The Patient Will Star Steve Carell As A Shrink Forced To Treat A Serial Killer
"The Americans" fans can rejoice once again, for its showrunners "Joel and Joe" are back with a new project. FX has ordered a 10-episode limited series from executive producers Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg.
"The Patient" stars the Oscar and Emmy-nominated Steve Carell, who also serves as executive producer alongside Caroline Moore ("Here and Now") and Victor Hsu ("Transparent"). The 10 half-hour episodes are centered around a psychotherapist, Alexander Strauss (Carell), who is held captive by a serial killer who wants some special, expedited one-on-one sessions to help him overcome his homicidal urges. Unfortunately, behind his clever exterior the psychiatrist is struggling to process his own repressed darkness, so the journey will be a perilous one for both of them.
"We are excited that Joe and Joel are back with their next series for FX after the great experience of working with them on six amazing seasons of 'The Americans,'" said FX president Eric Schrier to Deadline. "Their creative instincts and mastery of plot and character are on display again with 'The Patient,' which will showcase Steve Carell's remarkable talents as an actor, producer and creative collaborator."
Sensitive Steve Psychoanalyzes Psycho Killer
"The Americans" is FX's successful period drama series, which follows two Soviet KGB officers (played by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys) posing as a married American couple living in a Washington, D.C. suburb. Weisberg served as executive producer along with his co-showrunner Fields for six seasons on FX. During its 2013-2018 run, the series earned four Emmys out of eighteen nominations and was named an AFI TV Program of the Year five times, as well as receiving two Peabody Awards, a Golden Globe, and the Television Critics Association award for outstanding achievement in drama.
You can do far worse than Steve Carell as your lead man. The 2010s saw the actor expanding into serious roles, such as wrestling coach and convicted killer John Eleuthère du Pont in the 2014 drama "Foxcatcher" which earned him an Oscar nomination (Eddie Redmayne would grab the Academy Award for Best Actor that year, for his portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything"). The Golden Globe winner (for his role as Michael Scott in "The Office") also has three Screen Actors Guild awards and a Writers Guild of America award to back him up.
Carell's current slate includes comedy series "The Morning Show," a second season of sci-fi comedy "Space Force," and he'll be reprising his role as the beloved villain Gru in his next feature film, "Minions: The Rise of Gru," coming next summer.