Helena Bonham Carter and Rebecca Hall are the latest actresses to join Steve McQueen in his upcoming pilot Codes of Conduct ordered by HBO, Deadline announces. This unexpected duo seems to be a real thrill and it will most definitely increase the audience list for McQueen’s project. The story focuses on Beverly Snow, a young man of African-American origin, who strives to enter the New York high society.
The eccentric Helena Bonham Carter is already accustomed to somehow odd or tricky roles. She is Alice in Wonderland’s Red Queen and that part proves her ability to cope with insanity quite all right. What is more, she plays Miss Havisham in Mike Newell’s 2012 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, another illuminating example of her inclination towards maddening roles. This connection with roles of fantasy worlds or novel based characters might seem far-fetched when facing a TV pilot about New York’s high society like Codes of Conduct, but the key to the puzzle is Helena’s part in drama. She is set to play the role of writer and psychiatrist Esther Kaufmann, and who else has access to madness more than the counselor of the series? Also, she is the divorced mother of two grown boys who lives on her own and whose life changes once she encounters the mysterious Beverly Snow.
Rebecca Hall, on the other hand, will play the part of Rebecca Rotmensen, the eldest child of a New York billionaire, a character belonging to the high society which attracts Beverly Snow and to which he wishes to adhere. This is the reason why her very rich father becomes one of Beverly’s prime rivals. Although she is the daughter of an influential father, Rebecca Rotmensen (aka Hall) is also a witty character, well-educated and smart. The past roles of the actress recommend her as a very feminine figure and thus fitting for her role in Codes of Conduct – remember Sarah Borden of the magical and plot-twisting The Prestige (2006) or the young and beautiful Vicky in Woody Allen’s romance Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008).
The character of Beverly Snow is attributed to newcomer Devon Terrell of whom we will find out more in the future. The latest actor to join the TV drama of Steve McQueen (before the duo Helena Bonham Carter and Rebecca Hall) was Paul Dano, who pulls a terrific Alex Jones in 2013’s drama thriller Prisoners. The already established cast and the provocative story of Steve McQueen (director, co-writer and producer) are reasons enough to impatiently look forward to the airing of the forthcoming Codes of Conduct plot.