The BBC and Netflix have announced that Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense) is set to lead the cast of the upcoming Netflix series Wanderlust, where she will star alongside Steven Mackintosh (Stan Lee’s Lucky Man), Zawe Ashton (Fresh Meat) and Royce Pierreson (Line of Duty).
The series, created by Nick Payne (Constellations, The Sense of an Ending, If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet) and directed by Luke Snellin (The A Word, Our Girl, My Mad Fat Diary), follows Joy Richards (Toni Collette) a therapist trying to find a way to keep her spark with her husband alive after a cycling accident causes them to reassess their relationship. As we meet her family, friends, neighbours and clients, remarkable yet relatable stories of love, lust and forbidden desire emerge.
“I am honoured and thrilled to work with Nick Payne’s wonderful words on Wanderlust,” stated Collette. “It is an authentic and revolutionary story about relationships, sex, love and all the things we really care about. I could not be more excited.”
“I’m over the moon to be working with Drama Republic, the BBC and Netflix,” added Payne. And the cast – what a galaxy of talent. Toni Collette is an astronomically adept performer, and someone I’ve long admired.”
“Toni’s natural warmth, complexity and wit combine to make her the perfect Joy,” said Piers Wenger, BBC Controller Drama Commissioning. “I’m delighted that she will be leading the cast in this bold and brilliant new series for BBC One. Nick’s script’s strike an utterly distinctive and original tone and I cannot wait to see them come to life in the very capable hands of director Luke Snellin and the outstanding team at Drama Republic.”