The HBO crime thriller Task has added new cast members who will join stars Mark Ruffalo and Mahershala Ali for its second season.
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The Emmy-nominated show from Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby follows Ruffalo’s Tom Brandis, a priest-turned-FBI agent who leads specialized task forces. This season, his team will investigate (probably) shady DEA agents including Eddie Barnes, played by the Oscar-winning Ali.
Like the first season, the story centers on two opposing dads in Philadelphia and its collar counties: Two actors joining the cast will play Barnes’ children, according to Deadline.
Jharrel Jerome — who won an Emmy in 2018 for his heartbreaking role as one of the wrongly accused teens dubbed the Central Park Five in When They See Us — will play Jordan Barnes, while And Just Like That … actor Bethlehem Million plays his sister, Lisa.
Ali seems to be in his own dad era this year, not unlike his costar Ruffalo, as his next project sees him play a single dad-slash-assassin in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, out in September.
Brandis’ children will also return to Task this season, with Silvia Dionicio and Andrew Russel reprising their roles as Emily and Ethan Brandis, respectively. Though plot details are still emerging, it appears that Ethan, who struggles with schizophrenia, will return home following his incarceration for accidentally killing his mother — a tragedy that continues to haunt Brandis.
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Other newcomers include Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen, The Testament of Ann Lee) as Denny Coughlin, a veteran cop on Brandis’ task force; Kevin Dunn (Veep, Transformers), who plays Brandis’ boss, Vince Runyan; and Brían F. O’Byrne (Conclave) as Charlie Boylan, Barnes’ mentor.
This slate of actors join previously announced cast members Henry Melling (Pillion), Edgar Ramirez (The Assassination of Gianni Versace), Aminah Nieves (1923), Adam Nagaitis (Star City). Martha Plimpton (The Regime), who appeared in Season 1 of Task as a crooked boss to Brandis, will return to play Kathleen McGinty.
Mare of Easttown actor Julianne Nicholson will reprise her role as Lori Ross — the best friend to Kate Winslet’s titular Mare — in Task for a special crossover connecting Ingelsby’s two Delco-set crime shows.
The production has been filming in and around Philadelphia this summer, from Manayunk to Wissahickon Valley Park, so locals might get a glimpse of Ruffalo, Ali, and other stars as they continue working in the area.
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