Ed Harris & Giancarlo Esposito to Partner for PATRIOTIC TREASON

Ed Harris and Giancarlo Esposito are teaming up for a little PATRIOTIC TREASON.

According to Deadline, Esposito, currently starring in NBC's hit series REVOLUTION, will direct and star in the big-screen adaptation of Evan Carton's book - and has enlisted Oscar-nominated Harris to join the cast as the legendary abolitionist John Brown. Esposito will take on the role of "freed slave-turned-abolitionist" Frederick Douglass.

The project follows "the controversial figure known for his 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry. Brown hoped the attack would ignite a slave uprising. Instead it left 11 dead and led to Brown's capture, after which he was found guilty of treason and hanged. Political enemies considered Brown a madman and a terrorist, but the notoriety of his violent attacks are credited with sparking the Civil War."

"John Brown was the lightning rod of his place and time, but, to me, his story is just as electric in our world today, where controversies about race, religion, patriotism, and the use of violence for democratic ends are as intense as they were then," Esposito told Deadline.

Harris has directed a number of Theater Productions and starred in the production of Neil LaBute's one-man play Wrecks at The Public Theater. Other theater credits include Taking Sides and Precious Sons. He will soon be seen on the big screen in Snowpiercer from The Weinstein Company. Other film and TV credits include The Right Stuff and HBO's Game Change.

Although Esposito got his big acting break at eight years old in the Broadway play Maggie Flynn, starringShirley Jones and Irene Cara, he first came to prominence as a film and television actor during the '80s. He began the decade with small roles in the films Taps and Trading Places but ended up as a regular in several Spike Leeefforts, most notably Do The Right Thing. Esposito has gone on to earn an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his popular role on AMC's Breaking Bad.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

To post a comment, you must register and login.