Michael Chiklis, who moved from family-friendly fare such as The Commish to make such an impact in FX‘s The Shield – before going on to star in projects including two Fantastic Four movies (as Ben Grimm) and more recently appeared in Gotham, is about to executive produce and star in another timely and controversial series, Coyote.
Industry site Deadline reports that Chiklis will star as Ben Clemens, a veteran border patrol agent on the US/Mexico divide and who has spent over three decades in the job, making sure illegals don’t come across the border. But when his circumstances change, he’s forced to work alongside some of the people he would once have turned away, to see a different side to the problem and to question some of the ideology and perspectives he’s built up over his life – issues without any easy answers.
The deal to make the series will give executive producer and director Michelle MacLaren (Game of Thrones, WestWorld, Breaking Bad) yet another timely show. The series is been written by American Gods‘ David Graziano, Michael Carnes and Mr. Woodcock‘s Josh Gilbert. Keith Goldberg (The Umbrella Academy) and Dark Horse Entertainment‘s Mike Richardson will also serve as executive producers, something of a first given that Richardson and Dark Horse have usually been involved in projects connected to their on characters and superheroes from the Dark Horse publishing part of the business.
“David Graziano, our whole creative team, and I are excited to make a show with Paramount Network and Sony that will dramatize a conversation between Mexico and America,” said MacLaren in a statement. “I have wanted to work with Michael Chiklis for a long time and am thrilled he is playing such a complex character whose journey will expose multiple points of view on this relevant and complicated issue.”
