Tamal Kundu
The shooting for Jessica Chastain’s Apple TV+ series ‘The Savant’ is set to begin in September 2023 in New York. Although Apple has maintained extreme secrecy on the casting and plot of the series, it is reportedly inspired by the August 2019 Cosmopolitan article ‘Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens?’ by Andrea Stanley, who will serve as a consultant and receive writing credits.
Aside from starring in the project, Chastain will receive credits as an executive producer through her Freckle Films production company. Playwright and screenwriter Melissa James Gibson — known for ‘Anatomy of a Scandal,’ ‘House of Cards,’ and ‘The Americans’ — will be the writer and showrunner. The series has been co-produced by Fifth Season (previously known as Endeavor Content) and Anonymous Content. Gibson, whose overall deal is based on the Fifth Season, will also reportedly serve as a producer. The eight-part series is directed by Matthew Heineman, who will also receive executive-producing credits. Known for ‘Cartel Land,’ ‘City of Ghosts,’ and ‘A Private War,’ Heineman has won six Emmy Awards and two DGA Awards and received one Academy Award nomination.
Chastain will portray the titular character in this series based on an incredible true story. The woman in question is an elite investigator specializing in locating disgruntled, angry men. She is called the Savant by many in her profession because of her remarkable ability to predict when hateful online rhetoric can transform into actions of extremism and domestic terrorism. The article credits her for correctly recognizing Michael Finton, an American convert to Islam who tried to bomb the Paul Findley Federal Building and the nearby offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois, and informed the FBI about him, leading to his arrest.
For understandable reasons, anonymity is paramount in her line of work, and Stanley upholds it by identifying her as “K,” based on the Savant’s childhood nickname. K was a Marine before she became a police officer. When the article was published, she was employed at Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and had a close association with law enforcement.
It is unclear how much of K’s personal and professional life will make it to the screen in ‘The Savant.’ According to Stanley, she has a husband and a child. Those roles will likely be cast in the upcoming months if they haven’t been already.
Chastain, who won an Academy Award for Best Actress for the biopic ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye,’ has portrayed characters somewhat similar to the Savant in the past. Most notably, she plays Maya Harris, a CIA intelligence analyst based on a real-life agent, in ‘Zero Dark Thirty‘ (2012). In the film, her character’s relentless search eventually results in the discovery and elimination of the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Chastain plays another CIA agent — Mason “Mace” Browne — in the 2022 release ‘The 355.’
In a 2014 interview with Glamour magazine, Chastain stated, “… when I play a female lead, like the role in ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ even if she’s strong, I try to give her as many flaws as I can. I think to play a female hero without faults is actually doing a disservice to women. I think it’s more interesting to see women on-screen with flaws. Then it’s not this unreasonable expectation that society then would put on you: “Well, a strong woman can’t be like this….” It’s safe to assume that she will approach the eponymous character in ‘The Savant’ in a similar manner.
‘The Savant’ is reportedly not one of the shows impacted by the effects of the writers’ strike. But if it continues for a few more months, the skrike is bound to affect the production. There will likely be updates on the matter in the coming months, along with more details on the plot and the rest of the cast.
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