Alexander Skarsgard to Star in ‘Little Drummer Girl’ Adaptation for AMC

The six-part miniseries follows the Emmy-winning ‘Night Manager’ at the cable network.

Alexander Skarsgard has joined the cast for AMC’s next John le Carre miniseries, The Little Drummer Girl.

The Big Little Lies actor will star alongside Florence Pugh (Lady Macbeth) in the six-parter based on Le Carre’s best-selling novel. Park Chan-wook’s (Old Boy) will make his television debut and direct the series, which is a co-production between the Ink Factory, BBC One and AMC, the latter home to Le Carre’s Emmy-winning The Night Manager.

Set in the late 1970s, Drummer Girl is an espionage and international intrigue drama of love and betrayal. Against the background of rising tensions in the Middle East, the mini revolves around Charlie (Pugh), a young actress who strikes up an acquaintance with an intriguing stranger, Becker (Skarsgard), while on holiday in Greece. Becker is an Israeli intelligence officer who entangles her in a complex and high- stakes plot, which unfolds as she takes on the role of a lifetime in the “theater of the real.”

The Little Drummer Girl was published in 1983 and adapted as a feature film in 1984, starring Diane Keaton as Charlie.

Chan-wook said of Skarsgard’s casting: “To play an enigmatic man who hides his true feelings deep inside, I couldn’t think of a more fitting actor. I believe Skarsgard’s growing depth as a great character actor and his soaring energy will elevate The Little Drummer Girl to a higher place.”

Production begins in January, with Endeavor Content/IMG selling global rights to the series.

Skarsgard, who took home an Emmy for his supporting role in HBO’s limited series Big Little Lies, will next be seen in Duncan Jones’ Mute; The Aftermath, starring opposite Keira Knightley; and in the Netflix adventure thriller Hold the Dark.

Skarsgard is represented by CAA and lawyers Steve Warren and Gretchen Rush.