Simon Kinberg & David Weil’s Apple Series ‘Invasion’ Resumes Production With Cast Led By Sam Neill & Shamier Anderson

Nellie Andreeva
·3 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Simon Kinberg/David Weil’s sweeping Apple TV+ alien invasion series returned to production in Manchester, England a week ago.

Sam Neill (Jurassic world: Dominion, Peaky Blinders), Shamier Anderson (Bruised, Awake), Golshifteh Farahani (Extraction, Paterson), Firas Nassar (Fauda) and Shioli Kutsuna (Deadpool 2, The Outsider) star in Invasion (fka Untitled Kinberg/Weil), a character-driven sci-fi drama series from Kinberg, Weil and Platform One Media.

Written and executive produced by Kinberg and Weil, Invasion is set across multiple continents and follows an alien invasion through multiple perspectives around the world.

One of Apple’s most ambitious original series to date, Invasion is designed to film in four locations on four continents: New York in the U.S. as well as UK (Manchester), Morocco and Japan. Portions of the series had been shot in New York and Morocco, and producers were prepping for the UK shoot when the coronavirus-related industry shutdown started in mid-March.

Invasion is among the first U.S. series to resume production with COVID-19 safety protocols. At Apple, it joins fellow sci-fi drama, For All Mankind, which recently restarted filming on the Sony lot to finish its second season.

Neill plays Sheriff John Bell Tyson, a weathered rural lawman on the verge of retirement. Anderson is Trevante Ward, an extraordinary soldier stationed in Afghanistan. Farahani portrays Aneesha Malik, first generation Syrian immigrant, wife and mother living in Long Island. Nassar is Ahmed Malik, Aneesha’s husband and a Syrian immigrant and successful businessman. Kutsuna plays Mitsuki, an intelligent member of mission control in Japan’s space program JASA.

Jakob Verbruggen serves as director and executive producer on the series. Audrey Chon, Amy Kaufman and Andrew Baldwin also executive produce. Elisa Ellis serves as executive producer for Platform One, a Boat Rocker company headed by Chairman/CEO Katie O’Connell.

Neill, known for his work in Jurassic Park and in The Piano, is currently shooting Jurassic World: Dominion, marking his return to the franchise. Emmy-nominated for his role in NBC miniseries Merlin, Neill is repped by Authentic Talent & Literary Management, Curtis Brown, ICM Partners, and Shanahan Management.

Anderson’s recent television credits include Amazon’s Goliath and the upcoming Soulmates for AMC. On the film side, he’ll next be seen in the Spike Lee produced Son of the South, Mark Raso’s Awake and Stowaway opposite Anna Kendrick. Anderson is repped by Mosaic, OAZ, CAA, Viewpoint, and attorney Jeffrey Bernstein.

Farahani can be seen in Arab Blues which premiered at this year’s Venice film festival and can currently be seen in Extraction alongside Chris Hemsworth and David Harbour. Farahani is repped by CAA.

Nassar made his television debut in the hit Israeli series Fauda, and made his NY stage debut with the acclaimed Israeli political satire play In the Tunnel. Nassar is repped by A3 Artists Agency.

Kutsuna appeared opposite Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool 2. She also starred opposite Adam Sandler in Netflix film Murder Mystery and was the female lead opposite Jared Leto in Netflix’s The Outsider. Kutsuna is repped by McKeon/Myones Entertainment and Stankevich Law.

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