The Romanoffs: Amazon’s Matthew Weiner Series Adds Mad Men Actors

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It’s a mad, mad world. Matthew Weiner has recruited Christina Hendricks and John Slattery for his new Amazon TV show, The Romanoffs. Joining the Mad Men vets in the anthology series are Isabelle Huppert, Jack Huston, Amanda Peet, and Marthe Keller.

Each of the eight hourlong episodes of The Romanoffs will be a standalone story, with different plots and actors. The drama, which centers on people who believe they’re descendants of Russia’s royal family, is expected to premiere on Amazon Prime, in 2018.

Learn more from this Amazon press release.

Amazon Original Series The Romanoffs, Created by Matthew Weiner, Sets Guest Cast

Amazon Original Series The Romanoffs, co-produced with Weinstein Television and created, written, directed and executive produced by nine-time Emmy award winner Matthew Weiner (Mad Men), has set a world-class slate of guest actors slated to join the series, including Academy Award nominee Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Emmy nominated Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Emmy nominated John Slattery (Mad Men), Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire), Amanda Peet (Togetherness), and Golden Globe nominee Marthe Keller (Marathon Man). The Romanoffs is a one-hour contemporary anthology series set around the globe featuring separate stories about people who believe themselves to be descendants of the Russian royal family. Weiner is set to direct all episodes. The series will debut on Prime Video next year.

Guest cast biography information is below:

Isabelle Huppert

Isabelle Huppert was first noticed for her performances in Bertrand Blier’s Going Places, in Alo�se, directed by Liliane de Kermadec and in The Judge and the Assassin by Bertrand Tavernier. Her performance in Claude Goretta’s The Lacemaker earned her the British Academy of Film and Television-BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Feature Films. It was her close relationship with Claude Chabrol that allowed her to tackle a wide variety of film genres: comedy (The Swindle), drama (Story of Women), film noir (Merci pour le chocolat), literary adaptation (Madame Bovary), and even political fiction (Comedy of Power). Under his direction, she received a number of awards for her film performances: Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for Violette Nozi�re, at the Venice Film Festival for Story of Women, at the Moscow International Film Festival for Madame Bovary, and Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival and the César for Best Actress for The Ceremony. The Venice Film Festival gave her a Special Jury Lion d’Or for her performance in Patrice Chéreau’s Gabrielle and for her entire body of work. At the Cannes Film Festival, she twice received the Best Actress Award (the second for Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher). Several of her films have recently been released: Things to Come by Mia Hansen Love, Tout de suite maintenant by Pascal Bonitzer and Elle by Paul Verhoeven, presented at the Cannes Film Festival, and Souvenir by Bavo Devurne. She received several awards in the USA such as Gotham Award, Golden Globe and Spirit Award for her interpretation in Elle for which she is nominated for the best actress Oscar.

Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks is best known for her portrayal of ‘Joan Holloway’ on AMC‘s critically acclaimed series Mad Men. Hendricks’ portrayal of ‘Joan’ has earned the actress six Emmy nominations in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Hendricks is a two time Critics Choice Television Award winner for her role as ‘Joan’ for “Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.” She will next appear in theaters in Crooked House, an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s whodunit by the same name, starring opposite Gillian Anderson, Max Irons and Glenn Close. She will also star in NBC‘s midseason drama Good Girls alongside Retta and Mae Whitman. She recently wrapped production on the Ridley Scott produced The Burning Woman opposite Sienna Miller and Aaron Paul, the comedy Candy Jar for Netflix alongside Uzo Aduba and Helen Hunt, and the Western mini-series Tin Star for Sky Atlantic, debuting on Amazon Prime Video in the US, opposite Tim Roth. Later this summer she will begin production on the dark comedy Egg opposite Alysia Reiner and Anna Camp.

