NEW YORK, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Tony-winning Gilded Age, Life & Beth and Gossip Girl actress Laura Benanti says she enjoyed being cast against type as a rookie prison guard and single mother of three kids in Season 4 of the gritty crime drama, Mayor of Kingstown.
Airing Sundays on Paramount+, the series follows Mike McLusky (Jeremy Renner), the powerful liaison between police, criminals and the prison of a Michigan town where everyone has ties to at least one of the three.
"I'm such a fan of the writing and of Jeremy and I don't get to play roles like this a lot. I do a lot of comedy or rich, mean women [characters]," Benanti, 46, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"Getting to play a character that is so wildly different from anything I've done and wildly different from who I am and the way I grew up is such an acting challenge and I'm constantly wanting to stretch myself as an artist. It was a thrill to become a part of this cast."
Hugh Dillon, who co-created the show with Taylor Sheridan and also plays police detective Ian, said that by killing numerous regular characters off in Season 3, the writers were able to expand the world and welcome fresh faces to the story.
