Benjamin Walker to Headline HBO's Spy Drama The Missionary, Produced by Mark Wahlberg

Benjamin Walker, star of Broadway's upcoming revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, will lead the potential HBO series The Missionary, according to Variety. Produced by Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Malcolm Gladwell, the pilot will be directed by Baltasar Kormakur and is written by Charles Randolph.

Set in 1960s Berlin, the spy drama centers on Roy (Walker), a young American missionary attempting to help a young woman escape East Berlin as the Cold War looms on. The Missionary is the second Cold War-era cable spy drama pilot to come along this year. FX’s The Americans, starring Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, has already been picked up to series. 

Walker starred in the summer action flick Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. He has also appeared on the big screen in Kinsey and Flags of Our Fathers. His Broadway credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Inherit the Wind.