Hap and Leonard’s James Purefoy

James Purefoy was already a prominent television and stage actor in the U.K. when he found fame in the U.S. with his role on HBO’s Rome. He went on to play the lead in the NBC summer series The Philanthropist, where he met Michael K. Williams of The Wire and Boardwalk Empire fame. Last year, fresh off his stint playing serial killer Joe Carroll in FOX’s The Following, Purefoy was back on set with Williams for Hap and Leonard. Nick Damici and Jim Mickle penned the six-part series for SundanceTV, based on the set of books by Joe R. Lansdale and sold internationally by Entertainment One Television. Purefoy tells TV Drama Weekly about the 1980s-set show, billed as a “darkly comic swamp noir” with two unlikely best friends, a get-rich-quick scheme and plenty of eccentric characters.