You’ve got range if you can go from playing Harry Dunne in a silly little slapstick comedy called “Dumb and Dumber” that turns out to be one of the most brilliant examples of the genre to starring in a solemn HBO drama helmed by Aaron Sorkin of contemplative political “West Wing” fame called “The Newsroom” and winning an Emmy Award for a serious dramatic performance, and Jeff Daniels has done just that (even returning to the role of Harry midway through “The Newsroom’s” run for “Dumb and Dumber To,” the belated and grammatically infuriating sequel).
Now, Daniels seems to be staying in the solemn, contemplative drama camp (because there’s more rewards and praise and respect in that camp) as he’s signed on to star in a drama series for Hulu about the 9/11 terrorist attacks called “The Looming Tower.”
Daniels will be co-lead to Tahar Rahim
Daniels will not be the sole lead of “The Looming Tower,” as he is joined by Tahar Rahim, who is a French actor of Algerian descent (isn’t that cool?) as his co-star for the series. Presumably Daniels will receive top billing, though, because he’s more widely known. Rahim’s best-known work is the highly acclaimed French prison Film “A Prophet.”
“The Looming Tower” will be based on Lawrence Wright’s piece about the 9/11 attacks, which ended up earning him a Pulitzer Prize.
Hulu is sending the show straight to series, so there won’t be any faffing around with a pilot and the impending worry that it might not get picked up, because this is happening for sure. Oscar-nominated writer Dan Futterman of “Foxcatcher” fame and documentarian Alex Gibney, who is both an Oscar and Emmy winner and is best known for his Scientology exposé “Going Clear,” will be tackling the project from behind the camera, with Daniels and Rahim in front.
Controversial in the angle it takes, “The Looming Tower” will look at the threat of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda (yesteryear’s ISIS) in the days leading to 9/11, and how the CIA and FBI were too busy having a p*ssing contest to detect and prevent the World Trade Center’s collapse, which eventually led to the war in Iraq because George Bush is a genius.
Daniels will play the guy in charge of the FBI’s New York branch who has correctly predicted an imminent attack by al-Qaeda on US soil, but sees pushback from his peers and superiors when he brings the information to them. Rahim will play a prodigious young FBI agent fluent in Arabic and Islam, who joins forces with Daniels’ character. “The Looming Tower” is looming over a late 2017 premiere date.