By Michaela Gordoni
Christopher Meloni is the first star cast in Dan Fogelman’s new Hulu series about family and football.
Variety announced the untitled series last October. Plot, character details and release date for the new series are still hush-hush, Variety reported on July 23.
The show will explore the NFL world through a generational family, and Meloni will play the team’s head coach.
While Meloni hasn’t played in the NFL, the actor is no stranger to it. He’s done voiceovers for NFL ads and recently starred in a Kansas City Chiefs scripted series, THE MAGIC NUMBER. He was also a quarterback in his high school days at St. Stephens & St. Agnes school in Virginia.
Fans know him best from his role as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler in LAW & ORDER and LAW & ORDER: SVU.
Fogelman writes and executive produces the series. Jess Rosenthal executive produces alongside Skydance Sports’ Jesse Sigold, Jason T. Reed and David Ellison.
“Welcome to the team, @chris_meloni,” Fogelman told Meloni on Instagram.
Fogelman has another Hulu series, PARADISE, which stars Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden. He also executive produces Hulu’s ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING.
Fogelman has some experience with sports dramas. He co-created the Fox series, PITCH, about the first woman to play in MLB. He’s known for creating THIS IS US, which earned 40 Emmy nominations.
Related: Building ‘The Kingdom’: Docuseries Dives into NFL Team’s Trials and Triumphs
For film, he’s written TANGLED, CARS, BOLT, CRAZY STUPID LOVE and others, Variety reported last fall.
Fogelman is still looking for cast members. He posted a casting call on Instagram for a “20-something Football player with a mean thespian streak” on July 24. The casting call describes Connor, a towering, strikingly handsome actor with football experience, and Henry, a square-jawed jock, also with football experience.
Meloni has a hundred acting credits to his name and has starred in movies IF, MAN OF STEEL, HARLEY QUINN and others.
He acted in college but never considered it as a career possibility.
“I took some acting classes as a lark. You know, it was a – in college. And I liked it. And I actually thought to myself… I’m pretty good at this,” he said. “But even more importantly to me, I realized how little I knew and that there was something to learn. There was an art here, and I was very curious about it.”
His dad was a doctor, and he didn’t think it was acceptable to ask his dad to pay for school so Meloni could be an actor.
After college, he asked a friend what he was doing. The friend told him he was studying to be an actor in New York.
“I asked him for the number,” Meloni said. “I called up the Neighbourhood Playhouse. And I flew up the next day and interviewed with them.” And ever since he studied there, he’s been a paid actor.
Meloni is sure to be a compelling addition to Fogelman’s show.
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