Meghan Leathers Joins ‘Finestkind’; ‘Violent Night’ Adds Andre Eriksen

EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Leathers (Don’t Look Up) has signed on for a role in Paramount+’s crime thriller Finestkind, from Academy Award-winning writer-director Brian Helgeland. She joins an ensemble that also includes Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega, Aaron Stanford, Scotty Tovar, Tim Daly, Lolita Davidovich and Clayne Crawford, as previously announced.

Set in America’s biggest commercial fishing port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Finestkind tells the story of two brothers (Foster and Wallace) from opposite sides of the tracks, who are reunited as adults over one fateful summer. When desperate circumstances force them to strike a deal with a dangerous Boston crime syndicate, a young woman (Ortega) finds herself caught in the middle. Along the way, sacrifices must be made, and bonds between brothers, friends, and a father (Jones) and his son are put to the test.

Leathers will play Tom’s (Foster) former girlfriend, Kathy. They broke up when Tom made a bad decision. They still have feelings for each other but she needs to see change in order to take a step back into his life.

Finestkind will debut exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. later this year, becoming available for streaming in Australia, Canada, Latin America, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and South Korea when the service launches in those markets. Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff are producing for Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment, with Academy Award nominee Taylor Sheridan of Bosque Ranch and David C. Glasser of 101 Studios, in association with MTV Entertainment Studios, with 101 Studios handling international sales for all remaining territories.

Leathers currently stars on AMC’s Kevin Can F**k Himself and Apple TV+’s For All Mankind, and will soon be seen in a heavily recurring role on Netflix’s series Partner Track. The actress also recently appeared in Adam McKay’s Academy Award-nominated feature, Don’t Look Up. She is represented by APA and the Lasher Group.

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EXCLUSIVE: André Eriksen (Norsemen) will star alongside David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Beverly D’Angelo, Alex Haskell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson and Cam Gigandet in Universal Pictures’ holiday thriller Violent Night, from director Tommy Wirkola.

In the film slated for release on December 2nd, a team of elite mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage. But the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (Harbour) is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.

Patrick Casey and Josh Miller (Sonic the Hedgehog) penned the script. David Leitch, Kelly McCormick and Guy Danella are producing under their Universal-based 87North banner, with Universal Pictures’ Executive Vice President of Production Development Matt Reilly and Director of Production Development Tony Ducret overseeing the project for the studio.

Eriksen is a Scandinavian actor who previously worked with Wirkola on the action-comedy The Trip, which is currently available for streaming on Netflix. Additional credits include Netflix’s Norsemen, Shudder’s Black Lake, History Channel’s Vikings and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow on The CW. He is repped by Crimson Media and CESD.