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Matt Passmore lands FOX lead

Matt Passmore wins the lead on FOX's upcoming pilot Masterwork by Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring.

65Underbelly and The Cut actor Matt Passmore has landed the lead on FOX’s upcoming pilot Masterwork by Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring.

The series centres on an FBI agent (Passmore), a specialist in the acquisition of stolen art and a fine-arts expert who teams with an MI-5 agent (Natalie Dormer). Tom Ellis plays her fiance, a special agent at Scotland Yard.

The pilot, directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, will film in Prague.

Passmore landed the part after he was pitched to 20th Century FOX TV by an Aussie casting agent hired by 20th TV to do a quick talent search. She uploaded a video with him reading for the part last Friday.

20th TV’s head of casting Sharon Klein said: “I had no idea who he was; I had never heard his name, I had never seen his face, but when he came on the screen, everybody gasped.”

“He had command of the material and a perfect American accent; he was witty and funny and smart and very handsome.”

Passmore was flown to Los Angeles immediately, and after testing for the studio on Tuesday and for the network on Wednesday, he got the part.

His casting follows numerous Australian, British and non-US actors winning lead roles in American television. Prison Break aleady featured Aussies Dominic Purcell and Chris Vance.

Trying to explain the influx, Klein simply said, “They’re talented actors.”

But the hunt for strong actors  in their late 20s-early 30s is tricky. The chances of discovering fresh faced, experienced talent in that age range are far greater abroad then they are in the U.S.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

8 Responses

  1. I hope he’ll still have some spare time to film some new episodes of Play School. I have wondered for a while about whether he would be “discovered” in the U.S. Good luck and congratulations Matt.

  2. This is one of the buzz shows out of the U.S.
    Cross between DaVinci Code and National Treasure..big action adventure
    FOX are very strong on it and will go to TEN if picked up.

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