TBS’s Snowpiercer series is gearing up to hit the slopes, and now fans of the upcoming show have their first look at stars Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs in action. Or, rather, in as much action as they can be while stranded on a train moving perpetually through the frozen wastes of a dystopic Earth.
Connelly will play Melanie Cavill in the series, the head of hospitality who also acts as the voice of the train, making announcements when required. Diggs will play Andre Layton, a former cop who is recruited by the train’s ruling class to catch a murderer.
Snowpiercer is based on the graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob. The graphic novel was first developed into a film starring Chris Evans by South Korean director Bong Joon-ho in 2013.
Snowpiercer takes place in a world where an attempt to circumvent global warming failed and the planet was plunged into a new ice age. A brutal class divide develops on a train full of survivors, with the wealthy and connected occupying the front cars and the impoverished forced to subsist in the backmost cars.
“Layton is a resident of the tail, which is the lowest class all the way at the back of the train,” said Diggs in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where more pictures from the upcoming show can be found. “But he becomes useful for people uptrain.”
Based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette, Snowpiercer is developed for television by Josh Friedman with Bong Joon-Ho serving as an executive producer, while Graeme Manson serves as showrunner. The series stars Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Alison Wright, Mickey Sumner, Susan Park, Iddo Goldberg, Katie McGuinness, Lena Hall, Annalise Basso, Sam Otto, Roberto Urbina, Sheila Vand and Jaylin Fletcher.