The upcoming Netflix space drama ‘Away’ has recruited five new cast members. Andrew Hinderaker created the show, which stars Hilary Swank in the lead, as astronaut Emma Green. Josh Charles also stars as her husband Matt. The series is based on Chris Jones’ story of the same name, originally published in Esquire.
“Emma Green, an American astronaut who must leave her husband and teenage daughter behind in order to command an international space crew embarking upon a treacherous, year-long mission. It is a series about hope, humanity and how ultimately, we need one another if we are to achieve impossible things.”
Talitha Eliana Bateman, Ato Essandoh, Mark Ivanir, Ray Panthaki, and Vivian Wu have joined the cast. Bateman (above) will play Emma and Matt’s teenage daughter, Alexis Logan, “who must now come of age with her father facing life-changing health challenges and her mother in space.” Among Bateman’s past credits are ‘Love, Simon’, ‘Annabelle: Creation’, ‘Geostorm’, and ‘The 5th Wave’.
The other cast members play astronauts on the space mission with Emma. Essandoh plays Kwesi, “a British-Ghanaian botanist and the mission’s only rookie astronaut.”
Essandoh was most recently seen in the film ‘Dark Phoenix’. He has also appeared in the movies ‘Blood Diamond’, ‘Jason Bourne’, and ‘Garden State’, and on TV series ‘The Code’, ‘Chicago Med’, ‘Elementary’, ‘Altered Carbon’, ‘Blue Bloods’, and more.
Ivanir plays Misha, “a veteran Russian cosmonaut, and the ship’s engineer.”
He was seen in the recent film ‘The Red Sea Diving Resort’ and will appear in the new season of ‘The New Pope’. He has appeared in ‘American Horror Story’, ‘Barry’, ‘Homeland’, ‘Transparent’, and ‘Madam Secretary’, among others.
Panthaki portrays Ram, “an Indian astronaut and the crew’s medic, co-pilot, and second-in-command.”
His work has mostly been limited to films and television series in his native England. He was most recently seen on the series ‘Gangs of London’, and ‘Marcella’, and the films ‘Official Secrets’, and ‘Colette’.
Wu plays Yu, “a Chinese taikonaut and the crew’s geologist and chemist.”
Wu has only appeared in Chinese projects, but those have been plentiful.
Jessica Goldberg, who created and executive produced ‘The Path’ for Netflix, serves as showrunner. Hinderaker wrote the pilot and serves as executive producer. Jason Katims’ True Jack Prods., and Matt Reeves’ 6th & Idaho and Universal Television produce the show. Katims also acts as a writer, and Ed Zwick will direct the first episode. There will be 10 episodes of the first series.
Source: Deadline
