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Dakota Fanning To Star As Female Lead In New TNT Drama ‘The Alienist’

By Brad Faber
Published on: 14:12 PST, Jan 14, 2017

Dakota Fanning will be starring in a new TNT drama called The Alienist. According to Entertainment Weekly, the network confirmed the news at the Television Council Associations Press Tour. TNT also announced the news on Twitter Saturday afternoon.

The Alienist is based on the novel of the same name by Caleb Carr. As a novel, The Alienist was an international best-seller, reports Deadline.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the story is set in New York City during the late 19th century. Fanning will be playing the role of Sara Howard, whose mission is to become the city’s “first female police detective.” The character works for Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, serving as a secretary on his staff. The role is also described as “the female lead” by Entertainment Tonight.

Per Entertainment Weekly, Howard becomes part of a group that comes to the help of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (who plays the titular character of “The Alienist”) and a “newspaper reporter” by the name of John Moore. Kreizler and Moore are played by Daniel Bruhl and Luke Evans, respectively. Bruhl recently starred alongside Bradley Cooper in the 2015 movie Burnt, and one might remember Evans from his performance in The Girl on the Train just last year.

According to an earlier article on Deadline, Bruhl’s character is called “The Alienist,” because he studies “mental pathologies” for a living. While the term “The Alienist” may sound as though it is related to something extra-terrestrial, Merriam-Webster describes how the term is essentially an outdated term for a psychiatrist. While the term is no longer as popular as it once was, it makes sense given the time period that the show is set in.

Entertainment Weekly reports that the group, of which Howard is a part, is enlisted by Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt to secretly investigate a series of murders. They use their expertise and unique set of skills to help try and solve the crimes and catch the person responsible.

“The team uses emerging disciplines of psychology and forensic techniques to track down one of the city’s first serial killers.”

A former child star now 22 years of age, Fanning made her first television appearances in shows such as ER and Ally McBeal. As of late, Fanning has been in more movies than television shows, starring in films such as I Am Sam, Sweet Home Alabama, Man on Fire, War Of The Worlds, and the Twilight series.

In 2016, Fanning appeared in Brimstone and American Pastoral. With Fanning making the move back to television, Just Jared reports that Fanning’s role in The Alienist will be her first as a series regular since she played Allie Keys in the series Taken well over a decade ago.

The show Taken was a miniseries that ran for only one season back in 2002. A science fiction series that aired on SyFy, the show was not at all related to the Liam Neeson movies of the same name, or the subsequent show starring Clive Standen (Vikings) that was inspired by the movies. Just Jared also points out that Fanning appeared in a single episode of Friends in 2004, but she has not acted in any TV series since.

According to Entertainment Weekly, The Alienist, which will be directed by Jakob Verbruggen, will make its debut “in late 2017.” Production is set to begin shortly in Budapest, according to Deadline.

The Alienist will join shows such as The Last Ship, Good Behavior, and Animal Kingdom on TNT’s lineup of original shows. Will you be tuning in to TNT and watch Dakota Fanning, Daniel Bruhl, and Luke Evans star in The Alienist later this year?

[Featured Image by Michael Kovac/Getty Images]

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