Ryan Phillippe has been tapped for a major role in The Big Sky, ABC’s straight-to-series drama created and executive produced by David E. Kelley. The project, based on The Highway, the first book in C.J. Box’s Cassie Dewell series of novels, hails from A+E Studios, which will produce in association with 20th Century Fox Television, part of Disney TV Studios.
Written by Kelley, The Big Sky is a procedural thriller in which private detective Cassie Dewell partners with ex-cop Jenny Hoyt on a search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. When they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another woman is taken.
Phillippe will play Cody Hoyt, a well-meaning ex-cop turned private investigator working at his Helena, Montana, firm. Married to but separated from fellow ex-cop, Jenny Hoyt, his life becomes complicated when he’s asked to help find his son’s missing girlfriend.
In The Big Sky, Phillippe joins previously announced John Carroll Lynch and Dedee Pfeiffer. The series is executive produced by Kelley, Box, Ross Fineman, Matthew Gross and Paul McGuigan, who also directs.
Phillippe is currently in production in a leading role in Justin Long’s feature-directorial debut, a comedy in which he stars opposite Melanie Lynskey and Judy Greer. Phillippe, who headlined the USA drama series Shooter, recently guest starred as himself on NBC’s Will & Grace revival. The actor, who recently signed with Gersh, is also repped by MGMT Entertainment and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.