John Slattery

John Slattery is an Emmy-nominated actor and veteran of TV, film, and stage. Slattery received four Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of ‘Roger Sterling’ in AMC’s critically-acclaimed Mad Men. Slattery also directed five episodes of Mad Men, three episodes of LOVE and helmed his first feature, God’s Pocket, in 2014. Last year, Slattery appeared on HBO’s Emmy-winning Veep. Slattery also starred in Tom McCarthy’s Oscar-winning feature film, Spotlight, which received SAG’s Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture award, the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award, and the Oscar for Best Picture. Slattery’s previous credits include Ant Man, The Adjustment Bureau, Iron Man 2, Bluebird, Flags of our Fathers, Charlie Wilson’s War, Mona Lisa Smile, The Station Agent and Traffic. Slattery is instantly recognizable from numerous television roles, including Wet Hot American Summer, earning him a Critic’s Choice nomination for best guest actor, Documentary Now, Arrested Development, Sex and the City and K Street.

Jack Huston

Jack has distinguished himself as one of our industry’s finest young actors in film, television and theatre. Jack most recently wrapped Above Suspicion opposite Emilia Clarke and directed by Phillip Noyce. Huston will next be seen in the independent film The Yellow Birds based on the novel by Iraqi War veteran Kevin Powers. Huston stars alongside Tye Sheridan, Alden Ehrenreich and Jennifer Aniston. Last year, Huston starred in the title role of ‘Judah Ben-Hur’ in Paramount’s retelling of the classic Ben-Hur. Jack first gained recognition for his portrayal of ‘Richard Harrow’ in HBO’s Emmy award winning series, Boardwalk Empire, for which he earned a SAG Award for best ensemble cast. Huston’s additional credits include the award winning David O. Russell film, American Hustle, opposite Jennifer Lawrence, which earned him another SAG Award for Best Ensemble, Screen Gem’s film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Kill Your Darlings and David Chase’s Not Fade Away.

Amanda Peet

Amanda Peet is an actress and playwright who most recently starred in the IFC series Brockmire. Before that she could be seen in the HBO series Togetherness created by the Duplass Brothers, as well as the movies Please Give, The Whole Nine Yards, Igby Goes Down, Something’s Gotta Give, Changing Lanes, and Syriana. She wrote a play called the Commons of Pensacola that ran at MTC starring Blythe Danner and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Marthe Keller

Born in Switzerland, Marthe Keller began in theater and made her debut in Berlin (Schiller Theatre and Berliner Ensemble). In the 70’s, she appeared in a French movie saga: Le Diable par la queue (1971), Elle court, elle court la banlieue (1973), Toute une vie (And Now My Love, 1974). She also played in American movies: Marathon Man side to side with Dustin Hoffman (nominated at the Golden Globes), Black Sunday by John Frankenheimer with Robert Shaw, Fedora by Billy Wilder with William Holden, Bobby Deerfield starring Al Pacino and The Formula with Marlon Brando. She’s nominated for a Tony Award (Best Featured Actress) for her performance in Abby Mann’s play Judgement at Nuremberg in Broadway, for the role of Mrs. Bertholt. In cinema, Keller enjoyed a string of successes with Les Yeux Noirs by Nikita Mikhailkov, Hereafter (2010) by Clint Eastwood, Cortex by Nicolas Boukhrief, Les Géants by Bouli Lanners, Au Galop by Louis-do de Lencquesaing, Amnesia by Barbet Schroeder and Homo Faber by Richard Dindo. She’s starred in the Joaquin Lafosse’s movie L’Economie du Couple. She also plays in the telefilm Les Sources Assassines by Bruno Bontzolakis. She will next be seen in The Witness by Mitko Panov, Miséricorde by Fluvio Bernasconi and The Escape by Dominic Savage.

Prime members will be able to stream The Romanoffs next year via the Amazon Prime Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV, mobile devices and online at amazon.com/originals. Members can also download the series to mobile devices for offline viewing at no additional cost to their membership. The series will be a global release and available on Amazon Prime Video for members to watch via the Prime Video app or online at PrimeVideo.com in more than 200 countries and territories.

[Press release via The Futon Critic.]

What do you think? How do you like the sound of The Romanoffs TV series? Do you plan to check it out, when it premieres on Amazon?