’s innocent daughter.
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Bloom, most known for his performances in the Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean series, previously starred in the West End in the 2007 revival of In Celebration. Six years later, he made his Broadway debut opposite Condola Rashad in Romeo and Juliet. He is set to appear in the upcoming Amazon series Carnival Row, premiering in 2019.
“It’s very different from many of the film roles I’m most recognized for,” Bloom said as he prepares to take on the title character. “I know we will create a production that is polarizing, entertaining, dark, and funny. The play may be 25 years old this year, but the relationships it portrays, especially between Joe and the innocent girl Dottie, speak so brilliantly to the empowerment we’re seeing around the world in 2018.”
The production will be produced by Emily Dobbs Productions and Empire Street Productions.
