FX’s Far Cry Adds Brendan Gleeson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hamish Linklater, Sam Spruell and Jamie Demetriou to Cast

FX’s upcoming Far Cry anthology series has added five formidable new names to its cast: Brendan Gleeson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hamish Linklater, Sam Spruell and Jamie Demetriou.

The group joins Rob Mac, Lizzy Caplan and Steve Buscemi in the series, which is based on Ubisoft’s long-running global video-game franchise. Ubisoft’s official announcement confirms that Far Cry will use an original anthology story each season. Far Cry is being developed for FX and Hulu in the United States, with Disney+ set to carry it internationally.

The casting is the clearest indication yet of the kind of actor-forward ensemble FX is assembling around the anthology. Gleeson brings the gravitas of The Banshees of Inisherin, In Bruges and Paddington 2, while Leigh is no stranger to the Hawley universe after her acclaimed run in FX’s Fargo Season 5. Linklater earned recent attention for Gen V and Batman: Caped Crusader; Spruell’s credits include Fargo, The Gold and Small Axe; and Demetriou, the BAFTA-winning creator and star of Stath Lets Flats, arrives with a very different but equally distinctive comic presence.

No character details have been announced for the new additions. That is fitting for a show built around a franchise whose stories are defined by new places, new conflicts and memorable personalities. Rather than adapting one fixed game narrative, the television version will keep Far Cry’s standalone format: each season will introduce a different setting and a different collection of characters.

That structure gives the series a lot of room to find its own identity. The games have become known for open-world settings, explosive action and outsized antagonists, but the anthology approach also puts an emphasis on world-building. With actors such as Gleeson, Leigh and Spruell now in the mix, there is a real suggestion that FX wants the show’s personalities to matter as much as its spectacle.

Behind the scenes, the pairing is just as notable. Noah Hawley executive produces through his 26 Keys banner, adding Far Cry to an FX résumé that includes the Emmy-winning anthology Fargo and Alien: Earth. Rob Mac executive produces through More Better Productions, following his work as the creator of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and an executive producer of Welcome to Wrexham.

Simon Emanuel and Emilia Serrano executive produce for 26 Keys, with Nicholas Frenkel for 3 Arts, Monica Macer, Peter Calloway and John Campisi also serving as executive producers. Gerard Guillemot, Margaret Boykin and Austin Dill executive produce for Ubisoft Film & Television. FX Productions will produce.

Launched in 2004, Ubisoft’s Far Cry has reached more than 100 million unique players worldwide. The series has never lacked for big, strange settings or characters worth talking about; the question now is what Hawley, Mac and this increasingly deep ensemble make of that flexibility on television.

FX has not announced a premiere date for Far Cry.