As a guy who already has some experience playing a self-proclaimed king with no actual claim to that title in Game Of Thrones, Gethin Anthony seems like the perfect Charles Manson for NBC’s Aquarius. After all, Renly Baratheon was able to assemble an army of loyal followers based solely on his charisma—just like Charles Manson—and he was later killed by a magic shadow baby—also like Manson. The big difference, of course, is that Manson wasn’t actually killed by a magic shadow baby. That was a Game Of Thrones reference.
This news comes via TVLine, which also reports that Anthony will be joined by Grey Damon—who played a character you probably don’t remember on Friday Night Lights—and Bunheads’ Emma Dumont. As we previously reported, Aquarius will star David Duchovny as a Los Angeles police sergeant tasked with tracking down Manson, and it has already received a straight-to-series 13-episode order from NBC. Damon will play Duchovny’s new partner, and Dumont will play a young woman taken under Manson’s gross hippie wing.
Also, like with everything these days, this isn’t the only Charles Manson TV show currently in development: Fox is working on a Bret Easton Ellis/Rob Zombie series that covers the same subject matter. That show won’t have Fox Mulder facing off against Renly Baratheon, though. It’s like really weird fan-fiction come to life!