Dan Stevens To Play Paul Snider In Hulu Chippendales Series Immigrant
Dan Stevens ("Downton Abbey." "Legion") has joined the cast of the Kumail Nanjiani-led Hulu limited series, "Immigrant." The show will be based on the true story of Somen "Steve" Banerjee, an Indian-American entrepreneur who started Chippendales, and Nanjiani is set to play Banerjee in the series. Stevens is set to play Paul Snider, a Canadian businessman who formed a partnership with Banerjee to form what became the male strip club format of Chippendales. The series will purportedly be a darkly comedic, crime-ridden tale, exploring the orchestrated murders that took place within the male revue.
A dark, grisly tale of murder
Chippendales was founded by Banerjee as a stunt in Los Angeles in the 1980s, and the group started off as an all-male dance troupe that performed intricately-choreographed routines. However, things took a murkier turn when the group became embroiled in a slew of scandals, including the 1987 murder of Chippendales choreographer Nick De Noia, along with two other planned hits, as orchestrated by Banerjee himself.
Stevens is, perhaps, best known for his role of Matthew Crawley in the acclaimed ITV series, "Downton Abbey," and has recently starred in "I'm Your Man," which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. Stevens is also set to star in the Starz political thriller series, "Gaslit," alongside Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. As Stevens will be playing the role of Snider, who was Banerjee's associate, (who also assaulted/murdered his estranged wife, Playboy model and actress Dorothy Stratten) the core narrative of "Immigrant" is bound to be a grisly one. Per Deadline, the character of Snider has been described as the following:
"A hustler and serial schmoozer, Paul Snider stumbles upon the opportunity of a lifetime in the form of Steve Banerjee (Nanjiani) and his struggling LA backgammon club. Through their unlikely partnership, the iconic male stripping institution Chippendales is born."
"Immigrant" will also be executive produced by Nanjiani, alongside Robert Siegel, who has written the script. Siegel is also the creator of Hulu's acclaimed "Pam & Tommy," which is based on the true story of how Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee were subjected to invasive media harassment after their private sex tape was stolen and leaked for the world to see. Dylan Sellers, Jenni Konner, Matt Shakman, Emily V. Gordon, Nora Silver, and Rajiv Joseph will also be executive producing.
The cast of "Immigrant" also includes Murray Bartlett, Annaleigh Ashford, Quentin Plair, Andrew Rannells, Nicola Peltz. 20th Television will be serving as the studio on the series, which is also co-produced by Jacqui Rivera and Annie Wyman. While Siegel and Konner will serve as co-showrunners, Matt Shakman is set to direct the project.
An official release date for "Immigrant" has not been revealed as of yet.