Sean Penn heads to Hulu in The First, which will be his first regular role in a TV series, which comes from House of Cards creator Beau Willimon.
Sean Penn will lead an ensemble cast in this near-future drama which sees Penn’s Tom Hagerty the leader of a five-person crew of astronauts to establish the first-ever human colony on Mars. The group of astronauts face intensive training that is necessary to both pilot and survive a mission of this magnitude, and they all struggle with the personal sacrifices demanded of them. Under the direction of visionary aerospace magnate Laz Ingram (Natascha McElhone), the crew contends with peril and personal sacrifice as they undertake the greatest pioneering feat in human history.
When the series was greenlit last year, Willimon described the series as a “story about the human spirit, about our indomitable need to reach for unknown horizons.”
The trailer backs that up nicely, featuring Sean Penn looking up at the sky and quoting Carl Sagan’s famous comment that all of humanity lives on “a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” Along the way, we get some glimpses of life on Earth, while astronauts go through training or fly through space.
The series stars Sean Penn (Milk), LisaGay Hamilton (The Practice), Natascha McElhone (Designated Survivor), Hannah Ware (Hitman: Agent 47), Keiko Agena (Gilmore Girls), Rey Lucas (Luke Cage), James Ransone (Sinister), Anna Jacoby-Heron (Finding Carter), Brian Lee Franklin (Godless), and Oded Fehr (Resident Evil). The series is created and executive produced by Beau Willimon, known for his work with the award-winning television series, House of Cards.
The eight episode season of The First premieres September 14th on Hulu.
