New original drama Alice & Jack, starring Andrea Riseborough & Domhnall Gleeson, coming to Channel 4

10 August 2023

Fremantle, Groundswell Productions, Me + You Productions and De Maio Entertainment have announced a new collaboration with Channel 4 on an original drama series from award-winning writer and film director Victor Levin (Mad Men, Mad About You). Alice & Jack stars Academy Award-nominated actress and producer Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie, Birdman) alongside actor, director, and screenwriter Domhnall Gleeson (Brooklyn, The Revenant), whose performance in The Patient earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Aisling Bea (Greatest Days, This Way Up), Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education, Living) and Sunil Patel (This Time with Alan Partridge, Stath Lets Flats) also feature in supporting roles.

Finnish film director and screenwriter Juho Kuosmanen, who co-wrote and directed 2021 Cannes Grand Prix co-winner Compartment 6, is the lead director and Hong Khaou (Lilting) directs the second block of the series. Alice & Jack is a Fremantle production in partnership with BAFTA and Emmy award-winning Me + You Productions (I Am Ruth, Close to You), Academy award-nominated Groundswell Productions (The Visitor) and De Maio Entertainment. Fremantle handles global sales.

Created and written by Levin, Alice & Jack is a love story for the ages. When Alice (Andrea Riseborough) and Jack (Domhnall Gleeson) first meet they’re bound by a connection so powerful it seems nothing can break it, but will their path lead them to a place of happiness and togetherness? Or will life and their own emotional complexities get in the way? Honest, intimate, and surprisingly funny, the series shows love in all its unexpected, technicolour, kaleidoscopic beauty.

Executive producers include Victor Levin, Andrea Riseborough, Domhnall Gleeson, Juho Kuosmanen, Richard Yee and Krishnendu Majumdar for Me + You Productions, Michael London and Shannon Gaulding for Groundswell, Lorenzo De Maio for De Maio Entertainment, Rebecca Dundon and Hilary Martin for Fremantle. Tracy O’Riordan produces for Me + You Productions.

Riseborough and Gleeson were directly involved with Groundswell in the development of the project. Me + You Productions was responsible for production and post-production in the UK, with filming having taken place in London, South East England and Gran Canaria in Summer 2022.

Nick Lee, Head of Acquisitions and International at Channel 4, said: “The intimacy of Alice & Jack makes it both heart-wrenching and unmissable in equal measure. The inventive producing partners, the expert performances and the overall creative energy has resulted in something quite special; we are delighted to be the UK partner at Channel 4.” 

Andrea Riseborough*, said: “We unite in yearning to see evidence of real love, and, too, are soothed to share with one another the ache of its inevitable imperfection. This story is for anyone who could or couldn’t make the sacrifice that love demanded, for anyone who battles and accepts the one who makes their soul soar, for anyone who longs to feel, who has felt, and who feels the tingling anticipation of love’s joy.”

Domhnall Gleeson*, said: “The only work I’ve wanted to watch and do since the pandemic is work about connection and love, and work with a sense of humour. Alice & Jack keep coming back to each other because they can’t help themselves - they find in each other something that they don’t have on their own. I think they're soulmates, I think it's bigger than just the two of them. Their story centres on connection and love in the most beautiful way and reminds us that we are always allowed to smile - even if it’s through the tears.”

Christian Vesper, CEO of Global Drama, Fremantle, commented: “Very rarely does a TV series pitch love and comedy in such a flawless combination. We’re both proud and humbled to be bringing such a smart and sophisticated drama from a team of world class creatives at the very top of their game. Working so closely with these partners of extraordinary value and extensive experience from the very inception of this project seemed the only way to embrace this new and exciting opportunity.”

Gleeson is repped by Paradigm and The Agency. Riseborough is repped by CAA, Independent Talent Group, Untitled Entertainment, and attorney Patti Felker.

*Quote provided prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike

ABOUT ANDREA RISEBOROUGH

Academy Award nominated actor Andrea Riseborough will next be seen in Ellen Kuras’ film LEE opposite Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard and Noémie Merlant, which tells the story of WWII wartime photographer Lee Miller and FUNNY BIRDS, a comedy-drama film from French directorial duo Hanna Ladoul and Marco La Via, starring alongside Catherine Deneuve and Morgan Saylor as three generations of women from the same family. Riseborough was recently seen starring as the title character in Michael Morris’ film TO LESLIE, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Lead Actress and an Independent Spirit nomination for Best Lead Performance. She will next be seen starring opposite Domhnall Gleeson in ALICE & JACK, a limited series written by Victor Levin that follows Alice and Jack, who inhabit completely different worlds but are drawn inexorably towards each other from the moment they meet. Riseborough recently wrapped production on HBO’s limited series, THE PALACE, from Succession duo Will Tracy and Frank Rich. She stars opposite Kate Winslet and Matthias Schoenaerts and the series tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of an authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel.

