‘Of Kings and Prophets’: ABC Casts Ray Winstone as Israel's First King in Pilot Biblical Drama

British film and TV actor Ray Winstone, 58, has been named to play the lead in ABC's pilot for Of Kings And Prophets, a drama written by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage and executive produced by Jason Reed, Reza Aslan and Mahyad Tousi of BoomGen Studios, along with Jeffrey Nachmanoff, who will also direct the upcoming show.

As described in the project proposal, Of Kings And Prophets is "an epic biblical saga of faith, ambition and betrayal as told through the eyes of a battle-weary king, a powerful and resentful prophet and a resourceful young shepherd on a collision course with destiny." BoomGen Studios further describes it as "a 360° story experience of the tale of how an insignificant Semitic tribe battled hostile tribes and enemy gods to become a kingdom whose name would last through the ages."

Winstone, who was also seen in the biblically-themed Noah movie last year and in the Ben Hur miniseries in 2010, will be playing the role of King Saul, the first king of Israel, in the upcoming ABC TV pilot. According to traditional accounts, Saul was anointed by the prophet Samuel. During his 42-year reign, he managed to unite the scattered tribes of Israel, giving them greater strength and allowing them to defeat many of their enemies of his country, including the Ammonites, Philistines, Moabites, and Amalekites. However, later in his life, his jealousy of David drove him to madness and 5to his eventual downfall.

A two-time BAFTA nominee for best actor, Winstone's notable film credits include The Departed, Hugo as well as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He won an International Emmy for his role in 2005's Vincent. He will also be seen on the big-screen on March 20 when Pierre More's The Gunman opens in theaters. He co-stars in the upcoming action-thriller along with Sean Penn, Idris Elba, and Javier Bardem.