The Abandons has finally dropped on Netflix, bringing with it all manner of Old West feuding, violence and female-led organised crime. Just our cup of tea.
The series follows Fiona Nolan, an Irish woman in Oregon who, unable to have children of her own, adopts four orphans but finds herself warring with the bluebloods who try to run her off her family home to get at the silver underneath it.
The show promises to tell the origins of organised crime in America. Showrunner Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy), said, "['The Abandons'] was an actual term of the period where it was this kind of catch-all phrase that described the outliers, the orphans, the prostitutes, the cripples, the bastards – basically the kind of lost souls living on the fringe of society. That is my favorite neighborhood."
He went on to describe how the Sicilian cosa nostra was founded when peasant families banded together to fight land barons, and realised that something similar occurred in the States.
So who can we expect to see?
The Abandons cast
• Lena Headey as Fiona Nolan
• Gillian Anderson as Constance Van Ness
• Lucas Till as Garret Van Ness
• Aisling Franciosi as Trisha Van Ness
• Nick Robinson as Elias Teller
• Diana Silvers as Dahlia Teller
• Lamar Johnson as Albert Mason
• Natalia del Riego as Lilla Belle
What to Read Next
Fiona Nolan – Lena Headey
Who is Fiona Nolan?
A devoutly religious Irish woman living in the USA in the 1850s. Unable to have children, she adopted four orphans, but her family under pressure when an aristocratic family try to bully them off the land by underhand means. Determined and smart, Fiona isn't one to take an affront like that lying down.
What else has Lena Headey been in?
You know her best as Game of Thrones' Cersei Lannister, the ruthless Queen who seized the Iron Throne after her children's deaths and ended up buried under the rubble of the Red Keep with her brother-lover Jaime.
Aside from that, she's also known for her TV roles in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and for movies like 300, The Purge and Dredd.
Constance Van Ness – Gillian Anderson
Every frontier-town drama has to have a wealthy baddie, and Constance is The Abandons.
What else has Gillian Anderson been in?
She hit the ground running playing evidence-based FBI investigator of the paranormal Agent Dana Scully in The X Files. After that she focused for a while on period dramas like Bleak House, The Crimson Petal and the White and Great Expectations, but she made the biggest impact in the Northern Ireland-set serial-killer thriller The Fall, and followed it up with the very contemporary Sex Education for Netflix.
Dahlia Teller – Diana Silvers
Dahlia is Fiona's elder daughter, a smart and beautiful young woman living in a time where that combination makes her vulnerable rather than formidable. But with a mum like Fiona, she has a strong force in her corner and a role model to live up to.
What else has Diana Silvers been in?
A former Stella McCartney model, Silvers made an early impression in horror films like Ma and M Night Shyamalan's Glass. She also appeared in cult comedy Booksmart, but her main role till The Abandons was as Erin, Steve Carell's teenage daughter in Netflix comedy Space Force.
Garret Van Ness - Lucas Till
As impulsive and hostile as his brother Willem, Garret is the heir apparent to the Van Ness estate. He's just as likely to start a fight with his arrogance and high-handedness. What a tool.
What else has Lucas Till been in?
Hannah Montana fans won't need to be told who he is – he's Travis Brody, Miley Cyrus' romantic interest in Hannah Montana: The Movie! Since then we've seen him as young X-Man Havok in X-Men: First Class, Days of Future Past and Apocalypse. On TV he played MacGyver for five years in the 2016 reboot.
Xavier Roche - Michiel Huisman
Constance's hired man – a tracker employed to find out what happened to WHOOPS! Nearly told a spoiler there.
What else has Michiel Huisman been in?
He started his career in a boyband, but you know the Dutch actor best for Game of Thrones – he was Daenerys' lover Daario Naharis, thrown over for Jon Snow because who wouldn't prefer their own nephew in the sack? Huisman also appeared in The Haunting of Hill House and Kaley Cuoco's psychological comedy-thriller The Flight Attendant.
The Abandons is streaming now on Netflix.
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Editor, Digital Spy Chris has over 25 years' experience as a writer and editor, having worked as a journalist covering TV and movies since the '90s. Starting out as a TV listings editor at the Press Association, he was quickly hired by the nascent Heat magazine, where he rose to become Senior Editor, interviewing the likes of Simon Cowell, Boris Johnson and Paris Hilton. Over the years he has written about entertainment with clarity and wit for Heat, Elle, Q, The Telegraph and of course Digital Spy, and has served many times as a judge in the Royal Television Society awards. He has written and recorded a novelty single with Lord Lloyd-Webber, written scripts for the National TV Awards, made Noel Edmonds cry, accidentally punched an Inbetweener and stolen a small piece of rubble from the Battle of Hogwarts movie set. (They can't have it back.) LinkedIn
