Harry Hamlin and Dylan Baker Added to NatGeo's "The Hot Zone: Anthrax"

National Geographic Taps Harry Hamlin (“Mad Men,” “Shameless”) and Dylan Baker (“The Good Wife,” “Hunters”) as Guest Stars Alongside Previously Announced Leads Tony Goldwyn and Daniel Dae Kim for THE HOT ZONE: ANTHRAX

Harry Hamlin as Tom Brokaw
Dylan Baker as Ed Copak

From 20th Television and Scott Free Productions, the Six-Episode Limited Series Will Focus on the Anthrax Attacks of 2001

Production To Begin February 2021 in Toronto

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--National Geographic, with Scott Free Productions and 20th Television, announced that Harry Hamlin (“Mad Men,” “Shameless”) and Dylan Baker (“The Good Wife,” “Hunters”) will join the cast of the next installment of the scripted anthology series THE HOT ZONE: ANTHRAX, alongside the previously announced Tony Goldwyn (“King Richard,” “Scandal,” “Lovecraft Country”) and Daniel Dae Kim (“Hawaii Five-0,” “Lost,” “The Good Doctor”). Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson will return as executive producers and showrunners, focusing this season’s limited series on the harrowing anthrax attacks of 2001. Principal photography began in February 2021 in Toronto.

In a timely limited series that depicts the plight and eventual triumph over a national threat, THE HOT ZONE: ANTHRAX takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where another deadly act of terrorism rocked the United States. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the country. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of scientists, FBI agents and government departments slowly closed in on a shocking prime suspect.

Hamlin will portray Tom Brokaw, the respected journalist and anchor for NBC News. On camera, Brokaw is the steady voice of reason for a post-9/11 nation. Off camera, he is a protective father figure to those who work for him. Hamlin, star of cult classic “Clash of the Titans,” ground-breaking “Making Love” and the former “Sexiest Man Alive” from “L.A. Law,” received an Emmy® nomination for “Mad Men” and recurred on “Shameless.” His other credits include the Golden Globe®-nominated Epix series “Graves” with Nick Nolte, USA’s “Shooter” with Ryan Phillippe, and “Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders” with Edie Falco. Next on the horizon is the “Unsinkable” audio movie event with John Malkovich and Brian Cox.

Baker joins as Ed Copak, a high-ranking FBI lifer. His department is rocked by the recent events of 9/11 and is now charged with finding the anthrax killer. He feels the weight of responsibility for getting justice for a wounded nation. Baker is best known for his starring role as Bill Maplewood in the critically acclaimed film “Happiness,” directed by Todd Solondz. Other film work includes “Selma,” “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” “Spider-man” 2 and 3, “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” and “Thirteen Days.” He appeared as Colin Sweeney on “The Good Wife,” for which he received three Emmy Award nominations.

As previously announced, Goldwyn joins the series as Bruce Ivins, a brilliant microbiologist who becomes embroiled in the hunt to find the 2001 anthrax killer. While he works closely with the FBI to uncover who is behind the deadly anthrax letters, his growing instability and paranoia give way to even deeper and unnerving discoveries. Kim will portray Matthew Ryker, an FBI agent with a specialty in microbiology, who, just three weeks after the 9/11 attacks, risks his career to convince his superiors of the unthinkable, that the United States is under attack again.

For THE HOT ZONE: ANTHRAX, Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson serve as executive producers and showrunners. Scott Free Production’s Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker and Jordan Sheehan are executive producers. Lynda Obst is an executive producer. Richard Preston is a co-executive producer on the series. The series is produced by 20th Television and Scott Free Productions.

The six-hour scientific thriller follows last year’s THE HOT ZONE, which starred Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Julianna Margulies and was National Geographic’s most-watched scripted series of all time. For more information, follow @NatGeoPR on Twitter.

Hamlin is represented by UTA, Industry Entertainment and attorney Dave Feldman. Baker is represented by Innovative Artists and Viking Entertainment.


About Scott Free Productions:
Scott Free Productions, founded in 1995, is the film and television production vehicle of acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott. In the 25 years since Scott Free was formed, the company has earned over 100 Emmy nominations with 22 wins, and 28 Golden Globe nominations for its television projects. Current productions include the HBO Max sci-fi epic, RAISED BY WOLVES, the first-ever American television series helmed by Ridley Scott, a drama about androids raising human children in an outer space colony; THE GOOD FIGHT, the critically-acclaimed CBS All Access spin-off of THE GOOD WIFE recently ordered to season five; an inventive heist anthology series, JIGSAW, to shoot in 2021 for Netflix; the investigative drama series THE BEAST MUST DIE for U.K.’s Britbox, starring Jared Harris; and an upcoming adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic GREAT EXPECTATIONS for FX/BBC1. Other hailed Scott Free productions include the THE HOT ZONE; THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE; THE TERROR; THE GOOD WIFE; TABOO; NUMB3RS; THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH; THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN; THE COMPANY; CRIMES OF THE CENTURY; GETTYSBURG; RE: GENERATION MUSIC PROJECT; I AM DYING; CLIVE DAVIS: THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES; and the acclaimed Emmy-nominated National Geographic channel series of “Killing” telefilms: KILLING JESUS; KILLING KENNEDY; KILLING REAGAN; and KILLING LINCOLN.

ABOUT 20TH TELEVISION:
A part of Disney Television Studios, 20th Television is one of the industry's most prolific suppliers of entertainment programming, including the No 1. Series on all of broadcast, NBC’s THIS IS US from Dan Fogelman; Fox’s No. 1 drama, 9-1-1 and its spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star from Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, its No. 1 comedy LAST MAN STANDING starring Tim Allen; Hulu’s recent smash hits SOLAR OPPOSITES from Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan and LOVE, VICTOR from Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger and Brian Tanen; FX’s No. 1 series AMERICAN HORROR STORY from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk; TBS’ No. 1 series AMERICAN DAD created by Mike Barker, Matt Weitzman and Seth MacFarlane; and the longest-running primetime scripted series in the history of television, THE SIMPSONS, in addition to dozens of others. 20th Television shows have amassed a collective 2000 Emmy nominations and 263 Emmy wins, as well as multiple Golden Globes, Humanitas Prizes and Peabody Awards. The studio’s landmark series from its 70 year library include such classics as BATMAN, M*A*S*H, GLEE, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, BONES, BOB’S BURGERS, EMPIRE, FAMILY GUY, 24, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, FUTURAMA, KING OF THE HILL, NEW GIRL and THE X-FILES.

About National Geographic Partners LLC:
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 132 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27% of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

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