CTV, alongside producers Sienna Films and Entertainment One (eOne), announced that Golden Globe nominee Billy Campbell and the multiple Genie Award-winning actress Karine Vanasse have been cast as series leads in Cardinal (working title), the network’s recently announced serialized, six-part, one-hour drama.
The cinematic murder mystery series stars Campbell (The Killing) as the intelligent, reflective, and dogged detective named John Cardinal, from the northern city of Algonquin Bay, who is burdened by a wrong he committed years ago. Quebec native Vanasse (Revenge) is confirmed to play Cardinal’s partner Lise Delorme, a shrewd, tough, imaginative, and gifted investigator from the town’s French Canadian community. Cardinal is a gripping, character driven drama set to premiere as part of CTV’s 2016/17 schedule, with production set to begin in February 2016.
“It is an honour to have Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse on board Cardinal,” said Corrie Coe, Senior Vice-President of Independent Production at Bell Media, in a press release. “These two enormously talented actors, with their wide range of film and television experience, are perfectly suited to bring these rich, complex characters to life.”
Most recently,well-known actor Billy Campbell starred in AMC’s hit series The Killing as Seattle City Councilman, and eventually mayor, Darren Richmond. Campbell is also known for his role as Rick Sammler on the beloved ABC drama Once and Again, which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series and won a People’s Choice Award for Favourite Male Performer in a New Television Series for his performance. He is also known for his roles in The 4400, and National Geographic Channel’s docudrama Killing Lincoln. Campbell’s most notable films include the cult classic The Rocketeer, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Enough.
Karine Vanasse is an award-winning Canadian actress. Her recent television credits include ABC’s Pan AM and Revenge, and the upcoming French series BLUE MOON. Over the course of her career she has had lead roles in over a dozen films, including the 2009 Canadian film Polytechnique, for which she earned a Genie Award for Best Female Performance. Vanasse also served as co-producer on the film and was the driving force behind the film, which was awarded eight other Genie Awards in 2010, including Best Picture. Vanasse was also nominated for an ACTRA Award for Outstanding Female Performance in 2006 for the mini-series October 1970 and in 2010 for her performance in Polytechnique.
Cardinal is adapted from the award-winning novel Forty Words for Sorrow, the first of the John Cardinal Mysteries series, a series of six bestselling crime novels written by Ontario native and award-winning author Giles Blunt. The series begins with the discovery of Katie Pine, a missing 13-year-old whose body is discovered in the shaft-head of an abandoned mine. Cardinal follows detective John Cardinal (Campbell) as he attempts to uncover the mystery of what happened to the young girl. At the same time, unbeknownst to Cardinal, he comes under investigation by his new partner, Lise Delorme (Vanasse), a tough investigator in her own right.
