Tom Brittney & J.K. Simmons to Star in MGM+ Series 'The Westies'

It was March of 2024, not long after the attempt at relevance with Belgravia Season 2, that MGM+ was revealed to be working on a Peaky Blinders-style series, with Narcos’ creator Chris Brancato stepping up to spearhead the project. Never mind that Belgravia: The Next Generation was as dead on arrival as its initial first season, or that MGM+ continues to be a streaming service no one knows exists or watches. Amazon Studios wished for MGM+ to have a gangland series, and as is the way of studios with deep pockets, someone was always going to be happy to oblige.

That project is now titled The Westies, named after the real-life, infamous Irish gang that controlled most of the Hell's Kitchen area, extending up to midtown, in the 1970s and 1980s. Unlike Peaky Blinders, which takes the titular gang (which folded after WWI, due to the war killing off an entire generation) and fictionalizes a what-if scenario where the gang remained strong through the interwar period, The Westies will be based in the true story of the gang's activities, with a focus on the peak years of the organization's rule over New York City, when it took over the construction of the Javits Center.

Up until now, the production has only announced American actors as cast, which made sense. It's set in NYC, and although it's technically a period piece, the 1980s were a time when first- and second-generation Americans ran the gang, not Irish-born immigrants, and an ensemble led by J.K. Simmons (Oz, among his many credits) seemed to indicate that's how the series would handle things. 

However, the series has now announced Tom Brittney, ex-Grantchester Hot Vicar and first runner-up for the Superman reboot (sorry, my dude), will co-lead with Simmons, which officially takes this from outside our preview to smack in the middle of it.

Here's the series synopsis:

The Westies is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall for the Irish-American organized crime gang. Despite being outnumbered 50-to-1 by the Five Families of the Italian mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente. However, internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia.

Simmons stars as the aging head of the Irish mafia, Eamon Sweeney, who mentors his successor, and the current head of the next generation, James “Jimmy” Roarke, played by Brittney. Other cast members attached to the project include Americans Titus Welliver (The Mandalorian) as Westies member and crooked cop Glenn Keenan, and Jessica Frances Dukes (The Gilded Age) as Birdie Polk, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Gambino Task Force. More casting is expected in due course.

Chris Brancato (Narcos) co-created The Westies with Michael Panes, and also serves as lead writer and showrunner for the eight-episode drama. Both also executive produce. Directors and additional writers are also expected to be announced closer to the start of filming, which is slated to begin in July in Toronto.

The Westies is expected to debut on MGM+ sometime in 2026.