Giancarlo Giannini joins cast of Hulu's star-studded 'Catch-22' to be directed by George Clooney
Hulu's high-profile American-British-Italian drama miniseries 'Catch 22', based on the book of the same name written by Joseph Heller, just added Giancarlo Giannini to its already star-studded cast of Christopher Abbott, Hugh Laurie, Kyle Chandler, and George Clooney, reports Deadline.
According to a description by Hulu, Catch-22 is the "story of the incomparable, artful dodger, Yossarian (Christopher Abbott), a US Air Force bombardier in World War II, who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. His real problem is not the enemy, but rather his own army which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service."
But Yossarian cannot avoid his military assignments because of a "hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule" dubbed "Catch-22". The rule specifies that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers which are real and immediate is the process of a rational mind. A man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions. But a request to be removed from duty is evidence of sanity and therefore makes him ineligible to be relieved from duty.
Giannini will be portraying the role of Marcello, who is the proprietor of a brothel in Rome. While old, Marcello is still debonair and loves to challenge the young American soldiers at his doorstep on their patriotism, worldview, and sense of history.
Clooney was initially to play the role of Colonel Cathcart, but it was later announced that he would assume the smaller supporting role of Scheisskopf. Kyle Chandler would be replacing him as the Colonel, with Hugh Laurie set to portray Major de Coverley.
Tessa Ferrer and Jay Paulson have been cast as Nurse Duckett and The Chaplain, respectively, while Daniel David Stewart, Austin Stowell, Rafi Gavron, Graham Patrick Martin, Pico Alexander, Jon Rudnitsky, Gerran Howell, and Lewis Pullman will be serving as supporting cast members of the Merry Band.
Clooney will be directing the show alongside Grant Heslov (Black Sheep, The Scorpion King) and Ellen Kuras (The Betrayal). Clooney will also serve as executive producer with Heslov, Luke Davies, David Michôd, Richard Brown, and Steve Golin.
