Hollywood legend George Clooney has turned to an Irish actor as he looks to bring in fresh faces for his big budget mini-series Catch 22.
The series is based on the book of the same name by Joseph Heller and will be available on Hulu in the US.
It tells the story of a US Air Force bombardier in World War II named Yossarian. Yossarian is angry with his government for increasing the number of missions he must complete before his service is over.
He is caught in a ‘catch 22’ because if he requests to be removed from duty on the grounds of fearing for his safety he will be displaying a level of sanity that would mean he couldn’t get out of the mission on grounds of insanity.
Comedian Dave McSavage will play US wartime flyer and Clooney believes the 57-year-old Dubliner’s oddball style will be perfect for the role.
McSavage has already filmed some scenes in Italy and will soon fly out to Sardinia to complete his filming schedule.
He will appear opposite Clooney and a host of other big names including House star Hugh Laurie, ARGO and Wolf of Wall Street’s Kyle Chandler and rising star Christopher Abbott.
An insider told The Irish Sun: “Dave was asked to send over an audition tape for a role in Catch 22. George saw the tape and thought Dave would be perfect for the crazy nightmarish, absurd world in which the lead character Yossarian is caught up in.
“It’s a huge break for Dave to have George Clooney cast him in a major TV series.”
Clooney is said to have loved the script for Catch 22 and wanted to give roles to some ‘fresh faces’ for the series.
Paramount TV boss Amy Powell said: “George had incredible instincts on the material. He talked about how he wanted to direct, what locations could be used and how he wanted to cast fresh faces to play the young soldiers. It was a love fest.”
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling
