Gillian Anderson will star opposite Lena Headey in The Abandons, Kurt Sutter‘s upcoming Western drama series on Netflix.
The X-Files and Game of Thrones alums will star in the action drama set in 1850s Oregon, the streamer has announced. The show was given a series order in October 2022, with Headey’s casting being announced in March 2023. Series creator Sutter is known for being the creator of FX‘s Sons of Anarchy.
In The Abandons, “a group of diverse, outlier families pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, a corrupt force of wealth and power, coveting their land, tries to force them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back. In this bloody process, ‘justice’ is stretched beyond the boundaries of the law.”
Headey will play Fiona, “a matriarch who adopts four orphans after being unable to have children of her own. Driven by her faith and strong-willed Irish temper, Fiona will do anything to protect her family — which is key to survival in this dangerous landscape.” Per Netflix’s June 28 announcement, Anderson will play Constance, “matriarch of a wealthy family who — despite the town’s bias against women — formed a powerful web of allies through money, charm, and ruthlessness.”
According to Variety, Anderson’s casting was in the works before the WGA writers strike began but only recently was closed.
The Abandons Season 1 will consist of 10 episodes, with Sutter serving as showrunner and executive producer through his production company SutterInk. Emmy Grinwis, Stephen Surjik, and Otto Bathurst also executive produce, with Bathurst directing the first episode and Surjik also directing. A release date will be announced at a later time, but with the WGA still on strike and a possible SAG-AFTRA strike looming, it could be a long wait.
The Abandons marks Anderson’s third Netflix show. She stars in Sex Education, which wrapped production on Season 4 earlier this year, and she won an Emmy for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in Season 5 of The Crown.
The Abandons, TBA, Netflix
