A TV bad boy has been picked as the new star of a locally filmed History channel series.
Actor Walton Goggins, who played complicated criminal Boyd Crowder on FX’s “Justified,” is replacing Joe Manganiello as the lead of “Six,” A+E Networks spokeswoman Kristen Hynes confirmed Friday.
Filming for “Six,” about a U.S. Navy SEALs team, got underway in Wilmington in mid-March, at EUE/Screen Gems Studios and various locations across town, including the downtown post office on Front Street and Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station.
But production was put on hold last week after Manganiello backed out of the project. Hines would not comment further on the sudden departure of the “Magic Mike” and “True Blood” actor, but Entertainment magazines like Variety and sites such as RadarOnline have claimed the physical demands of “Six,” about a US Navy SEALs team, were too much for Manganiello, who reportedly has a preexisting medical condition.
With Goggins stepping in as Rip Taggart, a hardened former squad leader of SEAL Team 6, Hines said the show would get back to shooting its eight-episode first season by the end of the month.
Perhaps best known for his role on “Justified,” which ended last year after a strong six-season run, Goggins is also a favorite of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, who cast the 44-year-old actor in both “Django Unchained” (Billy Crash) and “The Hateful Eight” (Sheriff Chris Mannix). He has had a steady career on the big and small screens, with credits like “Cowboys and Aliens,” “Lincoln,” “The Shield” and “Sons of Anarchy” under his belt.
As “Six” gears up for its return to lights, camera, action, another Wilmington-based production, “Good Behavior,” continues shooting around the Port City this week. According to a permit filed with the city, the TNT drama will film interior scenes involving two cast members at Monica’s Diner, 1016 S. College Rd., on Wednesday. The shoot will run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will require barricade placement along Cedar Avenue at its intersections with College and Kerr Avenue.
Set in North Carolina and starring Michelle Dockery of “Downton Abbey,” “Good Behavior” shot its pilot in the area in October of last year, then returned in March to film its first season. It’s based off Blake Crouch’s bestselling Letty Dobesh book series about a thief and con artist, who finds herself entangled in a hired hitman’s plan to kill another man’s wife.
Hilary Snow is a reporter at Port City Daily. Reach her at hilary.s@portcitydaily.com.
