David Farnor | On 30, Jun 2020

Little Birds, Sky’s new drama, lands this August, and a new trailer gives us a first look at the sensual drama.

Starring Juno Temple, Yumna Marwan, Hugh Skinner, Nina Sosanya, David Costabile, Raphael Acloque, Rossy de Palma and Amy Landecker, Little Birds springboards from the erotic vignettes of Anais Nin into the Tangier International Zone of the 1950s.

We arrive there with New York heiress Lucy Savage (Juno Temple) fresh off the transatlantic steamer and ready for love and marriage in exotic climes. But when her husband Hugo (Hugh Skinner) does not greet her in the way she expected, she spins off into the surprising, diverse and degenerate world of Tangier in 1955.

A contemporary tale of a woman losing and then finding herself down a mesmerising rabbit hole, the drama lands on Sky Atlantic on 4th August. Here’s the trailer:

 

David Costabile, Amy Landecker flock to Sky’s Little Birds

17th June 2019

Sky Atlantic has announced that David Costabile, Amy Landecker and Matt Lauria have joined the cast of Little Birds, alongside Juno Temple, Hugh Skinner, Yumna Marwan, Nina Sosanya and Rossy De Palma.

A Sky original drama from the BAFTA winning Warp Films, Little Birds is set in Tangier in 1955, in the famous ‘international zone’ – one of the last outposts of colonial decadence, and a culture shock in more ways than one for troubled American debutante Lucy Savage (Juno Temple). Lucy desires an unconventional life free from the societal cage she’s been kept in and, along with Tangier itself, finds herself on the cusp of achieving a painful yet necessary independence.

David Costabile (Billions, Breaking Bad) joins the cast to play Lucy’s larger than life father, Grant Savage, an arms manufacturer who wants to control his daughter, his loquacious wife Vanessa, played by Amy Landecker (Transparent, Doctor Strange), and the world he lives in. Having set Lucy up with an English Lord, Hugo Cavendish-Smythe (Hugh Skinner), Grant thinks he has a malleable, potentially useful son-in-law but unbeknownst to the Savages, Hugo is not what they have taken him for.

Matt Lauria (Shaft, Kingdom, Traitors) takes on the role of the elusive Bill. A bartender and bohemian artist, Bill works in neighbourhood nightclub El Sirocco and soon becomes a confidante of both Lucy and Hugo. Although he is not what he seems and his flirtation and the hand of friendship offered to Lucy and Hugo is very much a cover for some more nefarious motivations.

The six-part original series is written by Sophia Al-Maria (The Girl Who Fell to Earth, The Magical State) and directed by Stacie Passon (Billions, House of Cards). Playfully inspired by Anais Nin’s infamous collection of erotic short stories, Little Birds weaves stories of love and desire together with personal drama and political intrigue, set against a uniquely distinctive backdrop of hedonism and conflict.

Executive producers are Ruth McCance, Peter Carlton and Mark Herbert for Warp Films and Kara Manley for Sky. It will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW in 2020.

 

Hugh Skinner joins Sky’s Little Birds

9th April 2019

Hugh Skinner is leading a wave of new additions to the cast of Little Birds as filming commences on the Sky original production.

Produced by Warp Films, the bold and evocative six-part original series, written by Sophia Al-Maria (The Girl Who Fell to Earth) and directed by Stacie Passon (Billions, House of Cards), is a gripping and sensual new drama. It’s set in Tangier in 1955, in the famous ‘international zone’ – one of the last outposts of colonial decadence, and a culture shock in more ways than one for troubled American debutante Lucy Savage, played by BAFTA-winning Juno Temple (Dirty John, Atonement, Killer Joe, Maleficent 1&2). 

Lucy desires an unconventional life free from the society cage she’s been kept in and, along with Tangier itself, finds herself on the cusp of achieving a painful yet necessary independence. Playfully inspired by Anais Nin’s infamous collection of erotic short stories, Little Birds weaves stories of love and desire together with personal drama and political intrigue, set against a uniquely distinctive backdrop of hedonism and conflict.

Now, Temple has been joined by Hugh Skinner, Rossy De Palma, Nina Sosanya and Jean Marc-Barr, joining Yumna Marwan and Raphael Acloque. Skinner (Fleabag, W1A) plays Hugo Cavendish-Smyth, an aristocratic English Lord set to marry American heiress Lucy but whose heart lies elsewhere. A complex and heart-breaking character, Hugo is often torn between his unpredictable fiancée and his lover Adham Abaza, a dashing Anglo-Egyptian played by Acloque (24: Legacy, The Secret Agent). Stylish, smart and witty, Adham is the most eligible man in Tangier.

Marwan (Shankaboot) will play Cherifa Lamour, a unique Moroccan dominatrix who services the diplomats and foreigners of this colourful, bohemian world. Mercurial, passionate and determined, Cherifa’s journey entwines the personal with the political as she attempts to change the world around her with her strength and resilience. Her presence enraptures Secretary Pierre Vaney, played by Barr (The Cellar, Cut Off), who is desperately in love with her.

Iconic Spanish star Rossy De Palma (Broken Embraces, Julieta) embodies the charming, witty and larger than life Contessa Mandrax, the beating social heart of the colony. Sosanya (Marcella, Last Tango in Halifax, Killing Eve 2) will play the glamorous actress Lili Von X, who encourages Lucy to live her life her way.

The cast commenced filming the six-part drama in Tarifa in Spain last week before production moves to Manchester from May. The series will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW in 2020.

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