EXCLUSIVE: J.K. Simmons (Heart of the Beast, The Westies) is joining Will Poulter as a series regular in Apple TV‘s Beat The Reaper, based on the novel of the same name by Josh Bazell. Additionally, Tim Van Patten (Masters of the Air, Boardwalk Empire) will direct the pilot and serve as executive producer on the new series hailing from Apple Studios and New Regency.
From showrunner and executive producer Sam Catlin, Beat the Reaper follows Dr. Peter Brown (Poulter), an intern at Boston’s worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he’d prefer to keep hidden. But when a patient recognizes him from his dangerous past, Brown has eight hours to elude the government, mob hitmen, quack surgeons, and a trail of dead gangsters to somehow beat the reaper.
Simmons will play Dr. Friendly, an incompetent surgeon in the book who works at the same hospital as Peter.
Beat the Reaper is executive produced by Catlin under his overall deal with Apple TV. Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, Natalie Lehmann, and Laura Delahaye will executive produce, and Rachel Toffler will co-executive produce, for New Regency.
Simmons is an Academy Award winner following his big win in 2015 for Best Supporting Actor. He received the honor for his portrayal of jazz instructor Fletcher in Whiplash. He received an Oscar nomination for bringing to life William Frawley in Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos. On the small screen, Simmons leads the series The Westies from MGM+. He will next be seen in the films Purgatory, The Prince, Heart of the Beast, and The Thing That Hurts. Simmons is represented by Gersh.
Van Patten became an Emmy Award Winner in 2012 in the category of Outstanding Director in a Drama series for his work in the Season 2 episode titled “To The Lost.” As a supervising producer, he won a group Emmy in 2010 for HBO’s The Pacific, which received the honor for Outstanding Miniseries. Additional directing credits include HBO’s The Sopranos, Apple TV’s miniseries Franklin, Netflix’s Black Mirror and Perry Mason. Van Patten is repped by CAA and Range Media Partners.
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