Past credits include: Netflix’s MATILDA; David O’Russell’s AMSTERDAM; Amanda Kramer’s PLEASE BABY PLEASE; Pratibha Parmar’s documentary MY NAME IS ANDREA; Amazon’s THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN; BBC Films’ HERE BEFORE; Zeina Durra’s LUXOR in which her performance earned her a 2021 British Independent Film Award nomination in the category of Best Actress; Brandon Cronenberg’s POSSESSOR; Stefano Sollima’s ZEROZEROZERO; Christina Choe’s NANCY, which premiered in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the prestigious Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award; Armando Iannucci’s THE DEATH OF STALIN; Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ BATTLE OF THE SEXES; Alejandro González Iñárritu’s BIRDMAN or (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE), which won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture; Nicolas Pesce’s reboot of THE GRUDGE; Andrew Heckler’s BURDEN, which won the Audience Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival; Lone Scherfig’s THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS, which opened the 2019 Berlin Film Festival; Tom Ford’s NOCTURNAL ANIMALS; Mark Romanek’s NEVER LET ME GO; Nigel Cole’s MADE IN DAGENHAM; Rowan Joffe’s BRIGHTON ROCK; Madonna’s W.E., as Wallis Simpson; Amit Gupta’s RESISTANCE; Henry Alex Rubin’s DISCONNECT; Joseph Kosinski’s OBLIVION opposite Tom Cruise; Paramount’s WACO; Eran Creevy’s WELCOME TO THE PUNCH; Netflix’s BLOODLINE; Corinna McFarlane’s THE SILENT STORM; the Duffer Brothers’ Hidden and James Marsh’s SHADOW DANCER, opposite Clive Owen, for which Riseborough won the British Independent Film Award (BIFA), the Evening Standard British Film Award, and the London Critics’ Circle Film Award for Best Actress; THE LONG WALK TO FINCHLEY for which she received a BAFTA nomination for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher.

ABOUT DOMHNALL GLEESON

Domhnall Gleeson has received widespread recognition and praise for his performances in several Academy Award-nominated films. He played Caleb Smith in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Jim Farrell in Nick Hornby’s adaptation of Brooklyn, Captain Andrew Henry in BAFTA and Golden Globe winning The Revenant. Most recently he received a Golden Globe nomination for his work on the FX limited series The Patient opposite Steve Carell.

From 2017-2019 Gleeson played General Hux in JJ Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Episode VII) and The Rise of Skywalker (Episode IX) and in Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Episode VIII). He starred in Andrea Berloff’s The Kitchen with Elisabeth Moss, Melissa McCarthy & Tiffany Haddish; The Little Stranger directed by Lenny Abrahamson; Darren Aronofsky’s Mother!; and Doug Liman’s American Made in which he plays the role of Monty Schafer alongside Tom Cruise. 

His previous lead roles in film include Lenny Abrahamson’s Frank with Michael Fassbender and Maggie Gyllenhaal; Richard Curtis’ About Time opposite Rachel McAdams and Bill Nighy. He received Irish Film and Television Awards for playing Bob Geldof in When Harvey Met Bob and Levin in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina. Domhnall starred in an acclaimed episode of the anthology series Black Mirror, Be Right Back, and the HBO black comedy series Run, created and written by Vicky Jones and executive produced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. 

Forthcoming projects include Echo Valley, an Apple Original Film in which Gleeson co-stars alongside Julianne Moore.

ABOUT VICTOR LEVIN

Victor Levin made his television name as Showrunner/Writer for the acclaimed American comedy Mad About You, penning many of the show’s most memorable episodes. He’s served as Writer-Producer for numerous other series, most notably Mad Men and The Larry Sanders Show.

Vic has also written and directed two theatrical feature films: 5 to 7 (2015, IFC), which starred Anton Yelchin, Frank Langella and Glenn Close, and Destination Wedding (2018, Aviron) which starred Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder. His extensive screenwriting work includes Win a Date with Tad Hamilton (2004, DreamWorks).

A Golden Globe winner and four-time Emmy nominee, Vic has also received nominations for the PGA, WGA and NAACP awards. He’s won a pair of Clios and the Cannes Lion de Bronze.

Vic is married to the violinist Jennifer Gordon Levin, former Concertmaster of The Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra. They have two daughters.