As she readies her debut in HBO’s The Gilded Age, Dukes signs on to star in 1980s-set crime series alongside J.K. Simmons and Titus Welliver.
Jessica Frances Dukes is doubling down on period pieces. While gearing up for her first season on The Gilded Age, the Ozark star has also been tapped as a series regular in MGM+’s upcoming crime drama The Westies.
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Created by Chris Brancato (Godfather of Harlem, Narcos), The Westies is set in early 1980s Hell’s Kitchen and follows the rise — and unraveling — of the Irish-American crime gang of the same name. Amid the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center, the crew finds itself locked in a fragile truce with the Italian mafia. But as old-school leadership clashes with a brash younger generation, their empire starts to crack — drawing the attention of the FBI.
Dukes will portray Birdie Polk, a no-nonsense FBI Special Agent leading the task force aiming to bring down both the Westies and the Gambino crime family. Her character adds a sharp federal counterbalance to the gritty criminal underworld at the heart of the series.
She joins a heavyweight cast that includes Oscar winner J.K. Simmons as Westies leader Eamon Sweeney and Bosch star Titus Welliver as Glenn Keenan, a conflicted NYPD officer with ties to the gang.
Production is slated to begin in July in Toronto.
The Westies is the second period project on Dukes’ calendar this year. She will also appear in season 3 of HBO’s The Gilded Age, Julian Fellowes’ lush historical drama set in 1880s New York. Dukes has built a reputation for disappearing into complex characters, from her breakout turn in Ozark to her recent work in Earth Abides, Jessica Jones, and The Good Wife.
A seasoned theater performer as well, Dukes is an Obie Award winner with credits that include By the Way, Meet Vera Stark and Bootycandy. With The Westies, she once again steps into a story that blurs the lines between power, identity, and survival — this time in the heat of NYC’s crime wars.