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Bourne actress to star in TV drama

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Sky Atlantic is to air new ten-part drama Riviera, starring Hollywood actress Julia Stiles (The Bourne film series, Dexter) .

Set in the South of France, Riviera follows the story of Georgina (Stiles), who is newly married to billionaire Constantine Clios when he is killed in a yacht explosion. She is shocked to discover the fortune that maintained his immaculate, ever-so-tasteful lifestyle is tainted with dishonesty, double-dealing, crime, and ultimately murder.

Helped by Constantine’s first wife, Georgina will undergo an education in lying, double-dealing, outright theft and shocking criminality. She has to learn fast to maintain the Clios mansion and save the family from its enemies and from itself.  Hiding her bloodstained fingers inside Chanel gloves, she soon reveals herself to be an A-plus student in the brutal art of survival.

Julia Stiles said: “What attracted me to Riviera is the setting, a romantic and glamorous world where not everything is as it seems, and the opportunity to explore a character who is also not as she appears. Georgina is the classic anti-hero, ultimately a good person, but compromised by the corruption around her.”

Produced by Archery Pictures and Primo Productions, Riviera is created by Oscar-winning writer and director Neil Jordan (The Borgias), co-written with Booker Prize-winning author John Banville (The Sea), and based on an idea from former U2 manager Paul McGuinness.

Anne Mensah, Sky’s head of drama, said: “Neil Jordan has created the most audacious show in the most exquisite and luxurious of settings.  We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect actress for the role of Georgina than Julia Stiles.  This show is the perfect thriller for a Sky Atlantic audience – ambitious, compelling and clever. Quite simply, you won’t have seen anything like it on television before.”

Riviera will be shot on location in summer 2016 and will transmit exclusively on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland in late 2017.