Friday Night Lights’ actor Kyle Chandler is returning to the small screen for a pretty high-profile pilot over at Showtime. In Vatican, Chandler is set to play Cardinal Thomas Duffy, a man with a modern outlook and a brazen attitude. In fact, as the Archbishop of New York, he’s even ordained a woman in the Catholic Church, which is fairly unusual for that religion.
Chandler is not the first actor to be cast in Showtime’s pilot. Matthew Goode and German actor Sebastian Koch have also signed on for the project, which will follow characters involved within the modern-day Catholic Church. The show will be a thriller about power and politics, which should be right up Ridley Scott’s alley—which is good news, since the director and producer is set to direct the pilot for Vatican. The project is being written by House creator Paul Attanasio.
Chandler has chosen some pretty solid film roles since Friday Night Lights ended, including supporting roles in Argo, Super 8, and Zero Dark Thirty. However, supporting roles are not quite as awesome as starring roles and it’s no surprise Chandler would want to give the lead role in Showtime’s Vatican a shot. According to Deadline, Chandler has passed on “dozens” of pilots over the last couple of years (since Friday Night Lights ended), eventually choosing Vatican as his next big swing at bat. If Chandler has such great confidence in Showtime’s endeavor, audiences should probably have the same level of confidence.
