EXCLUSIVE: Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire is joining Amazon UK Original series The Rig, we can reveal.
The six-part thriller, which will be directed by Line Of Duty and Bodyguard director John Strickland, is set to shoot in Scotland later this month on an oil rig and at FirstStage Studios in Edinburgh. It will be the first Amazon Original to shoot exclusively in Scotland.
The drama will be set on the Kishorn Bravo oil rig, stationed off the Scottish coast in the dangerous waters of the North Sea. When the crew is due to return to the mainland, a mysterious and all-enveloping fog rolls through and they find themselves cut off from all communication with the shore and the outside world. As the rig is hit by massive tremors, the crew endeavour to discover what’s driving the unknown force. But a major accident forces them to ask questions about who they can really trust.
Hampshire will portray the series co-lead Rose Mason, described to us as “the scientist and oil company rep, a fresh face on-board the rig”. As reported by Variety, Game Of Thrones star Iain Glen will co-star.
Also aboard in key roles are Line Of Duty star Martin Compston and Mark Bonnar (Catastrophe). Wild Mercury Productions (part of Banijay UK) is producing. David Macpherson created.
As announced last month, Hampshire is also developing a remake of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman with Norman Lear and Brent Miller’s Act III Productions, Sony Pictures Television and showrunner Jacob Tierney. Hampshire will co-write, executive-produce and star as the title character of Mary Hartman. She will be making that show and The Rig simultaneously.
Hampshire is well known for playing Stevie Budd on Schitt’s Creek, which swept the 2020 Emmy TV comedy categories and just won a Golden Globe for best Musical or Comedy TV Series. The actress will next be seen starring opposite Adrien Brody in the upcoming Epix miniseries Chapelwaite, based on the Stephen King short story Jerusalem’s Lot.
Hampshire is repped by Atlas Artists, Paradigm, Creative Drive Artists, K. L. Benzakein Talent and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson.