Tony Hale ( Arrested Development ), Zosia Mamet ( The Flight Attendant ) and Tanya Reynolds ( Sex Education ) will star in The Decameron ,
the Netflix series created by Kathleen Jordan ( Teenage Bounty Hunters ) and executive produced by Jenji Kohan ( Orange Is the New Black ), loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio ‘s Decameron .
With them we will also see Amar Chadha-Patel ( Willow ), Leila Farzad ( I Hate Suzie ), Lou Gala ( Worst Job Ever ), Karan Gill ( I May Destroy You ), Saoirse-Monica Jackson ( Derry Girls ), Douggie McMeekin ( Chernobyl ) and Jessica Plummer ( Punk Girl in Love ).
Here are the characters:
- Hale will play Sirisco, the affable, ill-prepared and overzealous administrator of Villa Santa.
- Mamet will be Pampinea, destined soon to become the mistress of the villa. Pampinea is full of hope and totally devoid of self-awareness. Although she is obsessed with her high-ranking position, she Pampinea hides a deep loneliness and insecurity.
- Reynolds will play Licisca, an obedient if unpredictable servant. Her life has been defined by hard work, her tough exterior, and devotion to the family she serves. Till now.
- Chadha-Patel will play Dioneo, a cocky doctor whose profession places him in a frustrating limbo between upper and lower classes.
- Jackson will play Misia, Pampinea’s servant who adores her mistress and derives self-esteem from a complicated co-dependent relationship with her.
- Farzad will be Stratilia, the backbone of Villa Santa. Intuitive, wise and firm, Stratilia doesn’t like to get involved and she intends to protect her secrets.
- Gala will play Neifile, the woman of paradoxes, God-fearing yet tremendously libidinous. Her time at her villa will transform her profoundly.
- Gill will play Panfilo, the charming and astute scion of a prominent Florentine political family, and a formidable presence in the villa.
- McMeekin will play Tindaro, a wealthy nobleman and scion of a powerful family. His perfect golden bachelor pedigree, however, is damaged by his intolerable character, his very strong hypochondria and his obvious contempt for women.
- Plummer will play Filomena, an extravagant and spoiled girl with a bad attitude. Filomena is also the last child of her noble family to have survived.
The Decameron
The series will be freely inspired by the Decameron , the famous collection of short stories written by Giovanni Boccaccio in the 14th century. Like Boccaccio’s work, the series will be set in 1348, when the Black Plague hits the city of Florence. A group of nobles flees the city and retires with the servants to a country villa. But as social norms fade away, what begins as a wine-and-sex vacation turns into a struggle for survival.
The series will examine the themes of class differences and the struggle for power and survival in a time of pandemic, and will include a touch of humour. Kathleen Jordan drew inspiration from the “Decameron,” but the series will be almost entirely an original story.
Jordan will executive produce The Decameron alongside Jenji Kohan, Blake McCormick and Tara Herrmann for Tilted Productions, as well as Mike Uppendahl ( Ratched, American Crime Story ), who will direct four of the eight episodes. Filming should take place in Italy.