Gold Digger, the new BBC One drama from Thirteen creator Marnie Dickens, has added some supporting cast members. Julia Ormond of Howard’s End was announced as the lead some time ago, and now we know that Hard Sun‘s Nikki Amuka-Bird will be among the actors in supporting roles.
TV Wise reports that Nikki Amuka-Bird (NW, Hard Sun), Alex Jennings (Unforgotten, The Crown), Julia McKenzie (Agatha Christie’s Marple), Sebastian Armesto (Poldark, Broadchurch), Jemima Rooper (Lost in Austen, Trauma) and newcomer Archie Renaux have joined Ormond and Ben Barnes in the cast of Gold Digger.
All of these actors will play characters whose lives intersect with Ormond’s protagonist, Julia, a woman who has spent her entire life putting her family and friends first. The six-part series will follow Julia as she pursues a relationship with Benjamin (played by Barnes), a man 25 years younger than her, and the repercussions this has on Julia’s husband, children and Julia herself.
On her casting, Ormond had this to say:
“This is a fabulously written piece exploring family dynamics and I feel extraordinarily grateful to have been cast in Gold Digger and to be working with Vanessa and Marnie”.
Writer Dickens also had nothing but good things to say about her star:
“I’m thrilled to have the hugely talented Julia Ormond bringing our heroine to life. I couldn’t be happier to be working with the BBC and Mainstreet on a drama that puts an older woman unequivocally at the heart of the action.”
Gold Digger will be penned entirely by Marnie Dickens and Vanessa Caswill, responsible for the BBC’s recent adaptation of Little Women, will direct the first three episodes.
Filming on Gold Digger will commence later this month. It’s expected that the drama will hit our screens in 2019.
We’ll be sure to update you on this series as it develops.