*We caught up with director Damian Marcano to unpack the new Paramount+ original series “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” starring Emmy winner British actor David Oyelowo.
Created for television by executive producer, writer, and showrunner Chad Feehan, the series “follows the journey of Reeves (Oyelowo) and his rise from enslavement to law enforcement as the first Black U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi. Despite arresting over 3,000 outlaws during the course of his career, the weight of the badge was heavy, and he wrestled with its moral and spiritual cost to his beloved family. LAWMEN: BASS REEVES is an all-new, standalone anthology series and future iterations will follow other iconic lawmen and outlaws who have impacted history,” per the official synopsis.
Check out the trailer above.
“Bass embodies what is our biggest theme of the show, which is the triumph of the human spirit,” Feehan told Newsweek. “He overcame unimaginable circumstances and unimaginable horrors to become arguably the greatest lawman in the history of this country.”
“I had heard stories about Bass as a child. They were those sort of mythic lawman stories. And for (David) to sort of explain to me where the myth both converged with and separated from reality, I took it hook, line, and sinker and then became obsessed with being a part of the journey,” said Feehan in an interview with Tusla World.
“David and I both came to this idea that we really wanted to tell a story about the triumph, the human spirit,” he added. “And I can’t think of many people who embody that notion better than Bass Reeves or, frankly, David Oyelowo.”
Oyelowo also serves as an executive producer on the project, which features Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck, Barry Pepper, Grantham Coleman, Donald Sutherland, Dennis Quaid, Shea Whigham, Garrett Hedlund, Joaquina Kalukango, Lonnie Chavis, Tosin Morohunfola, Dale Dickey, Rob Morgan, Ryan O’Nan, Margot Bingham, Mo Brings Plenty, Justin Hurtt-Dunkley and Bill Dawes.
The “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” debuted exclusively on Paramount+ on Nov. 5 with the first two episodes in the U.S.
Marcano serves as one of the directors on the series and we spoke to him about his connection to the source material and the most exciting aspects of recreating historical events and settings for the small screen. Check out what he had to say in our exclusive conversation via the clip below.
READ MORE: EP Chad Feehan Unpacks the Old West with ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’ | EURVideoExclusive-WATCH
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