‘Eric’ Netflix Series: Cast Announced and What We Know So Far

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Netflix is teaming up with esteemed playwright Abi Morgan to develop Eric, a new series described as a tense and surprising thriller set in 1980s New York. Here’s everything we know about Netflix’s Eric.

The series is created and written by Emmy-winner Abi Morgan, whose credits include her award-winning The Hour and Shame, The Iron Lady, BBC/Sundance TV’s The Split, and many more.

Morgan also worked on the BBC series River which resided on Netflix in most regions as a Netflix Original until it was abruptly removed in November 2019.

Abi Morgan – Picture: Sister

The series was announced by Netflix UK alongside a slew of other UK productions back in November 2021. Other titles announced included Supacell, One Day, The Fuck It Bucket, and Kaos.

ERIC: From writer Abi Morgan, this tense thriller tracks what happens when a young boy goes missing in 1980s Manhattan. His father, Vincent, a puppeteer on America’s leading kids’ TV show, finds solace through his friendship with Eric, the monster that lives under his son’s bed.

— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) November 30, 2021

The two production companies behind Netflix’s Eric are British studio SISTER (the production company behind HBO’s award-winning Chernobyl) in association with Little Chick Productions. SISTER has previously worked with Morgan on The Split and produced the Netflix BBC co-production Giri/Haji.

Jane Featherstone and Lucy Dyke exec produce for SISTER and Morgan for Little Chick.

What’s the plot of Eric?

Netflix’s Eric is described as a tense and surprising thriller. Here’s the story synopsis for Eric:

“When Edgar, a young boy goes missing in 1980s Manhattan, his grief-stricken father Vincent, a puppeteer on America’s leading kids’ TV show, finds solace through his friendship with Eric, the monster that lives under Edgar’s bed.

In his quest to find the truth to Edgar’s disappearance, Vincent is forced into the dark shadows of a city rife with corruption to discover that the real monsters live much closer to home. Set against the backdrop of the 1980s AIDS epidemic, Detective Ledroit, tasked to uncover internal corruption in the NYPD, finds himself drawn into the search for Edgar, while privately coming to terms with secrets of his own.”

AIDS activists demonstrate on Wall Street in the 1980s which will be the backdrop for Eric.

Who is cast in Eric?

The first cast member to be announced was Benedict Cumberbatch.

Famous for his role as London super sleuth Sherlock, Kahn in the rebooted Star Trek franchise, and most recently as Dr. Strange in the MCU, Cumberbatch has been one of the most in-demand actors of the past decade. One of his most recent projects was in Netflix’s Power of the Dog, which earned him his second Academy Award nomination for best actor in a leading role. To date, Cumberbatch has starred in 3 projects for Netflix, and will also star in the upcoming adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by director Wes Anderson.

Cumberbatch will play the role of Vincent Sullivan.

The second actor confirmed for Eric was Donald Sage Mackay in the role of Jerry. Mackay previously starred in the Michael Myers comedy The Pentaverate.

The rest of the main cast was confirmed for the series in February 2023:

Gaby Hoffmann has been in the role of Cassie Anderson. Eric will be the actress’s official Netflix debut.

Gaby Hoffman – Picture. GETTY IMAGES

David Denman, who many people will recognize as Roy from The Office has been cast in the role of Matteo Cripp. Duman has already starred in two Netflix projects, such as Heartstrings and The Recruit.

David Denman – Picture. GETTY IMAGES

Dan Fogler aka Jacob Kowalski of the Fantastic Beasts movies will play the role of Lennie Wilson. Eric will be the Netflix debut for Fogler.

Dan Fogler – Picture. GETTY IMAGES

Clarke Peters plays the role of George Lovett. The Wire actor has starred in one Netflix series, The Irregulars.

Clarke Peters – Picture. GETTY IMAGES

The remaining cast confirmed are;

• Roberta Colindrez as Ronnie
• Phoebe Nicholls as Anne Anderson
• McKinley Belcher III as Detective Michael Ledroit
• Adepro Oduye as Cecile Rochelle
• Alexis Molnar as Raya
• Bamar Kane as Yuusuf Egbe
• Ivan Morris Howe as Edgar Anderson

What’s the production status of Eric?

Official Production Status: Filming Scheduled (Last Updated: 06/02/2023)

We previously reported on the news that production was reportedly planned to begin in the UK in November 2022. However, we’ve since seen some conflicting reports surrounding the filming schedule.

IMDb Pro is reporting that filming began on December 5th, 2022, and is scheduled to end sometime in April 2023. We’ve also seen a separate source that has listed the project to begin filming in “Mid-January 2023” and isn’t scheduled to end until “Late May 2023.”

The series will be shot in Budapest in Hungary and New York in the USA.

How many episodes will be in Eric?

No amount of episodes have been announced, but we could expect a standard of 8 or 10.

What’s the Netflix release date for Eric?

We previously would have expected a 2023 release date, however, if filming isn’t due to end till late May 2023, we’d be lucky to see the series on Netflix before the end of the year. A more realistic release date for Eric will be early 2024.

Are you looking forward to Eric on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.