Titus Welliver is stepping away from the streets of Los Angeles and into the blood-soaked back alleys of 1980s Hell’s Kitchen — and now he’s got company. The Westies, the upcoming MGM+ crime drama from Narcos creator Chris Brancato and Michael Panes, has officially added Sarah Bolger (Spiderwick, Mayans M.C.) and Stanley Morgan (The Serpent Queen, Argylle) as series regulars. They join a growing cast that includes Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons, Tom Brittney, and Jessica Frances Dukes, with Welliver at the center as morally compromised NYPD cop Glenn Keenan. Production is currently underway in Toronto.
Bolger will play Bridget Walsh, a “steely and calculating” IRA operative with a turbulent past, according to Variety. She’s also the girlfriend of Jimmy Roarke (Brittney), one of the gang’s younger firebrands trying to claim his piece of the criminal empire. Described as sharp, loyal, and unwavering in her mission to free Ireland from British rule, Bridget is a force of nature — equal parts passion and precision. Morgan takes on the role of Mickey Flanagan, the Westies’ chaos engine. Recently sprung from Bellevue, Mickey is a hot-headed loyalist whose reckless actions leave havoc in his wake. His bond with Roarke blinds him to the consequences of his decisions, putting everyone around him in jeopardy.
What Is ‘The Westies’ About?
Set in the early 1980s during the construction boom around the Jacob Javits Convention Center, The Westies follows the real-life Irish-American gang who, despite being wildly outnumbered by the Five Families of the Italian mafia, carved out a deadly slice of the pie through cunning, brutality, and sheer force of will. But tensions within the gang threaten to ignite a turf war from within—just as the FBI sets its sights on the mob underworld.
As Collider previously reported, Welliver plays Glenn Keenan, a Vietnam veteran and streetwise beat cop raised in the same Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood as Simmons’ crime boss. But Keenan isn’t the principled “everybody counts or nobody counts” detective fans know from Bosch. This guy is dirty. And he’s in way too deep.
“He’s no Harry Bosch,” Welliver told Collider. He went on to say:
“But believe me, this guy is a Vietnam War veteran. He’s a beat cop. He still walks the streets, but he’s corrupt. His moral compass has been completely compromised. Somebody said to me, ‘Do you really want to do another cop?’ Well, if I could let you read the script, you would realize why. This is a very, very complex and deeply nuanced character… But this is a very, very dark world.”
The Westies is expected to debut in 2026 on MGM+.
via Collider