Emily Blunt leads cast for BBC western revenge series The English

Writer-director Hugo Blick describes show as ‘a thrilling, romantic, epic horse-opera’

Emily Blunt is set to star in BBC’s forthcoming western revenge series The English. 

The series is the latest from writer-director Hugo Blick, who previously wrote 2014’s Golden Globe-winning drama The Honourable Woman starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. 

Filming on The English is confirmed to have begun in Spain, with Blunt leading the cast alongside Chaske Spencer (previously The Twilight Saga and Cinemax’s original series Banshee).

Rafe Spall (The Salisbury Poisonings), Tom Hughes (Victoria) and Ciaran Hinds (The Woman in Black) are also attached to the project.

The English is set in the “mythic mid-American landscape in the year of 1890”. Blunt stars as Cornelia Locke, an Englishwoman who is seeking revenge against the man she sees as responsible for the death of her son. 

Spencer plays Eli Whipp, “an ex-cavalry scout and member of the Pawnee Nation by birth”. Together with Cornelia, they “discover a shared history which must be defeated at all costs, if either of them are to survive”.

Speaking about his forthcoming series, Blick said: “The chance to make a Western with Emily Blunt and the cast is so delicious I’m still wondering if it’s one of those weird dreams we were all having during lockdown.

“If not, a thrilling, romantic, epic horse-opera is heading to your screen sometime next year, and I couldn’t be more excited.”

(Getty)

An exact release date forThe English is yet to be announced, however, as per Blick’s statement, viewers can expect it to arrive in 2022.

The English will be available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, with US viewers able to tune in on Amazon Prime. 

The series is produced by the multi-award-winning production company Drama Republic, who have previously been behind hits such as Doctor Foster and Black Earth Rising. 

Blunt is next set to star in A Quiet Place Part II, the highly anticipated sequel to 2018’s horror film A Quiet Place, directed by her husband and co-star Jim Krasinski.