Keira Knightley to front new period drama The Essex Serpent tracking widow escaping abusive marriage
KEIRA Knightley is set to front a new period drama called The Essex Serpent.
The series is set to focus on a widow keen to escape an abusive marriage, which will be shown on Apple TV+.
Keira's character Cora decides to leave Victorian London and relocate in a small Essex village.
Adapted from the 2016 Sarah Perry novel of the same name, Cora is curious after hearing the Essex serpent, a mythical creature, has infiltrated the area once again.
The book is set way back in 1893 and begins in dramatic fashion by describing a death, which is said to have been caused by The Serpent.
Dark River's Clio Barnard will be the director, while Mrs Wilson writer Anna Symon will pen the series.
As well as playing a starring role on screen, Pirates of the Caribbean actress Keira, 35, will also be executive producing the show and we'll be joined by several other EPs.
Andrea Cornwall will also serve as a producer.
This is the Keira's second project in 2020, the other being Hulu's adaptation of The Other Typist which she signed up to back in June.
The Misbehaviour star has made a comeback to the TV for the first time since voicing Tinker Bell in a miniseries called Neverland back in 2011.
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The Other Typist is a New York period drama and the Brit will star as Odalie, a mysterious and glamorous typist working in the NY police department during the height of the prohibition era.
Based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Rindell, central character Rose becomes fascinated by her new colleague Odalie and it slowly turns to obsession.
This and the Essex Serpent will be the 35-year-old actress’s biggest TV commitments to date, as the mum-of-two has mainly starred in films throughout her career.
After shooting to fame in British movie Bend it like Beckham, Keira has been in such Hollywood blockbusters as Pirates of the Caribbean, Anna Karenina and Pride and Prejudice.