TNT's upcoming spy drama Legends is adding a new series regular.
Morris Chestnut has joined the cast of the Sean Bean starrer from the producers of Homeland, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
From Homeland executive producer Howard Gordon, Legends -- which originally was developed for NBC -- follows deep-cover operative Martin Odum (Game of Thrones' Bean), who has an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job. But his own identity comes into question when a mysterious stranger suggests that Martin isn’t who he thinks he is.
STORY: Howard Gordon's TNT Drama 'Legends' Gets Series Pickup
Chestnut will play Antonio "Tony" Cimarro, a quick-witted FBI deep cover operative. He's an extremely smart guy with an even smarter mouth who's charming, athletic and has a natural born talent for assuming "legendsd."
Cimarro has a rivalry with his older and more-experienced colleague, Martin, but the latter is in a league of his own when it comes to undercover work -- something Tony is loathe to admit to himself or others. The character is an ambitious workaholic, a trait he inherited from his Dominican parents, who thrives on putting his skills to use in high-priority and high-risk cases involving national security at the FBI's Department of Covert Operations.
Chestnut joins a cast that also includes Ali Larter, Rob Mayes, Tina Majorino, Steve Harris, Amber Valletta and Lux Haney Jardine.
Gordon, Jeffrey Nachmanoff (The Day After Tomorrow), Alexander Cary (Homeland) and Jonathan Levin (Charmed) developed the project based on the book from spy novelist Robert Littell. David Semel will direct and executive produce the Fox 21 project. Emmy nominees Ethan Reiff and Cy Voris (Sleeper Cell) will serve as showrunners and exec produce.
Chestnut, whose credits also include The Best Man Holiday, Kick-Ass 2 and Identity Thief, most recently had a season-long guest turn on Showtime's Nurse Jackie. Repped by Gersh and Kritzer Levine, his TV credits also include American Horror Story, V and ER.
The 10-episode drama will bow in 2014 on TNT.
E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
